34 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Statement of Thomas E. Pay son. 



The particular piece of meadow which I offer for premium, is 

 that upon which potatoes were grown in the summer of 1854. 

 Its limits were pointed out to you when you were upon it. I 

 offer no other part of the meadow, for two reasons ; one is, be- 

 cause I am unable to state with accuracy the cost of the im- 

 provements or the produce of the land for two successive years, 

 and therefore cannot bring myself within the rules of the soci- 

 ety : the other is, that the experiment upon this lot has been 

 much more successful and less expensive than any other which 

 I have thus far tried, and, therefore, I am able to offer it for 

 your consideration under the most favorable circumstances. 



The piece contains two acres and two-thirds, and nearly or 

 quite the whole of it is first rate peat. Previous to 1854 noth- 

 ing grew upon it, except the very fine, short, wiry meadow-grass, 

 which is characteristic of the toughest peat bottoms. Its value 

 for hay wovild have scarcely paid the expense of cutting and 

 curing. 



In the winter of 1854 about thirty cart loads of manure were 

 hauled upon it. This was carried upon the meadow just in the 

 state in Yv^hich it was thrown out daily from the cow-house, and 

 was made up, at least three parts in four, of salt hay or thatch, 

 with which the cattle were littered. It was planted with pota- 

 toes in the spring, in the following manner : — 



The manure is first spread on the surface of the meadow, in 

 beds about four feet wide, leaving a space between tliem about 

 one and a half feet in width. The seed potatoes are then laid 

 upon the beds within twelve or fifteen inches of each other. I 

 have used small' potatoes for seed, or such as were considerably 

 below the medium size, for a number of years past, and uni- 

 formly with good success, — always excepting those years when 

 the crop has failed by reason of the rot. The one and a half 

 foot space between the beds is then dug about the depth of one 

 spit of a sub-soil spade, and the sods and mud taken from it are 

 thrown upon the beds. If this is properly done the whole sur- 

 face of the bed is well covered and sufficiently deep for all prac- 

 tical purposes. Each man, as he digs his trench, covers the 

 half of the bed on either side of him which is nearest, the next 

 man doing the same, and so on. When the potatoes make their 



