110 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Owing to the drought, nearly half of the piece had to be 

 set with j)lants taken from the portion first planted, which, 

 having the advantage of a shower just after the seed was 

 put in the ground, came up very uniformly. More or less of 

 transplanting was done up to the latter part of July ; but, the 

 growing season being unusually prolonged, about every plant 

 on the piece made heads of good size and hard. Towards 

 the close of the season, a few hundred were started to pre- 

 vent the heads from bursting. I have noticed, that, on what 

 might be termed country farms as distinguished from those 

 on the seaboard, cabbages are far less likely to burst their 

 heads ; which I attribute to the fact that the ground is not so 

 filled with manure, not having been so long in tillage, nor so 

 highly manured by the annual dressing of the soil. This fact 

 is of value to the farmer, as he can safely plant his late cab- 

 bage earlier in the season, and get as large and as hard heads 

 as on the seaboard, with less manure, the extra length. of 

 season for their growth being an equivalent. In saying this, 

 I would not be understood to state that large and hard heads 

 can be got without liberal manuring, but simply that — as the 

 bursting of the heads brings to an end all profitable growth, 

 and they are more apt to do this, and at an earlier day, on 

 the rich lands of the seacoast — the country farmer can count 

 on this extra season for growing as an equivalent for a pro- 

 portion of the manure that his seaboard brother is compelled 

 to use. 



The land had for the two previous years been devoted to 

 the growing of onion-seed, and had consequently received 

 liberal manuring; though of the varieties and quantities 

 applied I have no record. The soil being very moist, and 

 having many large bowlders (weighing from a few hundred 

 pounds up to several tons) scattered over the surface, last 

 spring I had it tile-drained and cleared of stone. In June I 

 applied a compost, composed in part of fish-waste and soil, 

 and in part of glue-waste and soil, — about one part fish-waste 

 to four parts soil, and one part glue-waste to two parts soil, — 

 six cords to the acre. This was ploughed in. After harrow- 

 ing and furrowing out, I had applied to each hill (the rows 

 were three feet apart, and the hills nearly three feet) one-third 

 of a shovelful of a compost made up of one part bone-dust, 

 well decayed, two parts Riverside superphosphate, ten parts 



