olO [Sekats 



three plants in z place. In ten or twelve clays more, repeat the opera- 

 tion; leaving in no instance but one plant in a place. After this, dress 

 them out once or twice more, ascircumstaDces may require; and if, at 

 harvest, your labors are not rewarded by at least a good crop, then the 

 expectations of one will bo disappointed, whether yours are or not. 



Jonathan Eattey, 

 Peru, 12 mo. dOth, 1842. 



CULTURE OF OATS.— Mr. Battey's Statement. 



The following is my " statement" respecting a crop of Oats, which 

 r raised this season, and which I respectfully present for your con- 

 sideration in awarding the Society's piemiums on that crop. 



From a field of green-sward oats, containing seven acres, 1 mea- 

 sured oiFat the time of harvest, a rectangle of precisely 160 square 

 rods, or one acre of ground. 



The oats on this acre were then cut, and set up in the field. They 

 were then drawn to the barn, and mowed away on a scaffold, where 

 they remained undisturbed, except by rats and other vermin, (by 

 which they were considerably damaged) until recently; when 

 they were threshed, and the grain measured and weighed, the product 

 being as follows: 



By measure, 57| bushels. 



By weight, ^^je do 



Being 35 lbs. 5 oz., very nearly, per bushel. 



I am well aware that this is no very extraordinary yield. Probably 

 more bushels per acre have been grown in this county the present 

 season, and may come to the knowledge of the committee. Still it 

 may not be certain that the largest yield is always the most profita- 

 ble. On the contrary, it is well known that in many cases of 

 " mammoth" yields which have been reported, the increased expense 

 of the crop, arising from a lavish and injudicious application of labor 

 and other means, and a proper allowance for the natural productive- 

 ness and previous good management of the soil being deducted, the 

 nett profit has been found to be far less than that of some other more 

 moderate yields. 



It may be just to say, that in this case, neither the parcel of ground 

 selected, nor the field of which it was a part, was cultivated with any 

 view to a premium, but was in all respects managed in accordance 

 with my general system of farming. In this system, a rotation of 

 crops is a fundamental principle. And for reasons which I cannot 

 state here, oats are selected for the first or green-sward crop. 



The soil of this field is a deep, strong, clay loam, the surface inclin- 

 ing slightly to the east. It had been " in grass" three years — the 

 whole seven acres having produced on an avarage. 



In the year 1839, Hths tons hay per acre. 

 In the year 1840, 1| do do 



And in 1841, 1| do do 



