105 



tute no small portion of the area of the State, can be ren- 

 <iered the most profitable of any according to the labor. 

 Thousands of acres of hillside, and rough, rocky lands, 

 which have been stripped of their natural product, the 

 4;rees, and are now kept for a sort of pasturage, would 

 return a higher percentage if they were at once convert- 

 ■^d into vigorous young forests. It will be seen, taking 

 the State as a whole, that the number of farms which 

 show a steady increase in productions is not large, and 

 all that can strictly be called progressive in her agricul- 

 ture lies in improvement in quality ; that notwithstand- 

 ing the numerous appliances for saving labor, the qiianit- 

 ty of products has not been increased during the last 

 twenty-five years. 



If any one wishes further evidence on this conclusion, 

 he can turn to the statistical record, and there he will 

 find that the State had in 1845, 52,541 more cattle than 

 "the returns show for 1865 ; there were 185,509 more of 

 sheep — the falling off being principally in the Merino 

 Mood; there has been a decrease of 41,519 in swine. 

 The horses, however, are more numerous, there being a 

 gain of 25,101. This gain may be attributed to farmers 

 substituting horses for oxen, and to the larger numbers 

 required in cities. The corn crop in 1845 was nearly as 

 large as that of 1865, the difference being only 1,470 

 bushels ; the increase in barley is 16,664. The hay 

 'Crop shows an increase of 19,189 tons, while during the 

 same period wheat fell off 7,206 ; in rye the decrease is 

 176,512 bushels; in oats, 572,162; in potatoes, 940,575 

 Ijushels. In 1845 there was made 3,410,045 pounds of 

 cheese more than in 1865. The butter sold from our 

 farms at the latter date was 3,892,766 pounds, which is 

 nearly four million pounds less than the product in 



