4 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



have dag three hundred and fifty rods of drains ; I have set 

 out about three hundred fruit trees, comprising the choicest 

 varieties of apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries and apricots ; 

 I have hauled at least five hundred loads of sand a distance of 

 a mile and a quarter, which has been spread upon the land, and 

 is now tlioroughly incorporated with the soil, and has changed 

 the character of it, preventing it from baking or cracking 

 during severe droughts, and causing the crops to start much 

 earlier in the spring ; I have paid out in cash for manures about 

 $500, and have made various other minor improvements on the 

 farm. 



But, as I have before stated, I do not enter my farm for a 

 premium on account of its magnitude, or as being a model farm 

 on a small scale ; neither do I claim any superior mode of cul- 

 tivation ; but simply on the ground that I have taken it in a 

 miserably dilapidated and worn-out condition, and have put it in 

 such a state that it will compare favorably with a majority of 

 the farms in our county. 



The following statement will show the comparative condi- 

 tion of the farm when purchased, and as it now is : — 



Produce of Elm Vale Farm in 1841 : — 



Say about five tons of hay, worth . . . $75 00 



Produce of the same for the year 1853 : — 



25 tons English hay, . . $20 00 $500 00 



3 " squashes, . . 40 00 120 00 



25 bushels onions, ... 60 15 00 



350 " potatoes, ... 1 00 350 00 



2,500 heads cabbages, ... 06 150 00 



60 bushels oats, .... 60 36 00 



40 " corn, .... 1 00 40 00 



25 barrels apples, ... 3 00 75 00 



Tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, green com and peas, 35 00 



Cherries, pears, peaches, quinces, &c., . . . 25 00 

 Pork, fatted mostly upon milk and refuse potatoes and 



apples, 90 00 



Calves, 18 00 



$1,454 00 



