104 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



[Statement of Ephraim B. Thompson of Halifax.] 



The acre of land which I entered for the society's premium 

 for the most successful experiment in raising corn at the 

 least cost per bushel is a light sandy or gravelly loam, 

 sloping to the north ; had not been ploughed for six years, 

 and for the last three years had not produced grass enough 

 to be worth mowing, except a few rods across one end. The 

 first week in May I ploughed under three hundred and fifty 

 pounds of rectified Peruvian guano, seven inches deep, using 

 what is called the Doe plough, and harrowed it at once. 

 May 15 it was planted, four kernels in a hill, three feet and 

 one-half apart each way, without any dressing in the hill. 

 June 1 it was cultivated once in a row each way, and hoed. 

 On July 1 I cultivated one way, and the last of July cut up 

 all weeds that had made an appearance. Sept. 1 I cut 

 and shocked the stalks, — one hundred and eighty bundles. 

 Oct. 4 I cut up the corn, which was much dryer than usual 

 at the time of harvesting, and hauled it to the barn. The 

 entire weight of the acre of corn in the ear was 3,378i 

 pounds, one hundred and thirty pounds of which was un- 

 sound or pig corn. The stover I think worth as much as a 

 ton of English hay, or fifteen dollars. The corn I planted 

 was a yellow variety, with large kernel and small cob. It is 

 two weeks earlier than, and produced as much as, the Whit- 

 man corn. 



h 



[Statement of R. M. Littlefield of East Bridgewater.] 



It appears by Mr. Littlefield's statement that his corn was 

 planted on a light sandy soil that had been planted to corn 

 the past two years, and treated very nearly the same as this 

 year. It was ploughed about the 25th of May, seven inches 

 deep, and marked out one way in rows three feet and nine 

 inches apart. About the first of June he planted ten quarts 

 of yellow corn in hills two feet and a half apart, putting two 

 cords and a half of stable-manure in the hill. Cultivated 

 once in a rt)w two times, and hoed once. The crop was 

 harvested in October. The total weight of the corn was 

 4,112 pounds, seventy pounds of which was pig-corn. 



