MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 97 



In all, 56 cords of compost, equal to 168 ox-cart loads, at about 

 96 cents per load. This was immediately applied, broad-cast, to 

 about 11 acres of hard rocky land. It will be seen, that the ex- 

 pense per acre, for a dressing sufficiently large for any common 

 kind of land, is only about $14 50. 



Waltham, Sept. 6th, 1847. 



Apple Trees. 



Benjamin Wheeler's Statement. 



The apple trees I offer for premium, forty-eight in number, 

 were set out in the spring of 1843. The soil is of a gravelly 

 nature, and the holes were dug from eighteen inches to two feet 

 deep. A quantity of peat-mud was put into the holes at the 

 time the trees were set. The ground has been well tilled, and 

 planted with potatoes aud carrots. The other lot of 175 trees 

 was set out in 1845, the land a stony pasture, which was never 

 ploughed before; the stones were dug, and the land planted with 

 potatoes the first year, and the second with corn. 



Framingham, Oct. 1847. 



Calvin Weston's Statement. 



1 have one hundred apple trees transplanted in April, 1845, 

 which occupy about 1£ acres. When set,*I applied a shovel- 

 ful of compost to each tree, mixing it with the soil, and sprink- 

 ling it among the roots. The first year I planted ; the next year 

 I sowed oats, keeping the land hoed around the trees. In 1847, 

 I planted the land again. During this time, I have given each 

 tree one quart of ashes per year, and no manure. As to insects, 

 they have not troubled me at all. My soilis a gravelly loam. 



Lincoln, Oct. 1st, 1847. 

 13 



