41g BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



In response to frequent inquiries regarding the operations and 

 experiments conducted on the farm connected with the State Col- 

 lege of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, and to the courses of 

 study pursued at this institution, we present the following: 



REPORT OF FARM SUPERINTENDENT. 



Experiments. 



In our last report we gave an account of a trial of gypsum, 

 ashes, salt, sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, Cumberland super- 

 phosphate and Croasdale's superphosphate, on grass land. The 

 plots thus treated did not this year differ in appearance from the 

 plots that had no fertilizer applied to them. Whether this was 

 owing to the blighting effect of the drought or to the exhaustion 

 of their fertilizing effects, time will determine. 



Early in the spring we sowed upon two adjacent plots of grass 

 ground ashes obtained at a furnace where edgings are burned, and 

 common stove ashes, mostly soft wood. The furnace ashes ap- 

 peared to do no good, while the effect of the stove ashes was very 

 marked. The furnace had a strong draft, and the ashes had b'een 

 subjected to an intense heat. 



A very wet piece of land was broken up the middle of June, 

 and hen manure, ashes and stable manure were applied to the sur- 

 face and harrowed in. Grass seed was sown and the land rolled. 

 Yellow-eyed beans were then planted in drills 27 inches apart. 

 The beans planted upon the hen manure yielded well, those upon 

 the ashes, fairly, and those upon the stable manure, poorly. The 

 grass set thick and grew finely. Where wet land cannot be made 

 to produce good grass by top-dressing this may be a good method 

 of reclaiming it. The crop of beans will do much towards paying 

 the expense. 



Feeding Swine. 



November 15, 1869, four Chester pigs of an average weight of 

 42 pounds, were placed in two separate pens. Those in pen No. 1 

 were fed on whole corn one month and gained 35 pounds. Those 

 in pen No. 2 were fed on uncooked meal and gained 47 pounds. 

 A little more than one bushel was fed to each pen. From Decem- 

 ber 15th to January 15th the two pigs in No. I were fed on meal 



