COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS. 
The returns which are herewith presented from the county 
associations show a most gratifying advance in the agriculture of 
the State. More systmatic efforts are being made in every 
branch of farm husbandry, and the farmers are devoting their 
energies to the advancement of this great interest in a manner 
most creditable to them. The reports from several of the coun¬ 
ties coutain many valuable experiments, all showing that a spirit 
of inquiry is abroad, and that farmers are not unwilling to adopt 
suggestions which experience and science have proved most ad¬ 
vantageous to their best interests. 
Th« increased attention paid to drainage is producing most 
gratifying results. Better crops are produced, less liability to 
damage from insects and from the winter; and in almost every 
instance the returns show that the outlay is greatly overbalanced 
by easier tillage and more abundant crops. 
The improvement in dairy products is most marked, as well as 
a very considerable increase in the yearly products per cow, both 
of butter and cheese. The inquiry as to the breed of cattle best 
adapted to the dairy is receiving attention; and the general opin¬ 
ion is, that our best native cows, which are superior as milkers, 
with a cross from a Short Horn, Ayrshire or Devon bull, produce 
the best cows for the dairy. While the milking qualities are 
generally retained, their aptitude to fatten more readily, when no 
longer useful for the dairy, is a decided advantage, and will, 
eventually, it is believed, be generally adopted in our best dairies. 
Care should be had in selecting the male animal, as one descended 
