FARMS. 19 



HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN. 



From all the observations your committee have made, we are 

 eatisficd that agricultural improvements are progressing within 

 the limits of our societ}^ ; that the subject of making and saving 

 manure is better understood, and that a spirit of inquiry is 

 abroad among the farmers. We would say go on with your 

 improvements, and rest not satisfied till you are entitled to our 

 highest premiums. 



In awarding the premiums, the committee felt bound to he 

 guided strictly by the rules of the society, which read thus : 

 " For the best conducted farm with the most economical im- 

 provements." 



Paoli Lathrop, Chairman. 



November 30, 1853. 



Statetnent of Linus Green. 



The farm I offer for premium contains one hundred and four- 

 teen acres, situated in Hadley. It has generally a clayey soil ; 

 but nearly one-third, is gravelly and light. Twenty-six years 

 ago, I began to cultivate the premises. The land, at that 

 period, was, in part, wet, swampy and overrun with bushes ; 

 and in part, poor, worn out, and comparatively unproductive. 

 The whole is now in a high state of cultivation. There is not 

 half an acre, that I have not ploughed. My custom has been 

 to plough eight or nine inches deep, with three pairs of oxen; 

 to observe a systematic rotation of crops ; to introduce 

 economical improvements ; to compost my manure with oyster 

 shell lime for top-dressing, and to mix varieties of seed corn 

 and grass seed. On moist land, my herds-grass seed and rcdtop 

 are usually sown in the proportion of two pecks of the latter, 

 to one peck of the former. 



During the present year, I have mowed thirty-one, tilled 

 thirty-five, and pastured forty-eight acres. The part in culti- 

 vation, was distributed as follows : twelve acres in rye, eleven 

 and one-half in corn, nine in oats, two in wheat, and a half 

 acre in potatoes. I have performed all the labor, assisted by 

 three boys ; one of eighteen, another of sixteen, and the 

 youngest, eleven years old. We have spread about five hun- 



