SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

FROM

MAY 1, 1887, TO MAY 1, 1888.

By N. J. BACHELDER, SECRETARY.

MANCHESTER:

JOHN B. CLARKE, PUBLIC PRINTER.

1888.

GENERAL REPORT.

AGRICULTURAL ROOMS, CONCORD, N. H., May 1, 1888.

To His Excellency the Governor :

The seventeenth annual report of the State Board of Agriculture from May 1, 1887, to May 1, 1888, is herewith submitted.

A careful consideration of the general condition of New Hampshire agriculture reveals no decline during the year, and in some particulars there is evidence of material improvement. According to the report of the State Board of Equalization for 1887, there are in the State 59,285 horses, 22,419 oxen, 94,329 cows, 47,476 other cattle, 155,685 sheep. Comparison with the report for the previous year shows a gain of 2,445 horses, 862 oxen, 3,866 cows, 2,474 other cattle, and 5,172 sheep, increasing the value of the live-stock of the State $499,606.

No fatal disease has existed to any considerable extent among the live-stock of the State during the year, the State Board of Cattle Commissioners having issued strict quarantine orders and averted what might otherwise have been a serious outbreak. The report of the cattle commissioners in this volume will indicate the cases that have come to their attention.

The copious rain of spring and early summer produced an abundant hay crop, but much was injured in curing and by standing until overripe. Corn yielded an average crop, and more was preserved in the silo than in any previous year. Reports from all sections of the State are universally favorable to the silo, and there is reason to believe that ensilage will be more largely fed in the future. The potato crop was exceedingly