SECRETARY'S REPORT. 103 



be a heavier Wow to the prosperity of the country than the 

 faihire of the Bank of England. 



Vahiable as this root is for New England, it is, for several 

 reasons, less so, than for old England. We cannot feed it off 

 the field in winter,* but must harvest and house it; nor is it so 

 well suited to our climate, where deluge or drought alternate, 

 as where " the rain has no definite beginning nor end." 



What we especially need, is a crop which shall be for us 

 what the turnip is for England. Is it the turnip? Is^t the 

 carrot? Is it Indian C0rn, (both as kernel and leaf — for grain 

 and for fodder) or is it something else ? and if so, what is it ? 

 No greater service can be done for our agriculture than satis- 

 factorily to solve this problem. 



The following remarks on root culture, furnished by an intel- 

 ligent practical farmer of Oxford County, will be read with in- 

 terest : 



" The cultivation of roots of any kind for stock, has yet 

 received but little attention from our farmers. Indeed, few 

 ■cultivate any kind of crop for their stock especially, except 

 hay. There are a few, however, who begin to understand some- 

 thing of the value of root crops for their animals, and show 

 their faith by their works. 



Believing, as I do, that Maine was made especially for a 

 stock-growing country, I feel that the importance of root cul- 

 ture cannot be too strongly urged. If this faith is well founded, 

 then stock-growing ought to constitute the leading business of 

 our farms, a business to which all other farming operations 

 should be subordinate and tributary. Everything on the farm 

 should be conducted with reference to this business. When our 

 farmers view the matter in this light, and come to understand 

 •the true value of roots for stock, they will not deem it a waste 

 of time and money to grow them and other things especially 

 and exclusively for their use, as very many of them now seem 

 to do; but they will understand that it is just as necessary and 

 profitable to cultivate roots and other feed especially for stock, 

 as it is to grow hay, and as much a matter of economy. 



Of the value of roots, especially the carrot, there seems to be 



*This practice it may he noticed iiere isxapidiy being abandoped^^giving place lo stall feeding. 



