64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The relative proportion of meadow and pasture land compared 

 ■with the whole amount cultivated, appears to be in various countries 

 as follows : in France one-fifth, in Germany one-fourth, in Great 

 Britain three-fifths, in Holland five-sixths. 



France, possessing a soil and climate naturally more favorable to 

 success in agriculture than that of the British Isles, has one-fifth 

 only devoted to meadow and pasture, while more than two-fifths are 

 in cereal crops, but in Great Britain with three-fifths in meadow and 

 pasture, only one-fifth is cropped with grain. Let us now look at 

 the results of such widely differing systems of husbandry. In 

 France upon one hundred and five millions of acres of cultivated 

 land the annual production of meat amounts to eight hundred and 

 eighty millions of pounds, or about eight and one-third pounds 

 per acre, while in Great Britain, upon fifty millions of acres, the pro- 

 duction is eleven hundred millions of pounds, or twenty-two pounds 

 per acre. The grain crops of these countries also presents a 

 contrast equally striking. In France the average production of 

 grain, including wheat, rye, buckwheat and maize is only a frac- 

 tion over twelve bushels per acre, while in Great Britain the 

 average production of loJieat (alone) amounts to twenty-eight 

 bushels per acre. In the British islands the production of food for 

 cattle is considerably greater than in the whole of France with twice 

 the extent of surface, and the quantity of manure is proportionably 

 three or four times greater, the yield of grain more than twice as 

 great per acre, in quantity, and three times as much in money 

 value. 



In Holland, where nearly the whole surflicc is devoted to hay and 

 pasture, land bears a higher value and commands a higher rent than 

 in any other country. 



The significance of such facts cannot be mistaken. They show 

 plainly that an indirect course is not only the surest, but the only 

 safe one, towards accomplishing the end of agriculture. 



The prevalent husbandry of Maine is a mixed one and it will be 

 long, if the time ever comes, when it will be otherwise, but whether 

 sooner or later, it is of great importance for farmers to investigate 

 and ascertain, the relative adaptation of stock and arable husbandry 

 to the circumstances and surroundings amid which they are placed, 

 so that they may bestow their labor where it will yield the best 

 returns and at the same time increase the fertilitv of the soil. 



