36 



and powers of endurance. The native workmen are usually more 

 temperate in their habits, more intelligent, and better understand 

 and practice economy than the foreign, more especially the Irish, 

 who act more from impulse and less from reflection. At present, 

 we have in our employ one native and three foreign Avorkmen, at 

 ■wages from one dollar to a dollar and a quarter per day. In 

 Winter, the number is less, with wages at five shillings per day. 

 I have thus, as you perceive, Mr. Chairman, gone through 

 with the list of questions proposed by the Supervisory Committee 

 — omitting some, and noticing others, perhaps too briefly. I am, 

 however, persuaded that an inquiry into the subjects presented by 

 the farmers of our county, would be, not only of individual bene- 

 fit, but subserve the cause of Agriculture, which our Society has 

 so much at heart. Yours, respectfully, 



TlIADDEUS ClAPP. 

 MP.. CHARLES ERECK'S LETTER. 



3Iilton, Nov. 16, 1858. 



Gentlemen, — To the questions embraced in your circular, I 

 herewith return such answers as I have been able to obtain from 

 others, or could furnish from my own experience. Most of these 

 answers, I would observe, are drawn from the practice and expe- 

 rience of Messrs. E. & J. Sias, of this town ; and, by the assist- 

 ance of Mr. J. Sias, — who is one of the Trustees of the Society, 

 — I am enabled to present them in the following pages : 



The questions under the first head, respecting the size of the 

 farm and its usual divisions, have been fully answered by the 

 Messrs. Sias, in their statement published by the Society in the last 

 volume of Transactions. The same remark applies also to the 

 questions relating to stock. 



The soil of this farm is, naturally, a heavy loam resting on 

 gravelly clay subsoil, but has been made tolerably light by good 

 cultivation. 



The fences are mostly of stone wall ; made from stones dug 

 from the premises, at a cost of from $1.50 to $5.00 per rod. A 

 very good balance wall can be made for $1.50 per rod, including 

 the drawing of the stones a reasojiable distance on the farm. 



We have made but one covered drain, and that through a piece 

 of swale land. It was dug three feet wide and three feet deep, at 

 a cost, by the job, of fifty cents per rod. It was filled two feet 

 deep with small stones, and one foot with soil. We should prefer, 

 how'evcr, to have drains dug twelve or eighteen inches deeper than 

 this and in filling them, to increase the quantity of stones. The 

 operation referred to improved the quality and increased the 



