92 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



My crop this year would have been larger had there been wet 

 enough to transplant. As it was I had four hundred bushels, 

 worth thirty cents per bushel, making $120, at a cost of 836.65. 

 A few words in regard to feeding this vegetable. I think they 

 should never be used before the 15th of January ; later would 

 be better. Many farmers no doubt have been led to discard 

 them from too early feeding. 



The seed was planted about the 1st of May, and the crop 

 harvested the last week in October. 



Note. — There were several statements on roots returned to the societies, as 

 for instance, at Nantucket and elsewhere, but the quantity of manure was not 

 stated. Thirty loads of manure in Nantucket means nothing to speak of in 

 Berkshire, and as the value of a statement depends mainly on the quantity of 

 manure, it i* worthless with this item left out. Competitors should remember 

 that the load is not a sealed measure. A cord is a load, and so is a bushel 

 for a wheelbarrow ! 



MILCH C WS. 



ESSEX. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



Dairy. — "We regard inquiry in relation to these two subjects, 

 quantity of milk produced and the value of milk for butter, as 

 of special importance to the farmers of this county. Every 

 farmer may have an opinion as to the amount of milk his cows 

 give in a year, and also how many quarts of that milk it will 

 take for a pound of butter; but very few know from trial 

 what their cows average, or what is the general quality of the 

 milk. 



There is far too little knowledge of the cost of keeping our 

 cows, and the best manner of keeping them, especially among 

 those farmers who furnish milk for the market. The produc- 

 tion of milk is fast becoming one of the leading agricultural 

 interests of the county. The rise and increase of manufactur- 

 ing cities and villages have created a large demand for milk ; 

 and, as the population increases, the production of butter will 



