SECRETARY'S REPORT. 307 



As would naturally be expected, there is a marked difference 

 in the products of the two sections. The hill towns produce 

 very little grain, their principal reliance being upon stock and 

 and its products, — butter, cheese, wool, &c. 



In many of the hill towns population is diminishing. Many 

 houses are unoccupied, and going to decay, and there is a gen- 

 eral lack of thrift and enterprise among the farmers. Young 

 men of energy and capacity seek more inviting fields, and those 

 who remain, for the most part adopt the same plan of husbandry 

 that their fathers pursued before them. This is particularly 

 true of some of the towns cast of tlic Connecticut River, where 

 granite predominates, and the soil is colder and less productive 

 than that on the limestone rocks, west of the river. The main 

 feature in these towns is expressively termed " skinning," cut- 

 ting off wood and timber, selling hay, and sometimes what little 

 grain they raise, to the river farmers, " running " their mowing 

 lands and then turning them into pasturage. In short, taking 

 all they can from the land and returning nothing. 



The stock in these towns is generally small and poor. In 

 some of the hill towns, much attention is paid to the breeding of 

 neat stock, and in Shelburne particularly, great success has been 

 attained ; and where we find good stock, we generally find good, 

 thorough, systematic farming. Having lately visited some of 

 the farms in Shelburne, I am able to state more particularly 

 their style of husbandry, though, probably, most of the good 

 stock farms in the county are conducted in substantially the 

 the same manner. 



These farmers raise very little grain, finding it cheaper to buy 

 corn at the West, than to raise it on their stony soils. Most of 

 them keep a few store sheep, and from them raise lambs for the 

 market, and many buy sheep in the fall to fatten and send to 

 market in winter or early spring. Their principal attention, 

 however, is given to neat stock, which is almost exclusively 

 Shorthorn and grade Shorthorn, and indeed, throughout the 

 county, this stock so strongly predominates that other varieties 

 need not be taken into account in speaking of the stock of the 

 county. 



The number of thoroughbred animals is not large. In Shel-. 

 burne, George E. Taylor has fifteen ; his brother, John Taylor, 

 thirteen. There are two pure-bred bulls, one owned by the 



