Therefore 69 acres out of every 100 is in grass either as pasture or meadow. This is 17 per cent of the improved land in straw crops. 13,400 21,887 283,460 106,368 10,603 435,718 Which is 28 per cent of the improved land, and leaves only the small fraction of 3 per cent of the improved land unaccounted for, and may be included in orchards. The aggregate grain products are equal to 14 bushels per acre upon the land cultivated with grain crops. The average aggregate value of the annual vegetable products of the groups upon the improved land, exclusive of pasturage, is $9.65 per acre. ANIMALS, AND VALUE OF THEIR PRODUCTS. Meat cattle, total number..... 390,681 Meat cattle, under 1 year... Meat cattle, over 1 year, exclusive of working oxen and cows 95,906 The aggregate of improved land to cattle is one animal to 45 acres of land. Of cows, there is one to 12 acres. The proportion of cows to the aggregate of State is 19 per cent. The proportion of cows to the cattle of the group, or their equivalent, is 39 per cent. But the proportion of cows to neat cattle is 53 per cent. Total value of animal products, exclusive of cattle killed and sold $5,648,264 1,097,352 770,740 One-third of the cattle over one year old, exclusive of those killed, 639,380 One-tenth of the horses, as probably sold, viz., 9,837, at $30... 271,111 194,218 $8,621,065 Total value of animals and animal products..... A portion of the hay and straw of this group are exported. But as the surface of the country in the interior, from the Hudson river, is mountainous, and there are but few routes whereby such bulky articles can be brought to market profitably, it is perhaps but fair to assume that there are not to exceed 100,000 tons of hay exported, and about $100,000 worth of straw sold for export. Owing to the market facilities furnished by the canals and river, it may be safely assumed that the oats, rye and barley are made a surplus or marketing crop. Corn and peas are generally consumed on the farm; beans only being sold. A portion of the potato crop is sold, perhaps not to exceed one-fourth, for the article is too bulky and cheap to bear long transportation. The same may be said with regard to apples and cider; not over one-third of this product reaching a market. But flax seed and lint, hops and grass seed, are all marketed. The value of surplus of vegetable products annually, would be about as follows, viz.: This sum is equal to $4 per acre of the improved land, and would make the annual average income of the farms upon the improved land, equal to $320, or not far from seven per cent. upon the capital invested. The indications of thrift, over the largest portion of this group, are such that the improving condition of the inhabitants cannot be mistaken. Away from the great thoroughfares that border it, the accumulations of wealth must be made by slow degrees and by industry and a rigid economy. Nor will the interior ever be other than a grazing and dairy region. As a dairy region, especially for butter, it has no rival in this State, at least. The pure water and air, and the sweet herbage of the mountain pastures of this region, enable the skillful dairy woman to send from these hills and valleys, butter which has no rival, and deservedly commands the highest price wherever known. AGRICULTURE. The soil and climate over the largest portion of this group, admit of but little variety in its agriculture. Pasturage and the dairy must ever remain the occupation of its rural population. Their industry may be varied to some extent, but their true wealth will be most increased by increasing their annual animal surplus. The soil has the mineral elements of a perpetual fertility, for the rocks of nearly all parts of this group contain either lime or potash in appreciable quantities. Thus it will always be in the power of the farmer to increase his store by a judicious managemeut of his soil. He cannot amend the climate, which owing to the elevation of the great proportion of the land, will partake more or less of Alpine rigors, yet he can, by adopting a system of farming suited to its peculiarities, mitigate its rigors. The attempt to raise grain to any extent beyond the absolute necessities of the farm, except in favored localities, is poor economy. Grass, in pasture or meadow, should be the great object of every farmer, and all his energies should be directed to this end, and he must regard this as the sheetanchor of his success. He should regard a good turf as more important than his wife's best carpet, and be quite as careful of its preservation. The plow should be used as sparingly as possible, and manure husbanded with the greatest care, and applied with a liberal hand. The time has come when the farmer may add to his surplus crops, flax and the sugar beet. One prepares the way for the other, and both come well within the means of the dairy farmer. Neither impoverish the soil, and both add to the manurial resources of the farm, for only one ton in five of flax need to be carried from the farm, and the balance forms the choicest kind of bedding for stalled animals. And one ton out of five of the gross products of the beet is excellent forage for cows. Thus, by growing less grain, the farmer will be able to increase his gains, to increase his manurial resources, to keep more animals, and to make more manure, which after all is his best crop. He will reach that point of all good farming which is indicated by the increase of his herd, without increasing his acres. The more manure the more cattle, the more cattle the more manure. The general prosperity of this district, therefore, is by the increase of its grass products. The cultivation of hops is carried on largely in this group, Otsego county being the great central hop growing county of the State. Fifty-seven per cent. of all the land in hop gardens in this State is in this group; and fiftyfour per cent. of all the hops grown are also grown here. Mr. Caird, in speaking of the great hop district in Sussex, England, where from 10,000 to 12,000 acres are annually cultivated in hops, thus speaks of the uncertain returns from hop farming: "This plant requires the richest Boil of the farm, and receives nearly all the manure produced, robbing the corn and root crops of the share which rightfully belongs to them. The farmer's attention is concentrated on his hop garden, and the rest of his farm receives very little of his regard, and hardly any of his capital. The operation of the duty gives the business a gambling character. A favorable season with a large yield of hops is disastrous to the farmer, as the market value of the article falls, while the duty swells in proportion to the bulky character of the crop. When the crop is a short one the farmer prospers, as the price of the hops rises and the total amount of duty falls. There is thus a constant succession of chances, extraordinary prices being sometimes realized, which tempt men to futher adventure, and withdraw them from that steady, persevering industry without which agriculture cannot be profitably carried on. The uncertainty of prices and crops, and the peculiar bearing of the duty, are such that very few of the hop farmers are enriched by it, many are ruined, and still more are kept on the verge of bankruptcy. It is very probable, therefore, that if the cultivation of hops were to cease, it would in the end be no loss to the Sussex farmer, as his richest land would then be released for the growth of crops of a less hazardous kind, and the rest of his farm receive a fair share of manure and cultivation." The condition of the farms throughout this group, as well as in others, where hops were made the leading feature, fully confirms the remarks of Mr. Caird, and the opinion of some of the best financial men of Otsego county, as well as some of its wisest and most skillful farmers, confirms Caird's English Agriculture, 1850-51. the belief that the abandonment of hop culture in that county, at least, would add largely to the permanènt prosperity of the bulk of farmers engaged in it. That as a subordinate branch of farming, it may be made as profitable as other branches, is perhaps true to a certain extent; but that any crop which returns nothing to the land in manure, but yet requires large quantities to ensure a profitable cultivation, will in the long run be found to add to the permanent prosperity of the farmer, is exceedingly doubtful. In my opinion, the increased culture of this plant ought not to be encouraged. |