No, 63, j 311 



Plaste- was applied at the rale of 100 lbs. per acre, in 1839, ami 

 in 1841, and again at the same rate the present season — one land, of 

 two rods in width, through the whole, being oraii ted for experi- 

 ment, which chanced to pass through this acre. No other manure 

 has been applied, either the present season or at any time since it 

 was last plowed. The crop in 1838, was part wheat and part oats, 

 when the land was seeded with clover and timothy. Although con- 

 siderable of the clover had now ' run out,' yet its effect in amelio- 

 rating the soil and in rendering the sod easy of decomposition, has 

 been quite apparent, and is rendered still more so by a comparison 

 of this with an adjacent field of green-sward oats on a timothy and 

 red top sod. Tlie soil and the mode of cultivation of the two fields 

 were similar; and I know no reason why, had the sod been the same 

 in kind, the product shoulfl not have been equal — except, however, 

 that the kind of oats was not the same. But, having ascertained by 

 a nicely conducted experiment, the relative productiveness of the 

 two kinds, and making the proper allowance for their difference in 

 this respect, a balance of one-fifth the whole crop on the clover sod 

 remains in its favor. And a still greater difference was found to 

 €xist, after the crops had been taken off, in the condition of the sod 

 — that of clover and timothy, having been reduced by fermentation 

 to a friable condition, while that of timothy and red top remained 

 tough and unyielding. 



The acre now presented for premium was plowed, in connection 

 with the rest of the field, about the 1st of 5th month, (May.) On 

 the 14th, the oats were sown and harrowed in; the field being har- 

 rowed twice over (with a new and improved harrow, which does at 

 Jeast twice the execution of a good common harrow,) and lapping 

 half its width each time — the ground having also been prepared for 

 the reception of the seed, by harrowing it over three times in the 

 same manner, — firstly, lengthwise of the furrow, — secondly, diago- 

 nally, or from corner to corner, — and thirdly, at right-angles with 

 the last. I never harrow at right angles with the furrow sooner than 

 the fourth time, as I find that harrowing in the manner above des- 

 cribed, has not so great a tendency to turn up the sod. The weather 

 was fair, and the ground in as good condition for being worked as 

 could be desired. Two days afterwards the land was rolled, and 

 about the same time the next month it was plastered, excepting a 

 strip reserved as above mentioned, for experiment. The kind of oats 

 sowed, is a variety which has been produced by mixing, in equal 

 proportions, our common oats with the barley oats, and sowing tlie 

 product of this mixture from year to year, until the distinctive cha 

 racter of the English oat is no longer visible, and a variety is pro- 

 duced, not essentially differing in appearance from the common oat 

 — a kind, by the way, which I prefer above all others I have yet 

 tried, as they are much heavier than the common oat, and will pro- 

 duce more bushels, by measure, than any other kind with which I 

 am acquainted. Besides, they are certainly fully equal, if not su- 

 perior to any other, in the ability of standing erect in the field. 

 With the whole of the field of which this acre is a part, as, in- 



