366 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



brancli of farming has been much neglected. A mania for keep- 

 ing horses has been raging for several years past, and this has 

 caused llio interest of sheep raising to be put in a lower grade, 

 or entirely overlooked. When farmers of the county become fully 

 acquainted with their best interests, they will rid themselves of 

 this surplus of horses and give more prominence to sheep cul- 

 ture. They are a more valuable stock for restoring pasture lands 

 to their original fertility, than any other ; and the raising of wool, 

 as well as mutton, may of itself be made the best paying branch 

 of farm management. For wool, the Spanish Merino stands in 

 the highest esteem by those who have given particular attention 

 to sheep husbandry. Some interest is now being manifested in 

 rearing coarse-wooled breeds. 



The productions of the dairy, although mostly consumed within 

 our own limits, are, nevertheless, items of consideral)le import- 

 ance. There arc no farms especially devoted to the making of 

 butter and cheese, yet each farmer keeps from one to six cows ; 

 the proceeds of which find a ready sale at remunerative prices, 

 chiefly at villages within the limits of the county. 



Some attention is also given to the culture of roots, and to the 

 manufacture of sugar and molasses from the sap of the sugar 

 maple. Both of these productions demand more notice and care 

 from our farmers. 



With this introductory notice, I proceed to give more extended 

 remarks in relation to the chief agricultural staples of the county. 



1. — Grass Gullure. 



In a district where stock growing forms the leading branch of 

 farming, the culture of the grasses assumes an importance not 

 known or thought of in localities chiefly devoted to fruit growing 

 and other pursuits. Grass constitutes the principal food of our 

 domestic animals, with the exception of swine — it feeds our work- 

 ing animals and is the raw material from which is produced our 

 butter, cheese, wool, beef, and mutton ; and by furnishing a sup- 

 port for our farm stock, produces in an essential degree the ele- 

 ments for tlie growth of our vegetables, fruits and breadstulls. In 

 treating this part of my subject, I divide the topic into three points : 



Ist. Mowing land, or grass periodically cultivated as a rotation 

 crop. 



2d. Permanent meadows, 



3d. Pasture. 



