166 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



has been constantly going west ever since ; and now the 

 Pacific is reached, the same system pursued, and lands which 

 originally yielded forty bushels of wheat per acre, now yield 

 but twenty. 



It is only a question of time when this system of agricul- 

 ture must end ; consequently, where the land needs it, there it 

 will, or should be, commenced. Where is it more needed 

 than in Massachusetts ? 



We formerly raised stock and found it profitable. Our 

 farmers depended upon a fat ox or cow in the fall to pay in 

 part their expenses ; but now how difi'erent. Cattle from 

 Texas compete in our own markets with our own herds, for 

 the reason that our lands do not bear grass to enable us to feed 

 our stock to compete with them, and for the noble Shorthorn 

 we raise other and smaller breeds of stock which can thrive 

 on poorer pastures. 



These remarks are general and do not apply to our rich 

 valley and bottom lands. 



Can this state of things be changed, and our agricultural 

 interest be made to thrive and prosper as our mechanical, 

 manufacturing and commercial has ? They should all go hand 

 in hand, and each is productive of the others' good ; but the 

 chief of all is agriculture. 



With the same attention, knowledge, energy and skill 

 applied to this branch of industry it will progress as well ; 

 agriculture will take its stand as an exact science, and culti- 

 vation of crops can be entered upon as an art with as much 

 certainty as any other manufacture ; and from these deduc- 

 tions we are led to consider whether the elements which have 

 been abstracted from the soil can be replaced at a cost that 

 the crops grown will pay for the materials used, the labor 

 bestowed, and leave a margin for profit. 



This brings us to the question assigned, — manures and ferti- 

 lizers, and their application. 



The term manure is applied to all those substances which 

 render soils more fertile. 



Manures produce their effects by contributing directly to the 

 nutriment of plants, by improving the texture of soils, or by 

 acting as chemical agents on the inert matters of the soil by 

 which they are transformed into a state fit for the use of plants. 



