358 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



extent, it seems to me that the farmers must devote themselves 

 mor.e to specialties than they have hitherto doue. Let a man who 

 can carry on a market garden successfully and wishes to devote 

 himself to that, learn all he can in regard to it and select his 

 position accordingly, near a large town, where he can convert his 

 products into monev, and confine himself principally to that. 

 Numerous examples might be quoted where men devoting them- 

 selves to this pursuit have reaped very large returns. Another 

 may find that his tastes lead him to the culture of small fruits, 

 and by devoting himself to this will make the business successful. 

 Another may prefer to raise cattle or stock for the market, and by 

 confining himself to this will succeed and reap large returns. 

 Another may choose to adopt dairying or some other form of 

 farming, and if he but puts in the skiil which the artizan, which 

 the manufacturer puts into his business, there is no question but 

 that, by special farming, returns that should be regarded as ample 

 can be secured, aud that the success of our farming operations in 

 the future must depend more largely upon attending to some 

 branches of special farming than has heretofore been the case, 

 aud more upon special farming than upon general culture. 



AFTERNOON. 



The attendance at this stage of the session being thin, a sugges- 

 tion was made to adjourn. 



'Mr. Goodale. It is true that we have not, at this moment, a 

 large audience, but I see before me some who are able to impart 

 instructive information upon points of interest to Maine farmers. 

 For one I would be glad to hear from Mr. Coburn, formerly a 

 member Qf this Board, in relation to the practicability of uniting 

 beef making and dairy qualities in the same animals by growing 

 Shorthorns and their grades of the character which prevailed more 

 generally fifty years ago than they do at this time, when for the 

 most part, milking qualities have either been neglected, or inten- 

 tionally bred out for the purpose of favoring their meat making 

 qualities. You may remember at the last session of this Board, 

 at Paris, after Mr. Gold of Connecticut, had stated the prevalent 

 characteristics of the Shorthorns, I asked him if he took into con- 

 sideration the fact that dairy qualities inhered in the animals of 

 this breed in Maine to a greater extent than was generally the 

 case elsewhere; a fact which, as it proved, he was not aware of at 

 the time. 



