330 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that the subject is worthy of as serious consideration as the rear- 

 ing of horses and crops and what to do with them. 



Pr.ES. Allen. There is a single point which might be alluded to 

 in this connection — the culture of small fruits. One little incident 

 may serve as an illustration. Visiting, not long since, an old 

 friend, the remark was made by- the lady of the house, " I wish 

 my boy could go to your college, but we cannot raise the money." 

 Said my wife, in reply, "you might cultivate strawberries and 

 send your boy." That remark the woman treasured up, because 

 she wanted her boy to go to the college. She had pride in him, 

 and she had confidence in me as an old friend. This Fall, that 

 boy made his appearance, and the mother told me, "the money 

 that sends that boy this term is all secured by the sale of straw- 

 berries, the cultivation of which your wife suggested." 



The President. Those present would be glad to hear from Mr. 

 Lawrence some further remarks, more especially in relation to his 

 own methods of grass culture. Will the gentleman favor us with 

 his views? 



Mr. Lawrence. I should have some hesitation in relating the 

 details of my own practice and its results so far from home were 

 it not that one of your Board has visited my farm and will corrob- 

 orate what I may have to say. Since being here, an intelligent 

 and observing farmer from Waldo county, has told me that in that 

 county potatoes and hay have been raised extensively for sale, 

 and that many farms have paid for themselves several times 

 over by the growth and sale of both these commodities. He tells 

 me also, that to-day the farms which had been devoted to raising 

 hay for sale are in much better condition than those from which 

 potatoes have been extensively sold. This was exceedingly grati- 

 fying information to me inasmuch as it corroborates my own opin- 

 ion in regard to the exhausting character of the potato crop, and also 

 that grass is the natural product of the soil. It was my fortune 

 at the age of twenty-four years, to come in possession of a very 

 good farm, by my father retiring to another. At that time I had 

 eome ideas of farming, because 1 hud always worked upon a farm, 

 and, although my father had acquired a competency, either himself 

 or through his father before him, I was satisfied he had not ac- 

 quired it at the present prices of labor, nor even at the prices paid 

 eight, ten, or twelve years ago ; and having strong convictions in 

 regard to that matter, I decided upon taking charge of the farm 

 anc> to manage it in an entirely different way. My first step was to 



