13 



The place which stock should occupy in the best sys- 

 tem of farming, is another unsettled question. An abun- 

 dant supply of fertilizing matter is a prime requisite for 

 successful farming ; and whether it is more profitable to 

 sell produce and buy manure, or feed the products of 

 the farm to stock, depends upon the nearness to market 

 and facilities for obtaining dressing for the land. 



It needs no demonstration to show that raising the 

 common kind of stock, such as is found in the great 

 markets, will not pay in Essex County. A four weeks 

 old calf generally sells for about as much money as an 

 average yearling. 



The fact that but little stock is raised in the county. 

 and that usually from favorite or superior animals, shows ■ 

 that farmers do not find it for their interest to pursue 

 this branch of husbandry. Neither can cattle be bought 

 and fatted with profit, as they could before the modern 

 facilities of tmnsportation from the West. 



The dairy is, and must be, the only branch of stock 

 farming which will prove profitable in this section of 

 New England. The production of milk for market, is- 

 fast becoming a leading business, and the large propor- 

 tion of population who depend upon the farmer for a 

 suppty of milk, will make this a principal department 

 of husbandry in the future. There is a mistaken ideai 

 abroad concerning the profit of this branch of farming: 

 If we reckon milk at the wholesale price, and take into 

 account the market value of the provender and the aver- 

 age quality of cows kept for this purpose, we shall prob- 

 ably find the a.etwal profits of producing milk extremely 

 smalL This department of farming has engaged my at- 

 tention for some years, and I find the annual results aver- 

 age very nearly the same. 



