68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



liberally supplied with other, and cotnparativelj valueless 

 refuse to be found upon every farm, and which with proper 

 attention they will convert into valuable manure, thus yielding 

 a partial return for the gx^ain required to fit them for slaughter. 



The production of mutton in Massachusetts is largely on the 

 increase from year to year, and, as we have reason to believe, 

 with satisfactory results. 



Upon a single farm in Hampshire County, one thousand 

 wethers are being fattened at the present time, while from one 

 hundred to three hundred is a very common flock for annual 

 stall-feeding with farmers of the Connecticut Valley. 



Comparatively few of those fattened, are bred within the 

 State ; most of them being purchased at the large market-places, 

 or selected by the feeders, among the farmers of Vermont. 



That they are thus purchased and fattened at a profit, there 

 exists no doubt. 



The question of breeds, and the relative importance of breed- 

 ing for mutton, we pass over, hoping it may be duly considered 

 in a future report. 



We now pass to the production of beef. This we shall con- 

 sider in three distinct classes. 



And first is stall-feeding. This is mainly of oxen, and has 

 been practiced to considerable extent for a long series of years, 

 particularly in that section of the State known as the Connecti- 

 cut Valley. 



That this system of feeding has generally resulted in a direct 

 profit to the feeder; in other words, that he has received in cash^ 

 the market value of hay and grain consumed ; we do not for a 

 moment claim. 



If to the value of the beef, the market value of the manure 

 be added, it is still doubtful whether the sum total would yield 

 a full remuneration. Yet, with the exercise of good judgment 

 in selection and purchase, and with skill and economy in feed- 

 ing, together with due care in the preservation and application 

 of manure, we arrive at the conclusion that this branch of 

 meat producing is profitable. 



At the same time we are sensible, that a neglect to bring 

 into requisition some one or more of the above-named requisites, 

 serves to reverse the whole operation and render it unprofitable, 

 if not disastrous. While we speak thus cautiously upon this 



