WORCESTER SOCIETY. 181 



have obtained the highest premium, hut for the omission of her 

 weight, which was understood to be unavoidable. 



That portion of the farmer's stock, from which he derives 

 many of the luxuries and necessaries of life, and which should 

 be to him a source of income, has not, in the opinion of the 

 committee, received that consideration which its importance 

 demands. With the increase of our population, the demand for 

 the products of the cow increases ; and it is a question yet to 

 be settled, whether the farmers of this county have the ability, 

 or are so far alive to their own interest, that they will be ena- 

 bled to meet this increased demand. All the arts are sisters, — 

 each improves the other ; and as we increase and improve in 

 manufactures, so shall we advance in agriculture. Every thing 

 depends upon the cultivation of the soil ; it forms the internal 

 strength of communities, and introduces into their midst, the 

 circulation of riches from without. 



At one time, Massachusetts made her own butter and cheese. 

 By an official return, made in 1787, it appears, that from this 

 State there were exported, butter and cheese valued at about 

 $46,000, the population then being about one-half the present 

 population. Our county stands comparatively high, in refer- 

 ence to the products of the dairy. Can we say that we make 

 our own butter and cheese now ? The produce of the dairy 

 now exported from this county, probably amounts to $100,000 ; 

 and the amount of butter and cheese imported and consumed^ 

 in the county, to a much larger sum. Are the cows in the 

 county as good as they can be, or as profitable as they should 

 be ? What would be the answer of the farmers from the dairy 

 counties of New York ? They look upon cows that yield but 

 fourteen quarts of strained milk per day, through the season, on 

 grass, as rather poor cows, and are not satisfied without a yield 

 of nearly twenty quarts each. What will the cows of this 

 county average ? Let the farmers answer. 



Your committee feel, that but little advance will be made, 

 until our cows are reared within the county. An intelligent 

 farmer of this county, speaking on this subject, said, " I wish 

 to impress deeply upon the minds of brother farmers, the impor- 

 tance of raising their own cows ; I say cows, for they are of 



