300 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the introduction of tobacco raising, not only is all the grain 

 raised by the farmers used, but large quantities are imported. 

 There have been received, at the Northampton depot alone, the 

 past year, nearly 50,000 bushels of corn. This must be attrib- 

 uted in part, however, to the increase of manufactures qf various 

 kinds in our vicinity. 



Feeding is carried on in many instances without much regard 

 to profit. At least it is often a secondary consideration, the 

 main object being a supply of manure for the tobacco crop. 

 This necessity has led to a great demand for hay, to such an 

 extent, indeed, that baled hay from abroad is beginning to be 

 used. In addition to this, concentrated manures are largely 

 used. Of the various kinds, probably Hampshire County 

 disposes of not less than a thousand tons a year. Expensive as 

 this system of ^manuring is, at present prices it pays ; but if the 

 i,obacco crop sTiould fail, or prices fall, it is difficult to conceive 

 what the farmers would have to fall back upon. 



There is but little of full blooded stock in this immediate 

 neighborhood. The herds of Messrs. Lathrop, of South Hadley, 

 and William Smith, of Northampton, are too well known to need 

 any description here. These, with the fine herd of Ayrshire 

 cattle and Southdown sheep owned by Luke Sweetser, Esq., of 

 Amherst, constitute the choicest specimens of their kinds, and 

 I believe are the principal herds in Hampshire County. 



If I were requested to point out a pattern farm, all of whose 

 operations are well balanced, where no crop is cultivated at the 

 expense of others, but the grand object is the highest condition 

 of every field, where neatness, order, thrift and indepeiidence 

 are obvious to the most careless observer, I should not have to go 

 beyond the limits of my own town. It lies upon its eastern verge, 

 has an eastern exposure, being separated from the alluvial por- 

 tion of the town by a considerable elevation. Mr. Green (the 

 owner of the farm,) began his farming operations about forty 

 years since, with the purchase of a tract of twelve acres of brugh 

 pasture, to which, the next year, he added a tract of woodland, 

 of thirty-six acres. This he cleared off and brought into culti- 

 vation at once. Since then he has been making additions, until 

 now, he, with his two sons, who are settled around him, have 

 over two hundred acres under their skilful management. He 

 is a successful farmer, and if his success has been gradual, it has 



