160 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



EOOT CROPS. 



ESSEX. 



Statement of S. A. Merrill. 



Carrots. — I enter for premium one-half acre of carrots. 

 The huid on which they were grown was an old, worn-out 

 pasture three years ago. It was ploughed and planted one 

 year ago with potatoes, with green barn-manure spread 

 broadcast and cultivated in drills, using 300 pounds of guano 

 to the acre. Last year it was planted with carrots, using 

 about six cords of waste manure to the acre. This year I 

 ploughed and planted about the middle of June, using six 

 cords of manure to the acre. I think this time the best for 

 planting carrots, for two reasons. In the first place, we save 

 one weeding; second, I think carrots, that are not too ripe, 

 keep much better in winter, and they grow better in the 

 autumn than they do in the hot weather. I raised from this 

 half-acre, twelve tons of good marketable carrots, of the long 

 orange variety, worth more for marketing in the spring than 

 the medium or shorthorn carrot, at least this has been my 

 experience for several years. The cost of this crop is as 

 follows : — 



