268 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



some foreign breed. Such fowls are generally more hardy, and 

 if judiciously crossed, are better for the farmer than those that 

 are bred from pure foreign blood. For such fowls the com- 

 mittee have awarded most of their premiums. 



It is known to every farmer that if fowls have their liberty, 

 they will do some mischief during the summer season. It is 

 also true that they will at the same time destroy grasshoppers, 

 worms and other insects, which infest the farm and do much 

 injury to the farmer; this is especially true of turkeys. They 

 will often go through a field with almost as much precision as a 

 company of soldiers, and then back and forth, until they have 

 ranged the whole field, and destroy those insects which have 

 fallen within their path. If the farmer should keep debt and 

 credit with his fowls, he would often find that he was the 

 debtor. We would say to every member of the society who 

 has a small lot of ground at his command, keep a limited 

 number of fowls, and keep them well. Let a hen-house be 

 built in a warm and dry place ; let it be well lighted and venti- 

 lated, furnished with nests and nest-eggs, with fresh water and 

 every kind of food suitable for fowls, and if your fowls are 

 what they ought to be, you have our word for it that they will 

 pay a good dividend for the money expended. 



John M. Harris, Chairman. 



DAIRY PRODUCTS. 



ESSEX. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



There are few branches of husbandry in which Massachusetts 

 has not to compete to her disadvantage with the fertile prairies 

 of the West. Dairy products, however, are most appropriately 

 and acceptably raised at home, and the thrifty towns of New 

 England afford ample markets. These productions of the first 

 quality are not so abundant as to be a drug in our markets any 

 where. There is even a great and increasing demand for them, 

 and this demand is of that character most encouraging to the 

 producer. Instead of being changeable and fluctuating, it is 



