AGRICULTURE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



"WHAT SHALL WE RAISE? 



From an Address before the Essex Agricultural Society. 



BY WILLIAM D. NORTHEND. 



A^^iat shall our farmers raise, and what mode of cultiva- 

 tion shall they adopt from which they cau expect the greatest 

 profit ? 



In cousideriug these questions, we should have regard 

 not only to the crops we should grow in the place of cereals, 

 but to the necessary changes involved in the introduction of 

 so large a non-agricultural population in our communities. 

 Udoii examination, it will be found that the location of farms 

 is of primary consequence — whether near to or remote from 

 larg-i towns. Indeed, as lands are now cultivated, the whole 

 system of cultivation of farms in proximity to towns is so dif- 

 ferent from the system of cultivation of those remote, that 

 they may properly be treated separately. 



Farms near to towns have a special value for the raising of 

 a large variety of vegetables and for the production of milk, 

 for which the populations of the towns furnish a ready market. 

 Experience has shown that for the greatest profit this cultiva- 

 tion must be very thorough, and that it should be made a 

 specialty, and that small farms under a high state of cultiva- 

 tion are the most remunerative. But this mode of culture 

 requires very large amoimts of manure, which cannot be fur- 

 nished from the farm, as it is cultivated for crops which are 

 not returned to the soil. This is supplied from the towns — 

 from the stables and the refuse of the stree s and dwellings, 

 which can be transported to the farm at little expense, and 



