BETTER CROPS AT LESS EXPENSE. 305 



Since the high prices of labor, our farmers seem to have made 

 the discovery that a large crop is more profitable than a small 

 one. There is no county in the State — perhaps not in New 

 England — that is furnished with better or more convenient 

 markets than Bristol County. The surplus produce of all 

 kinds finds a ready sale at good prices in Fall River, New Bed- 

 ford, Taunton and Providence. The increased demand in these 

 cities and large towns for agricultural products has no doubt 

 stimulated the farmer to produce the greatest possible amount 

 of such crops as he thinks will pay the best. It has also given 

 rise to the important inquiry, viz., What crop, all things consid- 

 ered, will yield the greatest net profit ? 



Less ground is cultivated than formerly, with more manure 

 and cleaner culture. The result, of course, is better crops with 

 less expense. 



A marked improvement in the modes of cultivating and 

 harvesting crops is visible in all parts of the county. The scarc- 

 ity of labor during the late war has forced into very general 

 use almost every implement calculated to facilitate the opera- 

 tions of agriculture. Owing to the unprecedented drought in 

 the autumn of 1865, followed by an unfavorable winter, the 

 English hay crop the past year has been unusually light, 

 estimated at two-thirds of an average crop. 



Statistics would seem to indicate that this crop has been grad- 

 ually growing less for the last six years, and it may not be 

 improper to briefly allude to the cause. From 1845 to 1860 our 

 farmers appeared to have a perfect mania for converting bush 

 pastures and low meadows into English mowings. This was 

 effected at a moderate expense. The land was cleared, surface- 

 drained, ploughed and harrowed the first season, and on the 

 following summer the roots and stones were removed, and the 

 plough and harrow were used until the soil became thoroughly 

 pulverized, when it was heavily seeded with redtop, fine-top and 

 timothy. About fifty barrels of menhaden fish were scattered 

 broadcast at the time of seeding, which generally insured two 

 or three heavy crops of good English hay. 



About once in two or three years, it was found necessary to 

 renew the application of fish, not only to keep up its produc- 

 tiveness, but to sustain the quality, for in such lands the English 

 grasses tend to deterioration. In this way thousands of tons of 

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