8 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Address of Governor Perham. 

 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Agriculture:— 

 It is my pleasant duty to bid you welcome to the county of 

 Oxford. I do this with very great pleasure ; at the same time, with 

 distrust of myself, since I am compelled to come before you with 

 very little preparation. I come, however, feeling an interest in 

 this work. About nineteen years ago, in 1853 and '54, it was my 

 o-ood fortune to be a member of the Board of Agriculture of this 

 State. It was at the earliest organisation,— the incipient stages 

 of this movement,— and I was happy in the privilege of taking 

 some part in the proceedings which have led to the establishment 

 of the office of Secretary of this Board, and I trust to some of the 

 results which have followed your efforts. 



Although unable to say a word that will be instructive to these 

 gentlemen present, I would refer to some general matters apper- 

 taining to the interest which you have at heart, and which yon 

 have met here to consider. We all feel very deeply the fact that the 

 last two years have been to some extent unfortunate for the iarm- 

 ing portion of the State of Maine. The failure of the grass crop, 

 especially, which was reduced from about a million of tons to some 

 seven hundred thousand tons in 1870, and reduced still further, 

 below five hundred thousand tons, — more than half, — in 1871, is a 

 consideration of great importance, and very damaging to the 

 agricultural interests of the State. It has not only created a 

 necessity to dispose of a large amount of stock, which otherwise 

 would have been kept, but it has compelled extensive purchases 

 of corn from abroad, paying money which many needed for other 

 purposes. It has done more and worse than this, in that it has 

 undoubtedly injured the prospects of the grass crop for some time 

 to come ; to what extent, it is impossible for us now to tell. We 

 all know that the two years past have been such that not only has 

 our crop of hay been reduced upon old grass fields, but the growth 

 of new grass has been prevented. Many lands which were laid 

 down and expected to produce a new crop of grass, must be 

 uli. wed again and cultivated, before it will be possible to get the 

 crop of grass that we obtained before. And when we consider 

 the fact that the grass crop of the State of Maine is the most im- 

 portant we have, it becomes a matter of very serious consideration 

 whether this Board may be able to devise some means or make 

 some recommendations that shall aid the farmers of this State in 



