REPORTS OF DELEGATES. 245 



one ton of hay was cut to the acre now three are frequently 

 mown ; one farmer has this year cut more than one hundred 

 tons of hay from thirty acres of land. 



Wheat is taking the place of rye as a more remunerative 

 crop. "Wheat and oats are sowed together in place of oats 

 alone. Corn is thought to be the most profitable in the grain 

 line, if a system of improved husbandry is used. Broomcorn 

 was formerly a leading crop, but the West is able to raise and 

 deliver it cheaper than it can be afforded here. 



Tobacco is grown to some extent in most of tlic valley towns, 

 but is not cultivated by one-tenth of the farmers ; it is a very 

 exhausting crop, requiring very high manuring and constant 

 attention from the sowing of the seed until it is sent to market. 



Not one-fourth as many oxen are fed in the river districts as 

 was the custom fifteen years ago. The feeding of sheep is 

 becoming the great business and has increased four-fold. The 

 secretary of the agricultural society by a pretty careful exami- 

 nation estimated that in the winter of 1860-61 about 15,000 

 sheep were fattened in Franklin County. It has been the 

 prevailing opinion that sheep could not be kept in good health 

 in large numbers ; it may be proper to state that one farmer in 

 the town of Deerfield is feeding two hundred in an enclosure 

 one hundred and fifty feet by twenty-four ; mangers running 

 through the centre of the pen, dividing them into two lots of 

 one hu^j^dred each. Many farmers here think sheep the most 

 profitable stock that can be kept, though some doubt the 

 propriety of abandoning cattle entirely, thinking that both may 

 be kept to advantage. 



Your delegate desires to express his thanks to James S. 

 Grennell, Esq., the worthy secretary and treasurer of the 

 Franklin County Agricultural Society, who was indefatigable in 

 doing every thing possible to render his stay pleasant and 

 profitable. 



Henry H. Peters. 



