36 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 



esting. Two or three points may here be noted as indicative 

 of the then existing condition of agriculture. The Marl- 

 boro correspondent in touching upon the topic of woodlands 

 sagaciously remarks : *' One half the woodland now re- 

 served would suffice if our farmers paid a little more 

 attention to the finishing of their rooms. In order to save 

 $20 in finishing his house, the farmer often subjects himself 

 to an annual expense of half that sum for fuel, which 

 otherwise might be spared, without reflecting that he might 

 as well borrow money at 50 per cent, to complete his 

 house." 



The responses show that at the beginning of the century 

 a medium crop of hay for an acre of upland in Marlboro, 

 Concord, New Gloucester and Newbury was one ton ; in 

 Worcester, Brookline and Barnstable, one and one-half 

 tons ; in Brookfield, 18 cwt. ; in western Middlesex towns r 

 16 cwt. A medium crop of Indian corn per acre in the 

 same towns ranged from 40 bushels in Newbury to 20 

 bushels in Barnstable. Among the products of the farm 

 sold for money, Marlboro and Worcester name " mules." 

 This breeding was a distinct advance upon the state of 

 things existing a few years prior ; for the first importation 

 into the United States for this purpose occurred in 1795 T 

 when two jacks were landed at Portsmouth, N. H., being a 

 gift from the king of Spain to General Washington. 



The correspondents report that the shelling of Indian 

 corn was generally done with a flail, though in one town 

 the approved method was by rubbing the ear of corn 

 against the edge of a spade laid flat-wise. But a brighter 

 day in this particular had dawned, for already, in 1803, 

 an inventor had gained the approval of the board of trus- 

 tees for his newly contrived " corn-sheller." 



In 1802, after a service of six years, President Lowell 

 declined a re-election, and Caleb Strong, who at the time 

 and during five years following was the Governor of the 

 State, was chosen president of the society. He held the 

 office until 1805 when John Adams, ex-president of the 



