AGRICULTURE. 9 



island of Nantucket, and what he has to say about its 

 agriculture will doubtless be read with attention by all 

 who take an interest in farming. Mr. Mcintosh says : 



" In agricultural resources the island of Nantucket 

 compares favorably with other portions of the State, if 

 we except the growing of wood and the tree fruits; of 

 these I shall say more further on. We have almost 

 every variety of soil, with a general absence of rocks, 

 which are a serious drawback to farms in many parts 

 of the State. Much of our land is peculiarly adapted 

 to the growth of Indian corn, and though as a whole 

 we do not cultivate as well as we might, the result of 

 my own observations, after passing through various 

 portions of the State east of the Connnecticut Kiver, is 

 that we get fully as good an average as any other 

 county. Rye, oats, and barley do well, and I think 

 with proper selection of soil and seed and proper culti- 

 vation, we may raise as good an average yield of wheat 

 as is raised in any of the wheat States east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River. 



" We have a great deal of land peculiarly well adapted 

 to the growth of garden vegetables * of all kinds, if we 

 except some of the bean family, and all of our vegeta- 

 bles are of superior quality for the table. This fur- 

 nishes an opening for a large and profitable industry 

 in the not distant future. The most that is needed to 

 insure its rapid development is cheaper freights to 

 market, and enterprise. 



* At one of the agricultural fairs some years since, the com- 

 piler saw samples of potatoes that grew three hundred bushels 

 to the acre. 



