XX EEPORTS OF DELEGATES. 



nstcad of being swept by a temporan' and passing gale, seems to be 

 entirely lost sight of. But whenever fiicts can be gathered which 

 seem to |)rove that farms arc decaying, that the profits of agriculture 

 are suiall and unsatisfactor}', and that the agricultural mind is 

 obtuse, and the agricultural [)urse is empty, these facts are magnified 

 and paraded with an air of triumph and satisfaction, which legiti- 

 mately belong only to those who are removing a great wrong or 

 abating a great nuisance. 



Now, to a calm and fair observer, agriculture is neither unsuccess- 

 ful nor declining. It is a many-sided occupation, not easily de- 

 stroyed. Its channels are numerous. Its opportunities are various, 

 and its enei'gies should be equal to its opportunities. The closing 

 of one channel is but a signal for the opening of another, and sup- 

 pressed at one spring-head it will break forth in newer fields, like 

 the sacred fountain of the fabled Arethusa. If any man supposes, 

 either for the confirmation of a theory or the gratification of a preju- 

 dice, that the great tree is dying because a single branch has 

 withered and perished, he will find himself, when perhaps he least 

 expects it, enjoying the blessings of that generous shelter and shade. 



The county of Essex i)erhaps aflfbrds as good an illustration as 

 can be found of the readiness with which agriculture adapts itself to 

 attendant circumstances, and finds prosperity in one wa}- if it cannot 

 find it in another. Time was when the farmer of this county was 

 devoted to the production of all those crops which enter into the 

 general business of agriculture. Beef was raised on his pastures 

 and fattened in his stalls, on corn of his own raising. Ila}' and 

 potatoes were his staple ciops. The dairy of the county was quite 

 distinguished for its butter and cheese. The prosperity of agricult- 

 ure was undoubted. But as time went on a change took place, 

 which can be well set forth in the following figures, indicating the 

 comparative condition of agriculture in that count}^ in the two 

 periods of ISGO and 1870 : — 



Number of cows, ..... 

 Number of oxen, ..... 



Number of swine, 



Amount of corn, bushels, 

 Amount of butter, pounds, . 

 Amount of cheese, pounds, . 

 Amount of hay, tons, .... 



These figures are somewhat discouraging, but they tell only 

 one-half the story. For while the amount of corn and hay and 

 butter and cheese has declined, and the number of oxen and 



