268 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



seed. In either case I believe I should have had over twenty 

 bushels. My usual practice is to sow two and a half bushels to 

 the acre. But for the drought just as it was filling, I should 

 have got the twenty bushels. 



RYE 



NORFOLK. 



Statement of S. D. Bradford. 



The piece of land on which my rye was sown is a gravelly 

 loam, and had been in grass eight years prior to 1854, when in 

 October of that year, it was ploughed. It had not been manured 

 for eight years, nor cared for in any way. In the spring of 

 1855, it was again ploughed deep, manured in drills with a 

 compost of muck and stable manure, about five cords, and 

 planted to potatoes. The crop looked promising till the first of 

 August, when the rot commenced and destroyed three-quarters 

 of it. 



Early in September it was sown to winter rye, Timothy and 

 redtop, in the usual proportions, having been dressed with about 

 four cords of compost above described. The rye came up, and 

 grew very strong and thick before winter. It made rapid pro- 

 gress after the snow disappeared, wliich was unusually late. It 

 was reaped on the 24th and 25th of July. On being threshed 

 in August, it produced 46^ bushels of winnowed rye, weighing 

 59 lbs. to the bushel, and three tons and 793 lbs. of straw of a 

 very superior quality. The land on which it was produced 

 contains one acre and thirty-nine rods. Before sowing the rye 

 and grass seed, on the 8th of September the ground was plough- 

 ed, and left to get thoroughly dry, after which it was harrowed 

 to break up the lumps. After spreading the manure, it was 

 again ploughed. When sown, it was harrowed three times, so 

 that the manure was well mixed with the soil, and the latter 

 thoroughly pulverized. 



