FARMS. 11 



Statement of A. F. Adams. 



A portion of the farm which I offer for your inspection 

 received a premium in 1855. Since that time I have sold land 

 to the amount of |1,000, and purchased three acres, paying 

 $200 for it. Feeling desirous to keep up the fertility of my farm, 

 I have been engaged most of the time in the manufacture and 

 sale of milk, consequently consuming most of my hay and grain 

 upon the farm. From April 1, 1856, to April 1, 1865, (the 

 time when I make up my farm account,) I have sold milk 

 amounting to ten thousand seven hundred and ten dollars, 

 (110,710.) My sales of other articles from my farm, with the 

 exception of cattle and beef, have amounted to about $500 

 annually, and, owing to the size of my family, I have had a very 

 large home market. 



I have usually hired two men for eight months, and one man 

 from three to five months, or nearly that amount of labor by the 

 day, and generally one man in the winter. Much of this labor 

 has been employed in making permanent improvements on the 

 farm. I have continued the practice of following the plough 

 with the iron bar and lever, until most of my fields are pretty 

 thoroughly cleared of stones, some of my heaviest crops being 

 raised where the most stones have been removed. 



I cannot boast of extraordinary crops. I have been more 

 anxious to make two spears of grass grow where but one grew 

 before, or to raise some crop where nothing grew before, than to 

 apply all my manure upon one acre for the purpose of obtaining 

 a premium crop. I have ploughed most of my pasture, manur- 

 ing and cultivating, raising respectable crops, and on such land 

 am seldom troubled with worms or weeds. For stock, I prefer 

 a ci'oss with the Shorthorn. Tliey come to maturity early, are 

 good milkers, and, I think, will make more beef, at the same 

 expense, than any other breed with which I am acquainted. 

 They require good keeping, but I wait to see the man who has 

 made himself rich by starving animals of any breed. If my 

 statement is not sufficiently full, I would be happy to answer any 

 questions proposed by the Committee. 



Abel F. Adams. 



