228 State Boakd ok AoKirm.TUKK. &r. 



the question, How can I turn my surplus of hay into the 

 most money ; sell it in the market of om- large cities and 

 manufacturing towns, or purchase some kind of stock in 

 the fall, winter it, and sell in the spring ? The high price 

 of liay in tlie market, previous to the past two years, has 

 drawn tlie most of the surplus hay out of the. State. The 

 amount shipped for the past few years is numbered by the 

 thousands of tons, wliere but hundreds were taken twelve 

 or fifteen years ago. 



A farmer following mixed farming, as I do, should look 

 beyond the innnediate cash return from a crop of hay. Man- 

 ure I must hav^e, to succeed in my mode of farming. The 

 special fertilizers, scattered througliout the State in abund- 

 ance, are high in price, and very imcertain in value. The 

 question with me (and I think it should be with most farm- 

 ers,) is not, shall I sell my hay, or feed it to stock, but what 

 stock can I purchase in the fall, feed my hay and grain, 

 and make me the most and best manure. And for a term 

 of years, I find my best average returns are from feeding 

 sheep, for nmtton, for the city market. By feeding cattle, 

 for beef, I could not get the value of ''my feed ; by feeding 

 sheep, with a single exception, I have received full value, 

 ;.nd, in most cases, a little profit, besides the manure, which 

 to me is the same as money (and I find manure made from 

 grain fed animals the very best). I tried raising, or feed- 

 ing, thi-ee classes : early lambs, lambs coming one year old, 

 and full grown wethers. Ages between one and four 

 years old are not good feeders, unless some of the long 

 wooled or mutton varieties. In deciding which of these 

 classes to feed, the farmer must le governed by circum- 



