38 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



coarse gravel. The latter predominates largely. These 

 features may be considered repulsive, and may have lent their 

 influence; to the former proprietor of these acres. But from 

 the cause we turn to the result. The farm had deteriorated 

 for many years, and the products might be summed up in the 

 word, moiety. The amount of good hay cut annually, would 

 not probably exceed five tons ; the remainder, if any, was cut 

 along the margins of the brooks, and swales ; consequently very 

 little stock could be wintered on the farm. With the small 

 amount of manure made, little attention was bestowed upon the 

 cultivation of vegetables, or the cereal crops ; these were the 

 external features of the farm at the time of my purchase in 

 1846. I should here observe, that this purchase did not include 

 the whole .sixty acres. Recent additions of similar land have 

 been made to the first purchase, and are included in the aggre- 

 gate. The method whicli I pursued in the commencement of 

 my operations, was the purchase of manure, from the stables 

 in Cabotville, and applying it liberally to the soil for the 

 growth of corn and potatoes, hoping, in this way, to warm and 

 sufficiently invigorate such portions as I could annually manage 

 by this process, to produce a larger crop of grass, after being 

 seeded down with a crop of winter grain, or with oats, in the 

 spring, — giving to each a top-dressing of leached ashes, at the 

 time of sowing. This process was pursued for several years, 

 until a large portion of the farm had been once, at least, re- 

 versed in its surface, but the results were not perfectly satis- 

 factory. The balance sheet, after paying for the manure, 

 ashes, and the cartage of them some two or three miles, with 

 the necessary expenses of cultivation included, exhibited a 

 balance which would hardly justify a continuance of this pro- 

 cess. These applications soon lost their influence, and must 

 be renewed, with similar results, or some more effective and 

 durable appliances must be made. With this view of the sub- 

 ject, I resolved — against the dissuasive arguments and even 

 ridicule of many whose opinions upon almost any other sub- 

 ject would have influenced my purpose — to commence opera- 

 tions with the use of muck. The evidence of an abundant 

 supply near the centre of the farm would not incur much ex- 

 pense in the experiment, and if successful, would justify a 



