215 



forty bushels. Two kinds of oats are cultivated in the State, — • 

 the common oat, with a branching and spreading top, and the 

 Tartarian or horse-mane oat, so called from the seed hanging 

 together in clnsters on one side. The plants ripen at different 

 times, and it is therefore improper to mix them in sowing. — 

 The Tartarian oat is generally of stouter growth than the com- 

 mon oat, and is about equally productive, the crops of one 

 farmer within my knowledge, who has cultivated it for several 

 years, averaging sixty bushels to the acre. His cultivation 

 throughout, however, is of the best character, and his other 

 crops correspondent. 



4. Rye is frequently sown by the farmers, in the place of 

 oats, as the second crop in the rotation. • 



1. In Tyngsborough, the expense of cnltivation, and returns, 

 are thus estimated : 



Ploughing, 2 00 ; 1 bushel of seed, 1 25, . . 3 25 

 Sowing and harrowing, 1 00; reaping, 2 00; thresh- 

 ing, 2 00, 5 00 



Returns — Rye, 20 bushels, at 1 25, 

 Straw, . . . . 



Balance in favor of rye, $22 75 



There is no crop, the cultivation of which in general is so 

 negligent and slovenly as that of rye. Twenty bushels are much 

 beyond the usual yield. The product always commands a good 

 price, so little is raised among us, and that which is imported 

 from other parts of the country too often abounds in ergot or 

 smutted rye. The straw of rye commands in general, in the 

 city, a price which seems quite disproportionate, so little is 

 brought to market and it is so desirable for litter. I have known 

 forty-five bushels of rye produced on an acre. In my opinion few 

 crops would pay better for improved cultivation. On newly 



