136 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Maech 



Cb. 



By produce of farm and labor of men and teams 

 furnished to Rtform School, 



By permanent improvements — such as new reser- 

 voir, trencliing and draining of land, Ac, 



By increased value of persoBal property of the farm 

 since the commencement of the year, 



4,219 84 

 5,349 10 

 2,556 71 



$10,125 65 

 Showing a balance against the Board of $94 19. 



For the operations of 1856, the Legislature ap- 

 propriated but half the sum of the two previous 

 years, viz. : — 



To Legislative appropriation. 



Labor of boys from State Reform School, 

 Sundry items from State Reform School, 

 Cash from Trustees Reform School, 



Cb. 

 By produce and labor of men and teams for Re- 



fcrm School, 

 By permanent improvements, 

 Increased value of personal property of f&rm, 



since commencement of the year, 



Balance against the Boards 



$3,000 00 



2,000 00 



414 30 



2,855 84 



$8,270 14 



$4,065 44 

 2,175 55 



{6,715 99 

 1,564 15 



$8,270 14 



The question is asked yihf (he operations of the 

 farm were not as profitable in 1855 and 1856, as 

 in 1854? The answer is, that in 1854 there was 

 worked upon the farm an average of but 42 boys 

 daily for eight months, while in 1855, the average 

 number worked upon the farm daily, for the same 

 period of time, was 150 ; this great increase in the 

 employment of boys, all to be accounted for at ten 

 cents per day of nominally six hours, but practi- 

 cally, but about five, did not yield a proportionate 

 increase in the products of the farm, for several 

 reasons ; one was that at least fifty of this in- 

 creased number of boys were too small to perform 

 an amount of labor worth even the time of the 

 men employed to oversee and take care of them — 

 and secondly, a greater number of men were nec- 

 essary to oversee this increased number of boys, 

 and all of the men employed must be of a higher 

 grade than ordinary farm laborers. The amount 

 paid for labor in 1854, exclusive of the labor of 

 boys, was $2764 58, while the amount paid for labor 

 in 1855, exclusive of labor of boys, was $4214 22, 

 showing an excess paid for labor of men in 1855 

 over that of the previous year of $1449 64. An- 

 other reason was the untoward season of 1855, for 

 some of the chief product, especially hay and In- 

 dian corn. The same reasons will apply with 

 equal force, for the apparent deficiency for 1856, 

 for although the season has been good for hay and 

 corn, it has been unfavorable for the root crop, es- 

 pecially potatoes. But the chief reason of the 

 greater deficiency of 1856 is the fact that the Leg- 

 islature did not appropriate but half the sum to 

 carry on the farm and make necessary improve- 

 ments, that it did for the two years previous. This 

 exhibit, however, is by no means intended to show 

 all the operations of the Board of Agriculture ui> 

 on the farm, in either income or expenditure, but 

 to show what those operations, for all purposes, 

 have actually cost the Commonwealth. No one 

 who at all imderstands the wants and necessities 

 of the institution with which the farm is connected, 

 can suppose for a moment that the farm, either 

 when under the charge of the Trustees, or since, 

 could be carried on as a money-making concern, or 

 with the same results in dollars and cents as ordi- 

 nary farming. The object of connecting the farm 

 with the institution was not to rnake money, but to 



help make min, out of, more or less, sickly speci- 

 mens of humanity. We must discard, then, once 

 for all, the idea of direct profit in dollars and cents 

 in carrying on this farm. Although, contrary to 

 all reasonable expectations, we have seen from the 

 above exhibit, which is drawn from a perfectly re- 

 liable source, that the State has had its farm car- 

 ried on by theBoard of Agriculture, for the past 

 three years, yielding all the advantages, at an in- 

 creased rate, for which it was intended, at an aver- 

 age annual expense of but $386 16. And if wb 

 deduct from the exhibit the amount allowed for 

 the labor of the boys, for the three years, amount- 

 ing to $5448 20, and which nominally cost the 

 State nothing, we find the farm operations to have 

 resulted in an average annual profit actually going 

 towards the maintenance of the institution of 

 $1429 91. 



When we consider all the disadvantages under 

 which the Board has carried on its operations upon 

 the farm, the extent of the operations required at 

 their hands, together with their limited pecuniary 

 means, we shall, I think, render them credit for 

 the judicious manner, so far at least as dollars and 

 cents are concerned, in which they have discharged 

 the trust confided to them. 



I have said nothing of the value of the agricul- 

 tural experiments which have been conducted upon 

 the farm, or of the improvements which have been 

 made in the arrangements and business of the farm. 

 Of these, I hope to have an opportunity of speak- 

 ing at an early convenient future. It is sufficient 

 for the present to remark, that whatever the Board 

 of Agriculture has done with a view to advance 

 the general interests of agriculture, one thing is 

 certain, and that is, that these efforts be their value 

 much or little, have not cost the State, in reality, a 

 single farthing. & 



WeMhorQ\Dec., 1856. 



For the Neto England Fanner* 



INDXTSTRY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



I have been favored with the handsome volume 

 of more than 600 pages, published under the care 

 of the Secretary of the commonwealth compiled from 

 the returns made up to June, 1855. When I look at 

 these in the aggregate, and compare them with 

 the returns of any other community within my 

 knowledge, well may it be said, what a hive of in- 

 dustry is here ! But when I analyze the particu- 

 lars, I see that the returns, as stated, only serve to 

 show the eiTors and deficiencies, compared with the 

 reality. Compare, for instance, the products of 

 Indian corn at Springfield, 19 bushels per acre, and 

 at South Dauvers, 42 bushels per acre. Can any 

 one believe that the products of one of these plac- 

 es are more than double those at the other ? Com- 

 pare, also, the products of onions at South Dan- 

 vers, 410 bushels per acre, and at Northfield, 115, 

 and more than double, also, in favor of South Dan- 

 vers. Now, Springfield and Northfield are fine 

 towns, situate on the borders of the Connecti- 

 cut, with as good a natural soil and advanta- 

 ges, as South Danvers ; therefore, I think there 

 must have been some error in the estimate of the 

 products of ihese towns. I know that those of my 

 own town are not overstated — that 42 bushels of 

 Indian corn per acre, and 410 bushels of onion* 

 per acre, are very near the average production; 



