302 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The total wages paid for farm labor during the last census 

 year was $5,000,919. The wages for previous years have 

 not been reported, and no average can be given, owing to the 

 desultory nature of the employment. 



An examination of the table which gives the domestic and 

 agricultural products by name, with the towns where they were 

 produced and also a table of comparison showing the quan- 

 tity, value, average value and acreage (when applicable) of 

 the chief products of the State for the years 1845, 1855, 1865 

 and 1875, making due allowance for fluctuations in the cur- 

 rency, shows the changes in crops, in value, in acreage, in 

 average yield per acre, and the increase or decrease in the 

 leading crops. The result is gratifying in many respects, for 

 while it is seen that there is a loss in the great staple products 

 of barley, corn, oats, potatoes and wheat, there is for each of 

 these crops an increased yield per acre ; the lighter crops, 

 beans, beets, carrots, cranberries, onions and turnips, show 

 large increase generally, uot only in amount raised, but in 

 yield per acre ; the hay crop has increased in quantity and in 

 average yield per acre. The butter product, 8,000,000 

 pounds, does not vary much in quantity from that of 1845 

 and 1855; but it is more than double that of 1865, and has 

 also more than doubled in price and aggregate value during 

 the last thirty years, the latter amounting to $2,747,878 in 

 1875. The total product of cheese for 1875 was 3,067,017 

 pounds, valued at $405,293. This item of cheese includes 

 only that made on farms, but to make a fair comparison of 

 our products at the present time with any former period, the 

 very considerable amount now manufactured in cheese fac- 

 tories ought to be added. 



There is another consideration which should be kept in 

 mind, and which does not come strictly within the range of 

 the census returns, and that is the greatly increased intrinsic 

 value of our stock, arising from the general progress of 

 improvement and more skilful breeding. Our dairy stock, 

 especially, has undergone a very marked change in the last 

 twenty years. In 1855, for example, the number of pure- 

 bred cows in the State was comparatively small. The num- 

 ber of pure Jerseys could scarcely have exceeded a hundred, 

 all told, whereas now there are single herds that number as 



