50 • GRAIN. 



said that corn in its dry state, contains 10 per cent, of water, and tliat 

 5 per cent, of water is frequently expelled by grinding. Let it be 

 remembered that this corn was cut up on the 28th day of September. 

 Later cutting will give less shrinkage. 



WHEAT. 



There were four entries of wheat ; two fell below the standard of 

 1200 lbs. to the acre. One of the competitors failed to make his 

 return, fearing that he had not the requisite quantity, but misjudged. 

 So that only one premium was awarded, on 22 bushels to the acre, of 

 winter wheat, the blue stem. 



OATS. 



There were three entries of Oats ; one of the competitors failed to 

 make his return. Jos. Goodrich had 52 J|-, and Gardner Merriam 38 J 

 bushels. 



\ 



RYE. 



There were two entries of Rye. Luther Page had 32 if bushels of 

 Rye to the acre, and Joseph Goodrich had 22f| bushels to the acre. 



WHITE BEANS. 



There were only two entries of • White Beans. Ephraim Graham 

 had A%\\ bushels of the large white beans to the acre ; C. Kilburn 

 had 22| bushels. 



It will be observed that one of your committee was a competitor for 

 the premiums, and the committee will here state that he took no part 

 in awarding in cases where he was interested. 



We might rest here, but the importance of the subject of raising 

 grain forbids. The corn crop is the crop of New England next to the 

 hay crop, the most indispensable ; it has been conducive to the un- 

 paralleled growth of our country. It is both a cereal and forage crop, 

 furnishing an abundance of food for both man and beast, and lies at 

 the foundation of our strength and prosperity. It is indigenous to this 

 Continent, was found among the Indians in the early history of our 

 country, and was seized by the white man and cultivated as his great- 

 est boon ; and whatever neglect it has suffered by the men of our day 

 goes to explain the cause of the deterioration, and mental and physical 

 imbecility of the present generation. More bushels of Indian corn are 

 raised in the IT. States annually than of all other cereals put together. 

 It makes our pork, our beef, our mutton, our poultry ; it gives strength 

 to our horses, our oxen ; it gives us a double crop, of grain and of hay ; 

 is classed by Botanists with the grasses, and is used at the South as 

 their principal " fodder" for their horses, mules and cattle; and the 

 farmer who neglects the cultivation of this important grain here in New 

 England, denies the faith and forfeits his name. Whoever luxuriates 



