94 



whole distance ; but for farmers in other parts of the county, 

 the Rail-road is evidently too remote. 



I have gone thus fully into the subject of fatting cattle, be- 

 cause it is one of the great interests of the county. As at pre- 

 sent conducted, it certainly is not managed to a profit ; and if 

 pursued extensively and exclusively on any farm, is not un- 

 likely to eventuate in the embarrassment and ruin of the farmer. 

 From the best observation, which I have been able to make, I 

 have found very few instances in which a pair of cattle or a 

 single ox kept for any length of time in the stall, have ever 

 made compensation for the produce which they or he con- 

 sume, even at prices considerably below the current prices in 

 the market. There are occasional and accidental exceptions, 

 but they are very seldom to be met with. There is sometimes 

 a sudden rise in the market, but this is a matter so entirely ca- 

 pricious, that no calculation is to be made on grounds like 

 these. If the farmers could by superior skill and cultivation 

 double their crops, a result which I fully^ believe to be within 

 their power, and instead of being satisfied with thirty-five, 

 would raise seventy bushels of corn to the acre, and instead of 

 two hundred bushels of potatoes, would produce four and five 

 hundred bushels to the acre, estimating these articles at their 

 cost and not at the market price, the result would be entirely 

 different, that is, in making up the year's account of the farm. 



It has been supposed that farmers by going extensively into 

 the cultivation of esculent roots, such as carrots, ruta-baga, 

 parsnips, or mangel-wurtzel, could fatten cattle to much more 

 advantage, or rather at much less expense than on hay or corn. 

 This deserves great consideration. On this subject we want 

 light, and that which springs from actual and intelligent expe- 

 rience. My belief is, that for the fatting of cattle, where the 

 coarse fodder is well saved, few crops are more profitable to the 

 farmer than a crop of Indian corn at the rate of seventy bush- 

 els to the acre. Next to corn, potatoes at the rate of four hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre, would be a profitable crop. In num- 

 ber of bushels to the acre, there is no doubt that more can be 



