FARMS. 97 



and subsequent expense a present market price might show a 

 profit not exceeded by any other land operations. 



For the Committee. 



Wm. Sutton, Chairman. 



BERKSHIRE. 



Fro7n the Report of the Committee. 



Your Committee received great pleasure, and no little profit, 

 in the critical examination of the farms submitted for their in- 

 spection. There was great variety in their location and natural 

 capacity, as well as in the ends proposed, and the skill displayed 

 in accomplishing these ends. Some were adapted and appropri- 

 ated to the dairy almost exclusively, others to fattening stock, 

 and others still to a mixed husbandry. All exhibited points of 

 excellence, and in some, we are sorry to say, we found marked 

 defects ; but, as a whole, we were more than ever convinced, 

 that our county is second to none in the State, in the natural 

 capacity of the soil, and the skill with which it is cultivated, and 

 that nowhere in the wide world are the homes of the yeomanry 

 more replete with the comforts and even luxuries of life. Good 

 as is the general character of the agriculture of the county, 

 there is still a wide margin for improvement, and we venture to 

 make a few suggestions in order to elevate the standard of farm 

 management. 



Like the old divines we will commence with the negative, and 

 say that a large farm is not necessarily a good one. We are not 

 aware of any prejudice against large farms. Much has been 

 said lately in favor of small estates, and books have been 

 written entitled " My Farm of Ten Acres " and " Four Acres 

 Enough," and quite lately one with the ridiculous title, " My 

 Farm of Fourteen Rods." This may not be " running farming 

 into the ground," but it is running it somewhere out of sight. 

 Whether a man should cultivate a large or a small farm must 

 depend upon circumstances ; his capital, the branch of farming 

 he pursues, his capacity to handle a large number of workmen, 

 etc., but it cannot be denied that the tendency of most farmers 

 is to spread themselves over too great a surface. It sounds big 

 to say we own a thousand acres, but if we have to skim over 



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