226 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



no manure was applied. In 1870, the crop was winter wheat, 

 which had sixteen loads of barn manure. It was ploughed 

 twice, six inches deep, and the seed was washed and ashed before 

 sowing. The cost of ploughing and other preparation was $6. 

 For the crop of 1871, twenty loads, thirty bushels each, com 

 post manure, were spread and ploughed in. The value of the 

 manure upon the ground was $25. The seed (blue stem 

 winter wheat) was sown the 20th of September. Cost of seed 

 and sowing, $7. The crop was cradled the middle of July. 

 Cost of harvesting and threshing, $10. The weight of straw 

 was one ton, and of grain, 1,440 pounds. The sowing was 

 delayed a full fortnight, on account of extremely dry weather 

 which was very unfavorable for the crop. 



Statement of J. P. Putnam. 



Rye. — The soil on which my rye grew is a gravelly loam. 

 The crop of 1869 was corn, which had seventeen loads, thirty 

 bushels each, of good manure, per acre. The crop of 1870 was 

 oats, to which no manure was applied. After harvesting the 

 oats, the land was ploughed, in August, eight inches deep, and 

 then harrowed, at a cost of $5 per acre. One hundred and fifty 

 bushels leached ashes were spread, at a cost of $22 50 per acre. 

 The seed was 14; bushels of white winter rye per acre, which, in- 

 cluding sowing, eost $2.87. The crop was mowed and bound in 

 July, at a cost, including threshing, of $12 per acre. The weight 

 of straw was 3,320 pounds, and of grain, 1,960 pounds, per acre. 



Statement of Luther Page. 

 Oats. — The soil on which my oats grew is clayey. The crops 

 of 1869 and 1870 were grass, with no manure. It was ploughed 

 six inches deep the first week in May, 1871, and then thoroughly 

 harrowed, at a cost of $7.50. Twenty loads of rich compost 

 manure were spread broadcast, worth upon the field, $40. It 

 was sown on the 4th of May, with 2| bushels of black New 

 Brunswick oats. The cost of seed and sowing was $4 50. The 

 crop was mowed August 11th, a large part of it being badly 

 lodged a few days before cutting. The cost of harvesting and 

 threshing was $12. The weight of straw was 4,000 pounds, and 

 of grain, 2,470 pounds, per acre. 



