52 



To Lot No. 1 — Jonathan Berry, of Middleton, 2d premi- 

 um, $6.00. 



To Lot No. 16 — Sarah J. Searle, of Melhuen, 3d premium, 

 Harris' Insects. 



There were three exhibitors of cheese, to whom premiums 

 are awarded as follows : 



To Lot No. 2 — Daniel Silloway, of West Newbury, 1st 

 premium, $8.00. 



To Lot No. 3 — D. P. Nelson, of West Newbury, 2d premi- 

 um, $6.00. 



To Lot No. 1 — Sarah L, Ridgway, of West Newbury, 3d 

 premium, Harris' Insects. 



Your Committee regret very much that there was no ap- 

 plication for premium in the third and fourth departments, 

 under the head of " Dairy." We regard inquiry in relation 

 to these two subjects — quantity of milk produced, and the 

 value of milk for butter — as of special importance to the 

 farmers of this county. Every farmer may have an opinion 

 as to the amount of milk his cows give in a year, and also 

 how many quarts of his milk it will take for a pound of but- 

 ter ; but very few know from trial what their cows average, or 

 what is the general quality of the milk. 



There is far too little knowledge of the cost of keeping our 

 cows and the best manner of keeping them, especially among 

 those farmers wha furnish milk for the market. The produc- 

 tion of milk is fast becoming one of the leading agricultural 

 interests of the county. The rise and increase of manufac- 

 turing cities and villages have created a large demand for 

 milk ; and, as the population increases, the production of but- 

 ter will become less and the quantity of milk raised for market 

 greater. This change in dairy farming calls for a change in 

 the kind of stock, and in its management. Cows that are 

 profitable for butter will, perhaps, hardly pay the expense of 

 keeping at the wholesale price of milk ; and the reverse is 

 equally true. 



