150 



*l\)c Javnui's iHoutl}ln lUsitor. 



Ti'cnring ofT in tniniili.' ]);iilirles and biinyiiifr 

 (loHii iiiiiii'iinls IVotn llic iiiouiilailis iiiid liilU 

 above, IpiiK !ilic'!i(ly iikkIc lliu |iii|iaiatioii. The 

 Iiiiidii- [lOdier liiiiils letiiain lo have this rhenii- 

 cal ii^ieiii-y peiloriued ; and this is <loMe l>j' ihe 

 rooiH (if |il,'iiits and iref-s pnnliniially .-it woik 

 coiiveiiiiif; ihe harder suh^tances into rich vi'ye- 

 tuhl(^ mould. 



I.iine and salt have n dnnhle vahie in fiirniins 

 the oniposl ht'a|> : ranslic; hine shDnId he liept 

 friiin ininoilialc contact with animal and vrf;e- 

 tahle matters throwing off ammonia — il shonid 

 overlay or nnderlay immcdialily llie crude 

 swanip peat or mncl< or the snrliice turf hronpht 

 to the manure hcd. Belter pay three dollais lor 

 one cask of Thomaston Hint; and one dollar t()r 

 a hiishel of sail to he; mixed in every ten loa<ls 

 of compost niaunre, than do without them or some 

 other mineral snlistimte. These materials, which 

 in too -.'rcat qnaiitities will kill a present crop, 

 thus diirnsed in a compost heap, will in Iwo or 

 three applications not only expel worms and 

 many ol the insect tribes, hut will yive that heal- 

 thy action to the soil w hich imicli enlarfjes the 

 crop, lilliii;; out all the jrrains, and ^ivin<; [iota- 

 toes and other root crops a liiir and s.iiooth ex- 

 terior, preserviiii; all liom riisl and rot. 



At least one half of the labor upon an average, 

 is thrown away upon land in this Slate that isaii- 

 nnally lesseninj.' in (.loduction ; and the produc- 

 tion must necessarily become le.ssand less where 

 the manure and labor are apjjlied solely for the 

 present crop. 



The labor and expense bestowed on land im- 

 pidvini; in piodtictioii from year to year, jjiviii"- a 

 present profit, with the luospcct of better grains 

 i'or labor hereafter bestowed, are doubly rejiaid. 



No other honest occupation can be more un- 

 pleasant than that of the farmer wearinit out his 

 lands. No position in life is more |ileasaiit ihan 

 that of the llirmer, who, besides vvell-jiayiiig an- 

 nual crops, realizes, at every retnriiinp season, Ihe 

 increasing capacity of his land lo yield more for 

 the sustenance of iiiuii and beaf^t. 



REPORT OF JOHN PATTEN AND APAM CIIAKDLER 

 ESQUIRES. 



We cotdincnced Ihe duties assigned us on Fri' 

 day, September 25lh, by goin^' first upon the 

 farm of Cupt. John I'aileii. His corn ground, 

 which came first to notice, was ploughed in the 

 fall to the depth of seven or eight inches. In 

 the spring he apjilied, by spreading, sixty loads 

 on four acres, and from thiily-five to lijrty loads 

 lie put in the hole or hill — making about one 

 Imiidicil cart loads upon the (iiur acres. In the 

 above (piantity <d manure he used six casks of 

 lime, and one and a half cords of leached ashes. 

 We were ol' the opinion that llie four acres 

 would \ield the liberal crop of two Imndrid 

 bushels. Mr. I'atteu has made, the past season, 

 Bome tweiiiy rods of ditch or under draining, 

 which no doubt will have the desired ( llect. 



The next liirm visited was Rlr. Leonard Walk- 

 er's. His m;mure was a compost, composed ol 

 one load of manure to every two of mti(d<, with 

 ten bushels of ashes for every three cords. The 

 above compost bad llirown np a fair crop of corn, 

 where, without the aid of some sncli application, 

 be would have received hut small con.punsalion 

 for his labor. Mr. Walker spread upon a piece 

 of sandy land some muck, and upon that sowed 

 some onions for an experiment, ami we under- 

 stood him they more than met his expectations. 

 His potatoes, like those of Mr. I'aiten, were 

 liyhi, hut generally free from Ihe disease which 

 1ms been so prevalent fur a year or two past. 



We next called upon Mr. Isaac Gage. His 

 manure was a compost, being about e'pial in 

 quantity of manure and muck ; and of this he 

 put lliiiiy loads lo the acre, where ho would 

 probably get as many bushels of corn to the acre 

 as he had bestowed number (d loads. On his 

 low laud he had tried a top dres-iug in one in 

 stance, and in one or twooih(?rs he had ploughed 

 or inverted the surface. After this the roller was 

 URed, then a lijilit dressing of compost w ith grass 

 Beed sown, and all harrowed in. In both cases, 

 we understood him to say, that ho coiisidured 

 himself well icmnnerated (or his Irouble. 



Called upon Mr. .losiali Walker. He had three 

 acres of corn whi^ie h(^ l.l*t spring spread over a 

 liundred loads of iiiaunre, imd used in Ihe same 

 lliraa or four c<iBk» of lime. Hi^ corn wn.'*«ood, 



but the potatoes, as we generally (bund them, 

 came in sparingly. T hey were sound. 



The ne.M in onr course was Mr. .John Adams. 

 His corn ;:roiind was ploughed last tail, and ipiiie 

 deep, .■^ome eight or nine imdies, and lioin the 

 (piantity of maniiie used upon llie three acres 

 which were in coin, his crop was better than we 

 should have expected. Wlielheror not it should 

 he aliiibiited in any measure to the depth ol 

 ploughing, we are unable to say. His onions, of 

 which we have a sample here beli)re us, exceed 

 any thiny of ihe kind we ever saw. 



('apt. William Paiien was not at home; never- 

 tludess we i\eul over a portion of his (iirin and 

 Ihrougli his com field. He has done more in the 

 way of enriching .and improving his (iirm than 

 perhaps -iiiiy other person in town, and il' he has 

 not already received full pay, iheie is no doidvt 

 hi; will uliimaiely receive all the principal, to- 

 {jelher wiih a large interest upon the ainuimt of 

 c;ipllal invested. He has this season some seven 

 or eight acres of corn, from which he will g.ilher 

 fitly bushels lo the acre. His land is in such a 

 st;iie of cultivation that a corresponding crop of 

 gr.aiii and iirass follows, which is always Ihe re- 

 sult of a liberal bestovvment of sncli nutriment 

 upon the earth as is reipiired by all plains. His 

 poiatoes, nolrtithslanding the ground was appa- 

 rently well prepared Hir their receptlnii, fell shoii 

 of a usual crop, caused by a rust or blight v\hich 

 struck and injured ihe tops early in ihe season. 



ftlr. James Walker's finiii came next to notice. 

 In September, J8-1.5, he bruki; up three acres of 

 green-sward by ploughing quite deep. Last 

 spring be carted upon ihe ground fifty-seven cart 

 loads of uianiire to s|iread, idierwarils usinj; 

 twenty-five lo.nls in the hill. Some portion of 

 this manure was made by carting stuff ii:to his 

 barn yard. 



He staled to us that be mows over, as near as 

 he can jiid e, eighteen acres ol land, and by es- 

 liiuaiion cms twenty-five tons of hay. Jii iIm; 

 larger crop he shows conclusively, as we think, 

 Ihe expediency of working less land, and the in- 

 ducements we have for working miicli belter 

 what we ailempl to woik. He tried on a few 

 rovNs of potatoes Ihe eff'ecls of salt, on some oth- 

 ers plaster, and on some others salt and plaster 

 mixed. Tin; salt had a bitter efiect lli.in ihe 

 plasier, the mixture of salt and plaster was ap- 

 plied where (;arly potatoes were planled ; conse- 

 (jueutly tlie e'ffecl was not as perceplihit;. 



In rambling over Mr. Walker's premises we 

 iiniiced that there was a geiiend caie and atten- 

 tion to order and regularity, in having a |dace for 

 ev(;rv thing, (and so lar as circumstances woLld 

 admit,) every thing in its place, which should be 

 more generally practised among our liiriners. It 

 not only olien times saves much lime and trouble, 

 hut it aclu.-illy saves in a great measure our tools 

 and impK iiienis of bnsbaiidry, which are iii- 

 dispensuhle reipiisites lo our success us farm- 

 ers. 



As regards the farmini: of Mr. Chandler, he 

 remarks, llial he has hut little lo .'^ay. The busi- 

 ness ill w hich he has been engaged diiriiig a large 

 pmtiiui of the time had called his attention in a 

 different direction, so that he bad somewhat 

 neglected this impoilant branch. He yet con- 

 siders il to In; a branidi of business upon the suc- 

 cess of which depends every other pursuit. Since 

 ihe operation of the rail road, and the tiuning of 

 tin; travel from bis premises, (long known as a 

 princip.'il tavern staiiil upon the river,) into that 

 channel, it had cut oil the advanla^zes heliameily 

 had of making manure ; and he had resorted lo 

 the common itiethod of usiii^ iiiud oi"-muck as a 

 snbsiilnte. He last fall dim and mixi;d with his 

 barn manure about an eipial pioporli<m id' this 

 mud, and used in Ihe same leu casks of lime. It 

 has operated perhaps as well as he could reason- 

 ably expect, lliongh not e<jiial lo clear iiianure. 

 Tpon oik; half acre he pursued the theory as laid 

 down by Doct. J.ickson; that is, n.-ing one load 

 of barn manure to tlireo loads of muck. He 

 drew together in that proportion Iwenty-eighl 

 loads — twenly-oiie ol iniii'k and seven loads of 

 barn manure, mixing them as even as possible. 

 In ihe spring, as soini as ihi; frost would permit, 

 the heap Was overhauled and four casks of lime 

 added. At 'i proper lime this heap was spread 

 on the half acre. The crop was fair, allhoii;;h 

 not sulliciem to induce him to prepare any muie 

 ill the same way. 



DR. P. P. WOODBURY S REPORT. 

 David Atwood's l:u iii consists of about fifty 

 acres: he lills idionl len — corn, two ; potatoes, 

 one; rye, four : oats, two; cuts about ei'-ht ions 

 of Lnglisji hay and aboi't uvo of meadow. He 

 raises pumpkins, sipiasbes, melons, cabbages, 

 liirnips, heels, and various oiher vegetables for 

 Ihe market, lie mixes all bis mannie to;;eiher 

 in the barn yard in ihe sprmg, and then draws 

 out and spreads about eifihuen loads lo ibe ai-re. 

 His corn was on lijiht silicioiis soil — it is very 

 good — he llujiight there luigbl be fiftv bushels 10 

 the acre. He is paying some altenlion tii Iriiit 

 tie(-s, the peach and plumb; his laud is widl lo- 

 cated for fruit. We think he may succeed ^^ell. 

 He keeps five bead of cattle, three or four swine, 

 &.C. Ills milk, and in liici all the product of the 

 liirm that is not ii.<ed fiir the family, is marketed 

 at Manchester. He is making preparations to 

 draw uiihl mannie from iManche.-ter. Mr. .\r- 

 wood's farm might be made mncli moie piodiic- 

 tive by applying more manure, particularly of 

 the lime and plaster kind. 



Ebenezer llolbrook's farm consists of seventy- 

 one acres; — tillage eleven, corn two, poiatoes 

 one, turnips leu square rods, carrots ei-jhi, beets 

 six, cabbages six, encumbers one, squa.-bes four- 

 teen, and sweet corn for culinary purposes; 

 strrnvberries four square rods, from which he re- 

 (;eived the last season, for prolii, §12,27. The 

 product of lOngli.-h hay leu, and meadow about 

 ihree tons. His lariu is iutended particularly for 

 ihe, market produce. Many of his vegetables are 

 all engaged before lliey are nmikeled. iMr. Hol- 

 hrook has paid some atleinion to the raising of 

 fodder by phmling the sontherii corn. He has 

 recently set out two hundred apple trees. He 

 has l()ur cows and two horses — li;eds his horses 

 with cut ftii:t\. His help is a boy filieen years of 

 iige, with himself and one hired baud- 

 Mr. llolbrook's fiirm is what we call n market 

 farm. His inleiilion is to raise the various vege- 

 lal«les for the market. U'e visited this farm last 

 year, and so we did Mr. Atwood's. 'I'liey are 

 both oil ihe iuereate in point of hiisbaiidry and 

 in point of product, and we have no doubt in 

 point (d' profit. 



Leonard C. French's farm numbers about sixty_ 

 acres; about five of vvhicli is tillage— three of 

 corn, and one and a half of potatoes. Mr. French 

 puts swiimp mild under bis dung windows, and 

 works the mud and manure togelher in the 

 sprinj; of the jcar, and applies al>out twenty- 

 live loads lo the acre spread, ami puts a spoon- 

 ful of plaster in each hill of corn at the lime of 

 planting. Ill some plaf*s he applied leached 

 ashes tiie same w;iy. He has good fruil on his 

 liirm. He uses the suump mud mixed with 

 iiiannre to considerable extent. We think if he 

 would use lime and some vegetable substance 

 with il, say straw, he would reap more julvantagc. 

 David Crowell, mechanic, shoe-maker by oc- 

 cupation. Since the lillli td' April last he has 

 put on bottoms to seven liiiiidied pairs of shoes, 

 — two bimdred of which ai twenty-two cenis per 

 pair, and five hundred at eight ccnis per pair. 

 Mrs. (^:rowell filtid, that is, closed and bound, 

 three hunilred pairs. 



Rev. 'J'h'Miias Savage's fiirm contains half an 

 acre, on which his buildings stand. The gene- 

 ral appearance was <;uod. Sin square roils of 

 potatoes looked well, if we could judgi; by the 

 look (d' the vines: they had been harvested. It 

 is a donhl in onr mind whether potaioes should 

 Ik; dug until the lops are done gioiving. Mr. 

 Sava^ie is paying a coounendable alleiilion to iho 

 cidlivalimi oi' fruil. He has wilhiii ihe last year 

 set out many apple trees of the Baldwin species; 

 he has the pear, the peach, llie cherry and plumb, 

 of which we can teslify lo llieir delicious flavor. 

 He has many forest trees nroiind bis house, which 

 add miieh lii its pleasant and rural appearance. 

 Wi; coinmeiul the eii!livalion ol forest trees to 

 our citizens ;;euerally. 



IVk r r. U oodbmy's fiirin numbers eighteen 

 acres. His great object is lo jjrow ha\. Of ihese 

 eighleen acres eightaro going through the pro- 

 cess id' iiiaiimiii^', Inking oiil stiuie, roots and 

 slumps, and dealing up ni>i hedges, and plough- 

 ing the swamp, and removing stone heaps that 

 bad been tipped up piomiscuously in his lii Id by 

 former occiipaiils. The last year he applied his 

 inauiire by spreading about twenty-live loads lo 

 the acre, both on corn and potatoes. The niannrn 

 \\r\a prepared by putting nil the manure of lbs 



