FARMS. 81 



contains about thirty acres. An energetic and enterprising 

 fanner bought it, a few years since, for $190. lie then pur- 

 chased a right of way to it for #20 ; making the whole original 

 cost 8210. He had paid for bogging and gravelling, #17 

 per acre ; and upon one portion of it, we saw the finest veg- 

 etables growing ; while, from another portion, the owner had 

 taken a crop of herds-grass, weighing on the public scales, at 

 the rate of over three tons per acre. The whole designed 

 operation had not, at this time, been completed. But the land 

 already reclaimed and cultivated was estimated by good judges, 

 then present, to be worth $300 per acre. We know no 

 reason why the whole tract may not be brought into an equally 

 productive and remunerative state ; nor do we know any 

 sufficient reason for the supposition that hundreds of similar 

 tracts in the county could not be reclaimed in the same way, 

 and with similar advantage. True, the expense and labor 

 must vary materially with the various localities of the land, 

 and the different circumstances of persons undertaking the 

 enterprise. We fully appreciate the spirit which seeks for the 

 cheapest and best way of accomplishing any desirable result. 

 We would have the attention of the society directed more to 

 the cost than to any apparent results of an experiment. 



We would have every premium which shall be awarded for any 

 agricultural experiments or improvements, — for the finest ani- 

 mals, — for every article exhibited at our fairs, determined with 

 special reference to its cost, and to the diminution of cost in 

 obtaining its like, rather than to the fine appearance of the pro- 

 duct itself. There are undoubtedly cases where the benefit of an 

 improvement is outweighed by its cost. There are cases where 

 an animal which obtains the premium at our fairs may, on account 

 of the expense of its present condition, be less deserving than 

 another, whose nearly equal condition has been more cheaply 

 produced. The great question with every thoughtful farmer, 

 in attempting any experiment to improve his land, or enlarge 

 his crops, or feed his stock, is, and ought to be, " Will it pay ?" 

 The difficulty is, there is seldom reflection enough, or it is not 

 exercised in a right direction ; and many golden opportunities 

 for bettering his condition, are thus lost to many a farmer. And 

 believing, as we do, that no improvement in agriculture has 

 yet been introduced into our county, which is destined to be 

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