SECRETARY'S REPORT. 273 



But exemption from the early frosts of autumn is of great 

 importance. It is this which insures the crop of cranberries 

 near the sea, the late crops of corn, tomatoes, melons, the ripen- 

 ing of the grape and late fruits and vegetahles, and the beauty 

 of flower, foliage and forest, which is the charm of autumn 

 scenery. We remember a season in which a frost of September 

 10th cut down all vegetation in the inland counties, whilst the 

 fall election of November found the tomatoes and dahlias fresh 

 and unwithercd upon their stalks. 



This is not what might be denominated a farming county. 

 There is not a large population who are devoted solely to culti- 

 vating the earth. There is much woodland and many cedar 

 swamps, and the majority of farmers derive some of their earn- 

 ings from wood and timber lots. It is said that nearly one-half 

 the area of Plympton is wooded swamp land. But the farmers 

 are not unmindful of stock. 



Within a few years more attention has been paid to the advan- 

 tages of thoroughbred stock, and the prejudices of very many of 

 our farmers have been subdued by the evidence of their value. 

 We have never known a farmer who had personal experience in 

 raising or keeping any pure-blood stock which was suited to our 

 soil and climate, whose opinions, however strong, have not been 

 changed, or greatly modified, by that experience. Great injury 

 is done to the agriculture of this county, as well as injustice 

 to valuable varieties or specimens of stock, by attempting to 

 force them on land not suited to their growth, maturity or per- 

 fection. For this reason it is believed that a mistake is made in 

 introducing upon the thin soil of this county the large carcase of 

 the Shorthorn, among the horned cattle, or the Cotswold and 

 Leicester, among sheep. They may be raised without material 

 deterioration upon single farms, or particular localities in this 

 county ; but their general introduction here can be of no lasting 

 public benefit. 



We call to mind a remark made by a distinguished gentleman, 

 who honored the fair of the agricultural society, in Plymouth 

 County, with his presence a few years ago, and visited several 

 sections of our county. He waa a dairy farmer himself, and 

 had been brought up among the herds and dairies of Worcester 

 County. He observed that a prevailing characteristic of the 

 cows in our county was the coarse and steer-like head and neck. 



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