520 [Senate 



Northampton, Jan. 15, 1846. 



T. B. Wakeman, Esq., 



While perusing the paper which you sent me, I was reminded of 

 some facts connected with the settlement of the town of Springfield, 

 about the year 1636, under William Pyncheon, with whom came my 

 ancestor Rowland Stebbins. The first settlers had lands set apart for 

 them. The Stebbins family, among other things, had assigned to 

 them an alluvial tract on Connecticut river, called Three-corner 

 Meadow j this being annually enriched by the overflow of the river, 

 required no manure to yield twenty bushels of corn an acre, and pro- 

 portionably of rye. This meadow was plowed by running the fur- 

 rows east and west. Another meadow adjoining was of same quality, 

 A division of the meadows took place, and one piece being narrow, 

 it became necessary to change the direction of the plowing from 

 north and south to east and west. After this change the land did not 

 for twenty years, possess the same ability to give good crops, al- 

 though dressed -with manure. The other meadow, plowed from 

 north to south, without manure gave its usual crops. Some fifty or 

 sixty years ago, this circumstance attracted the notice of several in- 

 telligent farmers and some well educated men, and they came to the 

 following conclusion, viz : 



That where land is plowed east and west, the south sides of the 

 furrows would be thawed by the sun while the north sides remained 

 frozen, thus heaving up and injuring the roots of the rye or other 

 grain on the south side, so injuring the crop. While on furrows 

 lying north and south, the sun acted on both sides alike in the course 

 of a day ; the grain was not hurt. 



Justus Stebbins tried the enrichment of his land by sowing clover : 

 he had many cattle. He began by sowing three pounds of clover 

 seed on an acre. He observed, that after he had plowed in a clover 

 crop, a cloud of mist like a fog remained over that field for hours after 

 the surrounding fields were clear of dew ! 



He was pleased with, his clover experiments, and went onincreas- 

 ino- the quantity of clover seed sown on an acre, till at last he sowed 

 on one acre, half a bushel. And that by this means his land became 

 as rich as a garden without any other manure. He tried a field well 

 manured and well dressed without clover, and got forty bushels of 

 corn per acre. While on that field of clover turned in, and which, 

 as the plow did not well cover, he rolled it well, he had sixty bushels 

 of corn per acre. 



The roller is very important to farmers. We have noticed that 

 wherever a sled path has been made over a grain field, there the 

 growth was decidedly the best, 



D. STEBBINS. 



