44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Of the resources of the State, the first in importance is grass. 

 On all the clay lands which have been described it is the great 

 crop. Difficult as thej are of management for all hoed crops 

 and gardening, they may be made to yield heavy burdens of 

 grass for many successive years, by care and proper surface 

 manuring. For half a century such lands have been known to 

 yield two heavy crops of grass annually, with a top-dressing of 

 8ea-manure alone. Attention to them cannot be too strongly 

 urged. They are among our most valuable possessions. For 

 the lighter lands, composed in part of " yellow loam," corn is 

 the great crop, of which too much cannot be said, and a succes- 

 sion of small grains and grass. Of these small grains, barley 

 seems to be the most universal. There are regions in which it 

 cannot be grown — such as the Connecticut Valley — but, gener- 

 ally, on land in good tilth, it may be made to produce heavy 

 crops. Rye, oats, and buckwheat are also useful. 



No efforts have enabled us to make wheat an important 

 staple crop of the State. From the days of Mr. Colman, who 

 urged its cultivation with all his usual enthusiasm, until now, 

 all efforts to introduce it have been vain. For the cultivation 

 of root-crops, few States enjoy better advantages. In all the 

 good dairy districts, the land is peculiarly adapted to the growth 

 of mangolds and ruta-bagas ; and it is encouraging to know that 

 attention to them is increasing. They may do more than any 

 thing else, except grass, to develop the cattle and sheep hus- 

 bandry of the State. Let the crops referred to be raised on the 

 best lands, and if fruit is to be raised beyond the limits of our 

 gardens, confine it to the ledgy and shelly lands, filled with 

 mineral substances, and difficult of access to the plough, where 

 no superabundance of wood is made, but where the smooth and 

 hardy trees fruit early, and never attain g;reat size, at the 

 expense of their fruitfulness. 



In conclusion, it was urged that almost all the soils in the 

 State could be profitably, if only properly, cultivated. It remains 

 for the intelligent and observing farmer to ascertain the crops 

 and cultivation to which his land is adapted, and to adopt a 

 system, which, if carefully pursued, is sure of its reward. 



The afternoon was devoted to a lecture, by Prof. S. TV. 

 Johnson, of Yale College, on 



