ROOT CROPS. 283 



the spring, prices are two to four dollars higher. At |10 to 

 $12 per ton, carrots, I apprehend, are cheaper food than hay 

 at 125 to 130 per ton, or oats at sixty cents per bushel, — 

 equal to two cents per pound against carrots at half a cent per 

 pound. 



My experience is too limited to give much weight to my 

 returns, but I am satisfied that carrots, at 600 to 700 bushels 

 per acre, are more profitable than hay, potatoes or maize, at 

 such an extent as would be required for the consumption of 

 Massachusetts. But farmers whom I have consulted say they 

 are unprofitable, and one may see the reason by reference to 

 the returns, which give 220 to 428 bushels to an acre, costing 

 probably nearly as much per bushel as my 900 bushels. 



I apprehend that fifty per cent, more potatoes and hay can 

 be obtained from our lands, if their cultivators would devote 

 more labor and capital to them, and emigrate less West, where 

 capital is wanting. The average of hay, (English hay,) in this 

 State, is under one ton per acre. I get two tons on the average 

 of seasons, witli moderate top-dressing every year or two. The 

 expense of cultivating will not much more than meet the 

 expenses ; but it would be otherwise in the hands of farmers. 



Massachusetts, poor as she is in soil and limited as it is in 

 quantity, — with three or four months less time in the field than 

 in the Southern and South-western States, — produces a larger 

 amount of commodities than South or North Carolina ; and 

 much may be added to the existing quantities, if more knowl- 

 edge, skill and enterprise are applied to agriculture. 



If I am right in these views, you must, when addressing the 

 farmers, say what you think on the subject. 



Yours truly, 



Henry Lee. 



Boston, December 8, 1856. 



