244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



improvements ; macliiiies were in use for lifting and moving 

 immense boulders, leaving the fields smooth and clear for 

 cultivation, or for the mowing machine ; tile drains were of 

 frequent occurrence, and it was quite surprising to see a district 

 so retired, the scene of so much intelligent improvement. 



Captain G. W. Carpenter's farm was inspected ; the buildings 

 were located on the summit of an immense hill, commanding 

 an unobstructed view of the surrounding country, in one 

 direction to the extent of thirty or forty miles ; it was a delight- 

 ful location, and the farm was of the first quality. A noble 

 herd of cattle was here found, also a fine flock of South Down 

 sheep, which are receiving increased attention from their 

 enterprising owner, as the demand for heavy oxen decreases. 



No better township could be found for sheep husbandry than 

 Shelburne, and considering the great and increasing demand 

 for good mutton, the high prices of coarse-wools, the early 

 maturity, and consequent quick returns to be derived from 

 sheep, the increased value of their manure over that of cattle, 

 being as one hundred to thirty-six, it cannot be doubted but 

 that the farmers of this section will in a short time stock their 

 excellent pastures with flocks of coarse and middle-wool sheep, 

 to the gradual exclusion of the great Short-horns, wiiich 

 however noble and handsome they may be, arc certainly an 

 expensive luxury ; they are rank feeders, requiring the best of 

 pasture and provender to keep them in a thrifty state ; and the 

 day has probably gone when they can be raised to a profit 

 hereabouts ; a breed of cattle smaller and more easily kept 

 would be found more valuable for dairy purposes. 



A survey of the productive Valley of the Deerfield River, was 

 obtained in perfection from the summit of Pocumtuck Mountain 

 which rises abruptly from the meadows immediately back of 

 the pretty village of Deerfield, which is a fine sample of a river 

 town and contains many good farmers and much excellent 

 land. 



A marked improvement has taken place in the mode of 

 farming in this locality within a few years ; it has been proved to 

 be more economical to manure higher, plough deeper, cultivate 

 better, and work less land than formerly. Lands which 

 twenty years ago produced twenty-five or thirty bushels of 

 corn to the acre, now grow fifty to seventy-five bushels ; where 



