326 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



acre. Of rye, we had in 1855, 4,668 acres, producing 42,930 

 bushels, or about nine bushels per acre. In 1870 we had 854 

 acres, producing 26,126 bushels, or about 30 bushels per acre. 

 We cultivated 1,787 acres of potatoes in 1855, which yielded 

 151,326 bushels, or 84 bushels per acre. In 1870 we had 1,450 

 acres, producing 129,468 bushels, or 89 bushels per acre. The 

 value of all our farm products, with the exception of slaugh- 

 tered meat was in 1855, $1,059,921 ; in 1870, $1,410,253, or an 

 excess in 1870 of $350,332. 



These statistics indicate pretty clearly the course of our agri- 

 culture, its progress and present condition, and it only remains 

 to consider whether the system is the best for our circumstances, 

 and what should be done to make it more prosperous and re- 

 munerative. The marked features of the exhibit are, that we 

 farm many less acres than formerly, have decreased materially 

 in the product of all the cereals, and that the bread grains, 

 rye and wheat especially, are insignificant in amount. In fact 

 it is undoubtedly true that our farmers do not produce so much 

 grain as they consume. Many of them who stall feed numbers 

 of cattle, or have their barns full of milch cows in winter, feed 

 them freely on grain, all of which is purchased from abroad. 

 In consequence of existing circumstances, the special demands 

 of the markets to which we have easiest and cheapest access, 

 the system of cultivation to which our soil has long been sub- 

 jected, and its present condition, thiscourse commends itself to 

 my best judgment. 



To make grain and export it as a market product, is to send 

 away the choicest mineral elements of the soil, those which are 

 very slow to develop, and which it is difficult and costly to sup- 

 ply. To raise large crops of hay, and feed it in conjunction 

 with foreign 'grain, and send away principally carbon, in the 

 form of fat and butter, is certainly best for the land, and in con- 

 sequence of the character of our markets, and the cost of cul- 

 tivating grain the best for the pocket. The results of this 

 course are a sufficient commendation, as they show a gradual 

 increase per acre of our leading crops. 



The change in our agriculture within fifteen years is encour- 

 aging. We have, however, not only begun to set back the tide 

 of depreciation, but commenced to ascend the steep of improve- 

 ment, our progress in which, it seems to me, might be acceler- 



