338 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



povcrishes the soil, running' the farmer in debt to his land. I see 

 multitudes of fields in these towns that ought to yield two tons of 

 hay to the acre, which do not now yield one quarter of that amount. 

 The fault is not in the land at all, but in a vicious system of farm- 

 ing. The same is true of the pastures. Rich pastures as well as 

 mowings endure a severe drought, while the impoverished land is 

 almost useless. Now I submit, that other things being equal, that 

 use of your land is the most profitable which robs the laud least of 

 its fertility, or which, in other words, returns the most of fertilizing 

 elements to the soil. That the dairying business does this I am 

 ver}' certain. The manure of cattle, it is acknowledged, contains 

 nearly all the elements of fertility which the soil needs. Special 

 manures are not a substitute. If they were, no farmer can afford 

 to use them, ordinarily, to make hay or grain. He will find almost 

 invariably the balance against him. And if his balance sheet show 

 anything in his favor, he will still find his soil suff'ering for want of 

 bulky excremcntitious manure. All the patents in the universe cannot 

 secure any fertilizer so valuable as that made or composted in the 

 'barn-yard or barn-cellar; in which I include of course the hog-pen. 

 And this is an item not to be overlooked in the dairying business, 

 which I need not enlarge upon because it is so generally acknow- 

 ledged and understood. I can show j^ou fiirms of 100 acres, as 

 remote from market as you are, which will keep twenty-five cows 

 the year round, with sufficient working force of cattle and horses, 

 and which have tui'ned off in cheese, veal and pork $2,500 worth 

 in a year, and which will at present prices turn off" $2,000 worth 

 a year. This result has been accomplished by feeding out upon 

 the place all the hay and grain which it produced, and by making 

 immense heaps of compost in barn-yard and collar for top dressing 

 and other uses. I am sure this can be done here. But 1 see farms 

 of 100 acres on which two or three cows are kept, producing but- 

 ter and cheese enough for the use of the family, turning off a colt 

 or two, a bullock or two, a few sheep and lambs, a little wool, 

 a little pork, a few tons of hay, and a few bushels of grain, amount- 

 ing to $100 or $500 per year, and the farm growing leaner, and the 

 farmer growing poorer, of course, every year. Tin's is not an ex- 

 aggeration, my lri(!nds, 1 fear. 



Here and there you see a farm showing unmistakable signs of 

 thrift in buildings and land. The fields yield a heavy burden, 

 while those beside them, of bimilar soil, yield scarcely half a crop. 

 The pastures are green and growing, while those beside them, the 



