J 826.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



191 



To Mr Leonard Hiu., of E;ist Bridgevvatcr, in 

 the County orrivmoulli, t!ie premium of $20 

 for having raiseil the greatest quantity of Flax 

 on half an acre, being 310 lbs. Mr Hiu/s de- 

 scription of his culture is as follows : '• lu Sept. 

 113^3 I broke up a piece of ground, being a 

 part of my farm which before had produced 

 some small Crops of Hay; it is a level field, and 

 the soil of a clay loam ; there was by eslima- 

 tioa about half an acre in the piece ; in (he 

 Spring of 1824 it was twice ploughed, and ma- 

 nured with 23 Cart loads of Barn manure, and 

 planted with Indian Corn, producing about 25 ^ 

 bushels. In April last it was again ploughed, 

 harrowed, and crofs ploughed ; previous to the 

 last ploughing 2f Cart loads of good manure 

 uere spread upon it, and then again 15 bushels 

 of dry ashes were scattered over it; afterwards 

 it was twice harrowed ; the 2nd day of May I 

 Bowed 5 pecks ol' clean Flax seed over the 

 piece, and again harrowed it over with a brusli 

 liarroiv ; about the 25lh of July the Flax was 

 pulled and housed, and as soon as dry the seed 

 was beaten otf, cleaned, measured, amounting to 

 7,! bushels; the Flax was spread about the mid-, 

 die of tfeplembcr, and rolled, and then housed 

 airain ; in the month oi'Novcmher it was dress- 

 eii out clean for market, and weighed ; the 

 whole quantity taken from. 92 rods, was 3a7lbs. 

 the expense of cultivation, dressing, Sic. was 

 g23 50 cents."' 



To the Rev. Morrill Allen, of Pembroke, 

 in the County ol" Plymouth. ^30, for his experi- 

 ment to prove the best season and mode of lay- 

 ing down lands to Grass. Mr. Alle.v makes the 

 fidlowing statement : " Several disappointments 

 in my expectation of a Crop of Grass after sow- 

 ing the seed in the Spring with Grain, induced 

 me as eatly as the year 1807 to try the ellecjs 

 of Autumnal sowing ; my first experiment was 

 made on about IG rods of land, a pari of ivhicli 

 was sowed in the month of Octolier with Rye 

 and Herds Gras?, and the residue with Herds 

 Grass seed alone; the cold weather did not 

 commence very early in that year, and both 

 the Rye, and Grass, had considerably extemled 

 their roots before wiirter. In the following Sum- 

 mer at the time of rcajdng, the Grass had grown 

 50 tall among the Rye that much of it was cut 

 with the sickle ; but it a[)peared less healthy 

 and vigorous than the Guiss ivhich was sowed 

 alone ; this produced nearly a full Crop the 

 first year, and endured imusnally well afler- 

 ivards. The next year the Crop where the 

 Rye had been raised, appeared to me to be 

 considerably belter than usual after Spring sow- 

 ing with grain, but less than on the other [part ; 

 the result of this experiment encouraged me to 

 sow Grass seed in the Fall, and without Grain. 

 In several successive years I ploughed and sow- 

 ed my fields after Indian Harvest; the Crops 

 were generally much more abundant than Spring 

 sowing; but in some instances when the Au- 

 tumn proved cold, the first Crop was imper- 

 fect, and intermixed with some weeds; 1 sup- 

 posed earlier sowing would be more certainly 

 successful ; and in 1820, about an acre and a 

 quarter of land, which had been naked fallow- 

 ed, was sowed with Herds Grass, and Red Clov- 

 er, betvteen the 1st and 20tli of Se[)tember. In 

 1821, the Herds Grass was ripe for cutting; at 

 the usual season 15th of July, it was unusually 

 tall, but not so thick set as in subsequent years; 



very little of the Clover appeared the first 

 year; it increased in the 2nd and 3rd years; 

 the usual order seemed to be exactly reversed 

 in this instance. When Clover and Herds Grass 

 are sowed with Spring Grain, the first Croj) is 

 chielJv Clover ; afterwards there is a greater 

 (iroporlion of Herds Grass; this circun)slancc 

 has lead many farmers to the conclusion tli;it it 

 requires more time to establish the roots ol' 

 Herd'^ Grass in the earth, and pre[)are them 

 lo produce a full Crop, than it docs the roots of 

 Clover; every ex|)eriment I have made has 

 tended to prove this a wrong conclusion, and 

 that Herds Grass naturally comes forward earli- 

 er than Clover, the reason why the appearance 

 has so often been otherwise, probably is the ob- 

 struction produced by the Grain Crop on the 

 growth of the Grass ; the Clover being a lap 

 rooted plant, is not so much obstructed as the 

 Herds Grass; and dravving some of its nourish- 

 ment from a greater dejith, it soon ascends the 

 injury; unobstructed by Grain, I have observed 

 that Herds Grass always takes the lead of Clov- 

 er in its growth. In the Spring of 1823 I 

 ploughed about 3 acres of land on which Indian 

 Corn grew the preceding year ; nearly half the 

 lield was a cold clayey soil, and the residue a 

 gravelly knoll ; it was sowed the 1st of May 

 viith Oats, Herds Gras.s, and Clover seed ; an- 

 other field of 3 acres, the soil clayey, and aji- 

 parently of the same quality with the low part 

 tf the other field, was oakeil tallowed ; it was 

 ploughed 4 or 5 times, and sowed with Herds 

 (irass and Clover, the 1st of September; the 

 comparison could properly be made only be- 

 tween the low part of the first field, and this, 

 vhere there was no perceivable difference in 

 ihe character of the soils; in 1821 the quantity 

 of Ilay per acre on the land sowed in the Fail 

 »<as at least double to that on the land sowed in 

 th^ Spring, and (vitli Grain; the past season 

 the MifTerence was not as great, yet very ob- 

 serv;i!)le. The same experiment was repeated 

 in 18il on about 4 acres of light sandy soil ; 

 the se»d on the fallowed land in that year was 

 sowed (he last of August ; the season was un- 

 commoiily dry ; and where Oats were sowed 

 scarcely any Herds Grass appeared the past sea- 

 son ; but that part sowed with grass seed alone 

 produced a good crop for light soil, and at this 

 time there appears lo be on it a sufficient num- 

 ber of grass plants, while the other part of the 

 field looks like exhausted land. From the results 

 of these several experiments I am lead to believe 

 Ihe best time to commit grass seed to the earth, 

 is from the 15th of .\ugust to the 15th of Sep- 

 tember ; this time seems to accord with the in- 

 tentions of nature, it is the season of ripeness in 

 the seed when it spontaneously falls on the 

 ground; Grass seed which is sowed in the last 

 of Summer, or the beginning of Autumn, is 

 rarely if ever obstructed in its early growth by 

 drought, which often proves destructive to 

 young Grass in the Summer months ; it gets 

 firm hold of the ground before Winter, and in 

 the following Sprmg grows more rapidly than 

 Grass on land which has been hardened by 

 the heat of Summer, and the growth of a Grain 

 Crop. The season which appears to me to be 

 the best for sowing Grass seed, is far from be- 

 ing the most convenient tor farmers ; they can- 

 not often do it at that time without too little 

 preparation of the soil to receive seed, or 



Ihe loss of one Crop ; my experiments have 

 proved to my oivn satisfaction, that much later 

 sowing is preferable to Spring sowing with 

 Grain; in one instance I prepared the land late 

 in the Fall, and cast the seed on the snow, with 

 very good success; on fields designed to be al- 

 ternately in Grass, and tillage, the common 

 jjractice of sowing Grass seed in the Spring 

 with Grain, may consist with good husbandry, 

 for as often as wet seasons ensue, the Grass 

 will prosper tolerably well, and in case of a 

 ilrought which destroys the Grass, the rotation 

 may be changed without any other loss than 

 that of the seed; but on fields which are unsuit- 

 able for frequent ploughing, when we wish to 

 have Ihe cultivated Grasses remain as long as 

 possible ; and on sandy soils, where it is diflfi- 

 cuif to get a suflicient number of Grass plants 

 established, the loss of a single Crop is tritiing, 

 in comparison with the gain which will be re- 

 alized by sowing Grass seed in Ihe month ol" 

 August." In awardmg this premium the Com- 

 mitlea do not mean lo admit that the experi- 

 ment of Mr Allen proves conclusively that his 

 is the best method of layingdonn land to Grass; 

 but that Ihe labour, and result of his several 

 experiments, induce them to recommend that 

 the premium be awarded lo hiin. 



To E. Hersey Derby, Esq. the premium of 

 S^30, lor having raised the past season on anout 

 11 acres " the greatest quantity of Vegetables, 

 grain, peas, and beans excepted, for winter cou- 

 sumption, on Ins own farm," to wit : 



C.bbagos, at 56 Ibs. per bushel 1503 



Pumpkins, 7 ox-cart load.-) 2t)4 



Potatoes 4i5 



Mangel Wurtzel 20.;6J 



Sugar Beets 274: 



Russian Radish_ 90 



English Turnips I02G 



Bushels 



5G38' 



Mr Derby makes the following communica- 

 lion : 1 have placed the Potatoes, Mangel Wurt- 

 zel, and Sugar Beets in my barn cellars ; Ihe 

 Russian Radish, and EnglisliTurnips on the Barn 

 tioors, and cove|ed them with salt hay; f'or the 

 Cabbages 1 have taken a piece of grass ground 

 in an airy situation, placed them upside down, 

 close lo each other, and covered them with a 

 light covering of seaweed. This method of pre- 

 serving my vegetables I have practised several 

 years, and found it to succeed perfectly well — 

 I'he land in tillage this year is estimated at a- 

 liout 14 acres. 1 ex[>ect to winter from 20 to 30 

 Cows, togoiher with some young stock. The 

 cost of each particular kind of vegetable, it 

 would be extremely difficult for me to ascertain, 

 the work ol my farm being very much blended. 

 1 should think the Cabbages were raised at Ihe 

 least exjiense, next Ihe English Turnips : then 

 the Sugar Beets, and Mangel Wurtzel ; and all 

 of them at as little expense per acre as an acre 

 of [)Olatoes." 



For having raised the greatest quantity of In- 

 dian Corn, on an acre ; Winter Wheal, Rye, Mil- 

 let, Carrots, Common Beets, Sugar Beets, Pars- 

 nips, Ruta Baga, Onions, Cabbages, Peas and 

 Beans, no premiums have the present year been 

 claimed. 



For the Committee, 

 THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Chairman. 



Boston, Dec. 10, 1325. 



