8 
soil or minerals contribute to the wealth of this State. The Berkshire mountain 
district, of varying elevation, averaging, perhaps, 1,500 feet, is underlaid with tal- 
cose mica, with detached ledges of lime. East of the Taconic is a limestone range, 
upon which are the towns of Adams, New Ashford, Lanesboro’, Lee, Pittsfield. 
West Stockbridge, Egremont, and Sheffield, furnishing very good marble. The 
white marble of the national Capitol was obtained from this section. The Girard 
College, at Philadelphia, was furnished from Egremont. East of this lime. 
ledge is a vein of hematite iron ore, probably extending from Vermont into New 
York, by a southwesterly trend. In Richmond is a mine that has been worked 
extensively for forty years, and is yet valuable. ‘The Cheever mine, in the same 
vicinity, is successfully worked. “The “Leet” has been continuously worked 
for thirty years, furnishing ore for furnaces in Richmond, Lenox, Hudson, (New 
York,) and other furnaces. Lime is largely manufactured in South Stock- 
bridge, and sold at fifty cents per bushel for building purposes, while the lime 
ashes are readily purchased by farmers at seventeen cents per bushel. Last of 
Lenox mountain the limestone and iron ore again occur, aud to some extent in 
Stockbridge, Barrington, and Sheffield. 
4. Grass is universally regarded as the most profitable farm crop. Indian corn, 
oats, and potatoes, are prominent. Gardening, near towns, is practiced success- 
fully. Productions of the farm, orchard, and garden generally take as widea range 
as the climate admits. For Suffolk county, the following statements are made: 
Hay yields 3,000 pounds to the acre; rye, cut and threshed by hand to save 
the straw, (worth as much as hay,) yields thirty bushels and 4,000 pounds of 
straw ; cabbage, cultivated in rows, 8,000 per acre; potatoes, drilled in by 
plough, in rows thirty inches apart, every eye being cut separate and dropped 
nine inches apart in the row, from 200 to 300 bushels per acre, at thirty per 
cent. profit. 
5. Wheat is little grown. Spring varieties are mostly sown. There is no 
report of the drili. ‘The Tappabannock, from the Department of Agriculture, 
has been successful in some places as a winter wheat. In Bristol county some 
success has attended the culture, and twelve to sixteen bushels per acre obtained. 
The most popular varieties are some that have been disseminated by the de- 
partment. 
6. Pasturage in Suffolk county costs about $2 per month for neat cattle. In 
Barnstable, six months in pasture costs $8; in Worcester, $6; in Hampden, 
five months, $4. The season runs from five to six months, though some herds 
obtain a partial subsistence for a longer period. In the mountain pastures, June 
grass gives an early bite; orchard gzags is also early and continues longer ; red 
top is common, as also white clover. 
7. As in other sections of New England, the apple crop is becoming precari- 
ous in Massachusetts. ‘‘ Formerly there was a great quantity of apples, but of 
late years they have been blighted by the drought, worm, and other causes,’ is 
the record in Hampden ; and “ Berkshire,” it is said, “in olden times was noted 
for its extensive apple orchards, but the old fixtures, planted by the early set- 
tlers, have nearly passed away.”” Many in this section of the State, as in more 
eastern counties, are putting out new orchards, and striving to secure a return 
of the old abundance. ‘The canker worm has been very destructive for several 
years. Pears have met with some success here, and still greater on the eastern 
coast, and especially inthe vicinity of Boston, where the soil and climate seem 
well adapted to their culture, which is made very remunerdative, prices ranging 
as high as $20 per barrel. They yield well in Bristol], upon a stratum of clay 
found there. Peaches have nearly failed of late, as well as cherries. 
RHODE ISLAND. 
1. The increase in farm values is scarcely sufficient to cover the depreciation 
of currency. Newport county is reported at 33 per cent.; Bristol 25; Kent 
