220 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



them. In the spring of 1866 I sowed with oats and seeded 

 down with one-half bushel of Timothy and five pounds of clo- 

 ver seed per acre ; harvested two hundred and seventy bushels 

 of oats ; I have mowed two crops of grass yearly ever since, 

 with the exception of one dry season, and consider the land 

 worth at least one hundred dollars per acre in its rural locality. 



Having offered this result of my experience as a sample 

 of what may be realized by well underdra'uing and good cul- 

 tivation, and believing there are large portions of land in 

 Western Massachusetts that can be made to show as great, if 

 not a greater margin of improvement, I am led to the conclu- 

 sion that draining is the pioneer of the plough, the pulverizer, 

 the mower and all other accompanying machinery, as well as 

 the improvement in quality and quantity of our cereals and 

 grasses. When our community become convinced of the 

 intrinsic value of draining to cultivation, to the positive action 

 and the proper application of fertilizing properties to our 

 soil, they will have gained a long stride in an agricultural ed- 

 ucation. The plough should now take its position to pulverize 

 and prepare the land for cultivation and for the variety of im- 

 proved machinery to follow. 



It may be said that I should not have received so much 

 profit from any other crop. That may be true ; but I will say 

 in regard to the cultivation of tobacco, that I believe it has 

 been a benefit to our community up and down the valley, 

 because it has taught farmers to ta'ce every possible means to 

 save all the manures that can be manufactured on their lands 

 and farms. It has become the practice, very generally, 

 among our farmers, within a year or two, — and it is increas- 

 ing very rapidly, — to stable their cows the year round, even 

 if they have but a small number, and to litter with sand or 

 dirt, or some kind of absorbent, by which they save all the 

 manurial properties of the droppings of their animals, and 

 increase their manure-heaps wonderfully. 



There is another reason why I think that the cultivation of 

 tobacco has been an advantage. It has certainly improved 

 the appearance of our lauds very much indeed. Underdrain- 

 ing has been carried on there to a large extent, for the reason 

 that it is impossible to get a good growth of tobacco where 

 any water will stand at any time of the year. I knoAV, there- 



