130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



sisted on little more than two hnndrcd and thirty acres ot'Iand^. 

 besides thirty fatting oxen ; and in another, two hundred and 

 twenty-five cwt. of mutton and lamb are annually raised on 

 ninetv-four acres of arable land. It will doubtless be a lona: 

 time before our farms approach such production! ; but this is ao 

 reason against striving- to attain a high degree of iuiprovemeBt, 

 and it is gratifying to perceive, from the replies, that an increas- 

 ing interest is felt on this important subject. It is beginning 

 to be understood, that there is a very great difference in value 

 between a cow productive in rich milk, and one which only pays 

 for her keeping; or between a breed of swine which yields 

 twenty pounds of pork to the bushel of corn, and one which 

 yields only ten. 



The working oxen of Maine will now compare favorably with 

 those of any sister State ; but even in these, and more espe- 

 cially in regard to other domestic animals, it must Ijc acknowl- 

 edged that loss is annually suffered from keeping inferior and 

 ynprolitable stock, and that there is groat room for improve- 

 ment, not only as to the amount to be kept, but also iu (luality,*" 

 The first requisite to improvement is to understand, as thor- 

 oughly as possible, the correct principles of breeding. When 

 the causes wdiich influence failure or success are well understood, 

 and when certain efiects are no longer looked upon as matters 

 of chance and ♦eyond our control, but as the natural results of 

 certain causes, it is evident that efforts will be not only more 

 intelligently conducted, but more profitably also. 



Another requisite is the exercise of care and skill in the 

 selection of animals for breeding, which possess such combina- 

 tion of desirable points as promise to furnish the qualities de- 

 manded, whether for the dairy, for labor, or for beef, in neat 

 cattle; whether wool, or mutton in sheep, etc.; and a third 

 is, such care and skill in their treatment as will secure a full 

 development of whatever excellence they may naturally pos- 

 sess ; as without the latter, they will Ijccome stinted in their 

 growth, be later in coming to maturity, acquire vicious habits 

 and deteriorate in many other ways. 



* By the census of 1850, we had I33,r)5G milcli cows in the State. It can scarcely be doiibtcil 

 that improvement could easily be etTecled with these, equivalent to the production of three 

 cents worth of milk per day, without any incrca^^e of cost iu kecp-ng them. Such gain would 

 "amount to nearly a million and a half of dollars annuffW)/— tl,'1C2,'l38.20. 



