35 



An interest in agriculture is now awakened in 

 Connecticut, which promises the most valuable re- 

 sults ; and improvements in cultivation are rapidly 

 advancing. He agreed in the estimation of the Com- 

 missioner, of the great value of Indian corn. One 

 hundred bushels had been repeatedly produced in 

 New Haven upon an acre. A cattle show and agri- 

 cultural and horticultural fair have been holden in 

 New Haven annually for several years — the last au- 

 tumn in particular, with a spirit which evinced the 

 lively interest taken in the subject ; and he had the 

 pleasure on that occasion of seeing one hundred yoke 

 of very fine oxen from East Haven, attached to a 

 plough, and the plough holden by a venerable man of 

 ninety-six years of age, who laid a furrow along the 

 public square. 



In his own opinion, there was no occasion, in an 

 agricultural point of view, to despair of Massachusetts 

 or any part of New England. There were no evils 

 or disadvantages connected with the climate or soil, 

 which could not be met and overcome. It was a 

 great and lamentable error that so many of our young 

 men deserted the pursuits of agriculture to crowd into 

 the trades of cities. 



He reverted again to the value and importance of 

 chemical knowledge to agriculture. The analysis of 

 manures was a subject of great, and indispensable im- 

 portance. The knowledge obtained from geological 

 and agricultural surveys and chemical investigations, 

 could not be too highly estimated ; and the State 

 could expend no money to more advantage than in 



