HANDBOOK OF CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURE. g~ 



200 more, followed by larger importations by the thousands, 

 by himself and others. Bred pure and improved by the At- 

 woods and others of Litchfield county, and by the Vermont- 

 ers, they have had a world-wide reputation, and in twenty-five 

 years, by cross breeding, had obliterated our old stock of so- 

 called natives. Later, importation of French Merinos by the 

 late John A. Taintor of Hartford, and of the various breeds 

 of English sheep, have given us some of the best stock of the 

 world, and it is difficult to account for the lack of interest, the 

 depression in this department of agriculture, the neglect of 

 an animal so important in developing the natural resources of 

 the State, but a revival will surely come, for as Mr. Chamber- 

 lain says in his letter elsewhere, " this is not prophecy but a 

 necessity." Gen. Humphreys was a native of Derby; gradu- 

 ated at Yale, 1771 ; showed much literary talent ; served his 

 country as a patriot and a soldier. " He also did much for 

 the promotion of agriculture; and just previous to his death, 

 in 1818, was making exertions to form a society for the pur- 

 pose of procuring a farm for agricultural experiments." 



LARGE HAY CROPS, GROWN BY GEORGE M. CLARK, OF 

 HIGGANUM, CONN. 



These cuts show a portion of an acre, which in 1887 pro- 

 duced 12,245 pounds of dry hay first crop. This acre has 

 produced more than six tons of dry hay, first crop, eachjyear 



HAY FIELD. 

 Geo. M. Clark, Higganum. 



