LAYING DOWN LAND. 179 



bevel, so as to rise from the ground ; making the whole width 

 about three feet. 



Mr. Perkins. And your drag is so hauled that it makes a 

 track of eight feet ? 



Mr. Ware. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Dodge. Is this a new idea in Marblchcad, or have you 

 never had rollers there ? 



Mr. Ware. We have had rollers, but this is, perhaps, a local 

 arrangement. It is customary with all the farmers in our 

 neighborhood to use a drag, not a roller. It is very much less 

 expensive, takes up less room, and does the work a great deal 

 better. We don't care to have it at much of an angle ; we 

 simply want it to slide over the surface of the ground ; and if it 

 was exactly square, the front edges would be digging into the 

 ground. The driver, by placing himself in the middle or back 

 of the drag, can regulate that himself. 



Mr. Flint. Have you made any experiments with regard to 

 the following of the ruta-baga with other crops ? 



I have in my mind a very successful farmer, and a very 

 observing man, in Westborough, who planted a piece of half an 

 acre with ruta-bagas, and the following year he had occasion to 

 plant that piece with corn, and also some adjoining land; and 

 the crop on the part where the ruta-bagas were planted was so 

 inferior to that where they were not planted, but where some 

 other crop had been raised, that the difference was perceptible 

 through the whole season. The line was as distinct as it could 

 be, and so marked that no one could help noticing it. It was 

 evident to everybody that the want of success with the corn was 

 owing to the turnips on the land the year before. This shows 

 that there was some deleterious effect upon the land, caused by 

 the culture of the ruta-bagas ; and I find that that opinion is 

 very prevalent among our most observing farmers. I have 

 heard it expressed in. a vast number of instances. 



Now, my question is, whether Mr. Ware has ever made any 

 experiments, so as to be able to say distinctly whether that is a 

 fact or not ? 



Mr. Ware. I have seen results. I have not in my mind 

 experiments that I can state exactly, but I have seen results, 

 and they were of such a character that I avoid raising ruta- 

 bagas. I think their effect upon the land is very injurious, and 



