30 



places, it was too wet for cultivation previous to being drained. 

 Its chiefest productions, for the last seventy years, have been 

 piles of rocks and miles of stone walls ; some idea of the amount 

 of which can be formed by reference to a report of the farm pub- 

 lished in the Society's Transactions for the year 1859. 



In deciding what kind of farming the land was best adapted 

 to, I took into consideration its situation in regard to maikets, the 

 character of the soil and the demands of the times. The charac- 

 ter of the soil, its inclination and exposure, does not seem to favor 

 orcharding. The constant cultivation required would subject its 

 steep hill-sides to severe washings, 



Nor do I believe Indian corn can be profitably raised in Nor- 

 folk County on land that is cold and heavy enough to be classed 

 among the best grass lands. Nor are such lands the kind for 

 successful sheep-husbandry. The grasses naturally growing on 

 them are too sour for sheep, and, for the same reason, stock rais- 

 ing would not be profitable. It seems to me that the supply of 

 cows and oxen for this part of the State, ought to come from those 

 sections of the country where home markets are fewer, and where 

 land is cheaper and better adapted to pasturing. 



Having decided what not to do, I took up the one branch of 

 farming left, namely, the dairy. But this business I could not 

 carry on in the usual manner, for want of good pasture, and I am 

 too far fiom a village to be able to sell my milk every day. 

 So Avhat shall I do but make butter, and that, too, principally on 

 hay and grain, and green crops in their season, fed in the stall. 

 The advantages will be, a chance to make a large amount of ma- 

 nure, with which to keep up the fertility of the soil, the saving of 

 expense in keeping up fences, and, consequently, the less cost of 

 working the cultivated fields. Then just as I was commencing in 

 earnest to make this a dairy farm, the increased interest in sheep 

 and wool draw off a large part of the capital from the dairy busi- 

 ness, which, as a natural consequence, made a better market for 

 those who remained in it. 



But there are few questions that have but one side. Who is 

 going to do all the work of making the butter from eight or ten 

 cows every week ? Farmers' wives, undoubtedly, work the hard- 

 est of any class in the community. They are expected to do the 

 duties, not only of the dining-room and parlor, but also of the 

 nursery, the kitchen, the wash-room and the chamber, and, too 

 often, of the swill-room and pig sty. Is not that enough for one 

 woman, Avithout being obliged to take the care and responsibility, 

 and do most of the work of a butter factory ? Is it a wonder 

 that where so much care and attention is required to make a per- 

 fect article of butter, that there is so little made in the country, 

 when she on whom the labor devolves is already overloaded with 



