28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



obtain higher rates of interest and find more tempting opportunities 

 for speculation — the man with little besides strong hands and a 

 Avilling mind had a better prospect here. • 



It may not be inappropriate to mention here some particulars 

 regarding the practice of agriculture in Aroostook, as noticed while 

 there. It is no more true of these lands, that they may be drawn 

 upon any how and any long, without exhaustion, than of virgin soil 

 elsewhere. Allusion has been made to repeated grain crops in imme- 

 diate succession. This is a serious departure from judicious prac- 

 tice, and if persevered in, must result, as it has ever done in other 

 places, in barrenness and exhaustion. It is comparatively easy to 

 maintain fertility when once in possession, but how difficult to restore 

 it when lost, thousands and millions of acres over the len<2;th and 

 breadth of the land, and the struggles of their owners for a liveli- 

 hood testify in most emphatic tones. 



I saw nothing to prove true what rumor had said: that the settlers 

 esteemed manure to be a nuisance, and carted it to the nearest stream 

 to be rid of it, but with few exceptions, there was less care for its 

 preservation than is desirable. In some instances gratifying evi- 

 dence appeared that it was properly valued, and on the whole it 

 seemed gaining in estimation, and that the settlers were gradually 

 coming to a just appreciation of its value. 



In the neighborhood of Presque Isle, there have been, through 

 the exertions of members of the North Aroostook Agricultural 

 Society, introductions of choice cattle, and a marked improvement 

 has been the result. The Hereford and Durham blood prevails 

 mostly in the crosses observed. Ayrshircs were not known as such, 

 but some cattle brought in from the neighboring Province of New 

 Brunswick, and considered natives, bore strong evidence of an infu- 

 sion of Ayrshire blood. These, including the Devon more lately 

 introduced, are probably the best breeds yet proved for this climate, 

 taking into consideration all their good qualities, and the absence of 

 serious defects, all (except the Durhams, which require good feed 

 and shelter,) being very hardy, easily kept, and valuable. The 

 Ayrshire breed has been somewhat extensively introduced into New 

 Brunswick. Mr. iSamuel Gray, of Frederickton, brought with him 

 from Ayrshire some years since, numbers of these to breed from for 

 sale, and had, when I was there, a considerable herd of full blooded 



