64 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



grass, being the hardier of the two. will start first in the spring 

 and damage the wheat. Sow the grass seed early in the spring, 

 as soon as the snow leaves the ground, and it will come up 

 beautifully. 



If spring wheat is to be sown, prepare the land and sow as 

 early as possible after the frost leaves the ground and the land 

 becomes dry enough to plough without caking, which advice is 

 applicable to the sowing of barley, oats and spring rye ; the 

 earlier sown, the heavier the grain. 



White beans, though not grain, having come under the super- 

 vision of the Grain Committee, ought to be planted in rows not 

 more than two feet apart, and hills about eighteen inches 

 distant, with a little manure in the hills to give them a quick 

 start, and not more than three plants allowed to stand in a hill ; 

 and, as you may see by this Report, a great crop may be 

 harvested from an acre, about fifty bushels, which at three 

 dollars per bushel, is a profitable crop for a small outlay. 



If the grain crop is of that importance of which we claim it is, 

 what shall we say of the farmers of Worcester North, when it is 

 announced that only four compete for premiums on Indian 

 corn, four on wheat, two on rye, one on barley, two on oats and 

 two on beans. Must there not be some lack of energy among 

 our farmers, or a lack of inducement held out by our society to 

 bring out the maximum crops which our soil is capable of 

 producing ? Would not a premium of twenty-five or even fifty 

 dollars, for the best crop of corn, or wheat, if offered by our 

 society, wake up our farmers ? 



For the Committee, Cyrus Kilburn. 



Statement of Luther Page. 

 Indian Corn. — The land on which my corn was raised was a 

 pasture in 1864. The year following it was planted with corn ; 

 a portion of it when used for pasture was very poor, a part of it 

 being a yellow loam with clay bottom and more or less was 

 occupied by lamb-kill, whortleberry bushes, and various other 

 kinds of brush. I broke it up in the fall of 1864, and the 

 following spring set out fruit trees. This year I spread broad- 

 cast fifteen loads* of manure from the barn-cellar, and put in the 



* An indefinite quantity. In some parts of the State a " load " is understood 

 to be 15 bushels; in others, 22; in others, 25; in others, 33, &c. A cord is 

 about 105 bushels. 



