No. 6. DEPAKTMIONT OF A( ; lilCDLTUJiE. 21 



Wlioep art' not raised in IN'nnsvhania in large numbers excepi in 

 a limited area in the soiitliwestern part of the State, where they 

 have been bred from (lie lime of the first settlement of that region. 

 This section has some of the best flocks of fine wool sheep in the 

 Union and more recently has introduced flocks of long wool sheep. 

 A year ago there were in the State l,lo?>,437 sheep, valued at |3,- 

 S5(),G25.0(». The production of early spring lambs has been carried 

 on with great success in some of the eastern counties and for this 

 {)!irpose many flocks of sheep of mutton breeds are kept. 



As would be expected in a State where dairying is so extensively 

 carried on, the production of swine has for a long time been an 

 important part of animal industry. One of the few original Ameri- 

 can breeds of swine, namely, the Chester White, was originated in 

 Pennsylvania and has gone forth to improve the quality of swine in 

 many distant states. There are, in the State, about a million 

 hogs, valued at about ten million dollars. 



In poultry i)roduction, Pennsylvania ranks fifth among the states 

 of tlie Union, and with the increased attention to breeding poultry 

 rhat has developed in recent years, there can be no doubt that ii 

 is destined to occupy, ere long, a higher relative position. As it is, 

 Pennsylvania produces annually, poultry and eggs valued at more 

 than sixteen million dollars, and this from less than twelve million 

 fowls, valued at about five million dollars. 



Pennsylvania was among the first of the states of the Union to 

 avail herself of the benefits arising from the land grants provided 

 by what is known as the "Morrill bill," which was passed in 1862. 

 As early as 1855 she had established a school of agriculture in the 

 center of the State, so that she was ready as soon as the opportunity 

 came to accept the endowment provided by Congress and to begin 

 to lay the foundation for one of the best industrial schools in the 

 land. In this institution the science of agriculture has been taught 

 far a number of years, and many of her graduates have gone out to 

 accept positions'in other states, where their knowledge of scientific 

 agriculture has given them prominence as benefactors of the race. 

 Under the encouragement of the intelligent farmers of the State, 

 the General Assembly of the Commonwealth has, year after year, 

 adopted a policy of increasing liberality towards this institution, 

 and at the present writing there is in process of erection, as a part 

 of the Pennsylvania State College, a building which, when com- 

 pleted, will cost 1250,000, in which the science of agriculture shall 

 continue to be taught and where young men who choose farming as 

 their life-work, may so acquaint themselves with the laws that 

 control in Nature's great laboratory as to enable them to under- 

 stand not only why certain conditions are necessary to success, but 

 how such conditions may be secured. Evervwhere within the'Com- 



