Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1856-02-07
.Agricultural Condition Of Name.

The following interesting statistics from the
Report Of Hon. E. Holmes, Secretary of the
Maine Agricultural Society, recently made to
the Legislature now 10 session, we copy from
the Bangor Journal
In point OF. numbers, the farmers OF Maine
eclipse el,her of The New England States num-
herring 77.0l6, while New Hampshire mas oui
47.4Os: Vermont. 4s.3I2: Massachusetts,
IS ,Os2 Rhode Island, S,39s; Connecticut,
3l.756.
We have in The State, 1893, 596 acres Of
imnroved land in farms, and 2,5l5,797 acres
| of n.;m,roved land in farms. These, added
,ooetber' will make ,555 1863 acres in all The
farms. y ~ NJ y :. y w
The average of improved acres TO each
farmer in Maine, amounts to a fraction over
twenty-six, which is a less number than can
be found TO a farmer in any other New Eng
land State. We also find that the whole value
OF these farms amounts to twenty-five millions
OF dollars, or little more than twelve dollars
per acre-that in 1850 there were bred in
Maine Al, 72l horses, SIS mules, 1873, $50 mich
cows, 80, 933 working oxen, 1875 800 other
cattle, 45l ST. sheep, 81 ,59S swine. the whole
value of which stock is nearly ten millions of
dollars. r
There were raised in 1850, 296 ,25e bushels
OF wheat, little more than quarter Of what
was raised before the weeviI attacked the crop
,9l6 bushels Of rye, I,75O. 056 bushels of
Indian corn 2,l8l ,037 bushels of oats: L.
1854 ,034 pounds of wool 2O5 ,54I bushels of
peas and beans 3, 436 900 bushels Of poia-
toes ,73l bushels of barley l04 1923
bushels of buckwheat. = ~ 81 ~uo adi anra
Our orchards produced $342 1865 worth our
market gardens, $l22, 387-there were made
9,243, 81 pounds of butter, and 2,434, Asa
pounds of cheese 9ea2 oi t'.lali-' lf-
That there were cut 755 ,S69 tons of hay,
and there were raised 5000 bushels of clover
seed. and 5000 bushels OF other grass Seeds
That there was also raised 40 900 pounds of
hops, 900 pound of fax, $50 bushels of
fax-seed, $50 pounds of silk cocoons. aii
There was $4,000 pounds of maple sugar,
5000 gallons of molasses, and 10000 pounds
of honey and bees wax collected. Our home-
made manufactures being worth over a half
million of dollars. and the value of slaughter
ed animals more than million and a half of
dollars. - ., 1T aT
In 1850 there were 144 $50 milch cows, af-
fording about 9, 243 oil pounds of butter, or
about sixty-nine pounds TO the cow There
are seven states better than this. New York
the average to a COW is eighiy-fve pounds
The reason -four cows not being equal TO those
of others must be that they are not so good
and so well kept. t.Aa
Better cows, and better feed,
And Maine. in butter. takes the Lead
In 1850 the amount of cheese, according to
returns, were 2.434 ,545 pounds Seven states
also take the lead of us in the amount OF cheese
yielded per COW. DR.. Holmes says we ought
TO make more than enough butter 10 supply
our population, and instead of sixty-nine
pounds per COW, the average ought to be an
hundred
In regard to the article of wool we raised,
1854 ,034 pounds. This gives traction over
two pounds to every individual in the State
1t has been estimated, by those who have had
experience in clothing people, that every ind-
vidual requires, on the average, seven pounds
per annum 10 make him comfortable We
have, according to this, deficiency of 1885,
996 pounds, which must be obta ned from 9TH
er sources.
In order to supply the deficiency we need to
keep 945, 1922 more sheep than we now do
To winter these sheep would require Ill 900
tons of hay, and allowing 1900 farmers in
Maine, each farmer to bring this about would
have to raise fraction over two tons more hay
than is now produced. Many states are ahead
of us in wool raising: Vermont, with 268. 900
less people than we have, or with only 4s,3l2
farmers, has half million more acres of land
under improvement than we have keeps over
a half million more sheep than we do; clips
over two millions of pounds of wool more than
we do. E.. ~
In the number of working oxen we lead each
Of the other New England States, and only
four states in the Union go beyond us in this
respect. These are the large States of New
York, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri but
in the size, symmetry, strength and docility of
our oxen, We may safely challenge the whole
Union. # tlA