AGRICULTURE AND WAR. 37 



peculiarly adapted to this crop, and capable of rendering a 

 reward to the cultivator as well as of pleasing the eye of the 

 traveller. 



Of the hay crop too much cannot be said. Nowhere, that I 

 am aware of does the earth furnish such luxuriant grass, 

 adapted to hay, and the heavens such a sun with which to dry it, 

 as are found in the Northern States of this continent. Entering 

 as it does very largely into our domestic trade, and supplying a 

 want which in winter is imperative in our climate, it is really 

 the staple of our home market. Grass will always pay for 

 cultivation. When near the market it always finds a ready 

 sale, and when remote, it is an economical and profitable food 

 for all the domestic animals that enter largely into the economy 

 of the farm, and constitute one great source of its income. 

 Hay, although it does not enter into our foreign commerce, and 

 cannot aid in preserving a balance of trade with any other coun- 

 try, may be made a mine of wealth to the farmer and his farm. 



In all sections of the State where hay finds a ready market, 

 and commands a high price, roots are a profitable crop. 

 Indeed, a proper supply of roots will be advantageous to cattle- 

 feeders everywhere. They extend the haymow and corn-bin 

 far beyond the cost of cultivation ; and require a careful 

 system of husbandry, which may be of very essential service to 

 all our farmers. Perhaps when hay is cheap, and corn can be 

 consumed on the farm more profitably than carried to the 

 market, root crops are unnecessary. But when their cultivation 

 becomes a part of the system of every farm, the agriculture 

 of Massachusetts will receive an impulse hitherto unknown. 

 Better grass crops, more beef, more dairy products, more 

 manure, more money follow in their train. 



Be not induced to devote too much of your best lands to 

 fruit trees. Fruit is an uncertain crop, requires a large outlay 

 of time and money, and occupies land to the exclusion of 

 constant cropping ; and you have all seen the old orchard, 

 which exhausted all its stores for the father who planted it, 

 standing in the way of the sons, who cannot find it in their 

 hearts to cut down the trees which were landmarks in their 

 childhood. Plant a few trees; cultivate them well ; with bones, 

 and lime, and ashes, if you want fi'uit — with barnyard manure, 

 if you want leaves, and roots, and branches. 



