406 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



should be named or numbered, her milk measured, and the cor- 

 responding entry made in the book daily, together from time 

 to time with the manner and expense of feeding. Thus a com- 

 plete history of the animal would be had, which would enable 

 the farmer to judge accurately of his progress and success. 



On the subject of butter, it is to be regretted that such great 

 amounts of an inferior quality should continue year after year 

 to be produced and thrown upon the market. Butter-making is 

 a delicate art, it is true ; but, when once understood, it requires 

 very little, if any, more labor or expense to produce a good 

 than a poor article. The good butter always commands a 

 ready sale, while the poor is poor indeed. Why should not 

 our farmers take a similar pride, and show as general a skill, 

 in producing a good article from the raw material in this branch 

 of their art as that evinced by mechanics in the various products 

 of their labor ? The farmer can no more expect a handsome 

 result by careless and slipshod management than the carpenter, 

 shoemaker, or. hatter; and the one should be quite as much 

 ashamed of inferiority as the others. 



To ascertain what is the best management of dairy farms is 

 a very interesting question. Amidst our numerous growing 

 cities and towns, and in the dense population of old Essex, 

 it will not do for the farmer to go listlessly along in old 

 beaten tracks. Study and inquiry arc necessary. New cir- 

 cumstances require new measures ; and the farmers of our 

 neighborhood who the most intelligently inquire after, and 

 earliest obtain the products best adapted to the wants of our 

 community, can inevitably reap a rich harvest from their prox- 

 imity to our ready markets. The products of good farming, 

 especially of the dairy, probably secure better prices than any 

 other branch of common industry. 



Charles H. Bigelow, Chairman. 



Statement of Charles P. Preston. 



I offer for premium one box of September butter, containing 

 fifteen pounds, being a sample of eight hundred aud thirty-eight 

 pounds ; to which I will add two hundred and twenty-four pounds 



