158 



-®t)e JTarmcr's iHontl)lii Visitor. 



of wliic!) were in l)enriiig two years rioiii llie 

 {;i-allm>:, we saw fifty fine peach trees, which, if 

 tliey survive tlie present winter, will be in bear- 

 ing next year, the most of whicli he planteil in 

 the sloiie three years aj^o ; he Imd also added to 

 Ills other fruits Marshall's seedling phnns from 

 Lowell. He raised in a small plat of ground 

 this year 2000 drum-head cabbages, which he 

 was carting and soiling at Manchester at eight 

 and ten dollars the hundred : he attributes his 

 great success in raising these to the application 

 of compost ill which night nianme brought from 

 Manchester was a principal ingredient. IMr. S. 

 keeps a daily account of his receipts at the Man- 

 chester market ; besides the consumption on his 

 farm for the sustenance of the family and his 

 stock, he sold the last two years from his farm 

 articles producing nearly or quite $1000 in cash 

 each year. The crops of the present year would 

 liave exceeded that sum, if his potatoes had 

 been sound. Mr. S. pays out for hired help less 

 than $200 a year; and this will hardly amount 

 to the additional permanent value which his iin- 

 provemenls every year add to his farm. This 

 gentleman is personally a hard laborer: he says 

 his gain upon the farm is better than the wages 

 of .$2,50 per day, whicli he receiveil as overseer 

 of a factory room at Lowell ; and the satisfaction 

 he derives from witnessing the effect of his own 

 work, exceeds every thing else.] 



EXTRACTS FROM DR. WOODBURy's REPORT. 



Your committee first called on Ebenezer Hoi 

 brook, whose farm contains seventy-one acres. 

 He cuts twelve tons of hay. He has three acres 

 of corn of the twelve rowed kind, three and a 

 half feet one way and about two the other, on 

 pine silicions soil — twenty loads of compost ma- 

 nure spread to the acre. We judged there might 

 be forty-five bushels to the acre. This farm is 

 what we call a market farm, ami we think the 

 owner is cultivating it to profit to himself; and 

 of use to his townsmen as an example. He has 

 six square rods of beets, three square rods of 

 carrots, which were in a fine condition, and two 

 of turnips, and sixteen square rods of cabbages — 

 three-fourths of an acre of ruta haga, with sweet 

 corn, onions, and tomatoes. His squashes and 

 pumpkins are not so good as usual ; he sowed 

 squash seed, but they came up pumpkins. He 

 has four square rods of strawberries, from which 

 he has realized the last season $16,25. He has 

 three-fourths of an acre of potatoes; the rot has 

 nfT^',cte<l them a good deal. He lias twelve square 

 rods of the whiter flat corn, sowed in drills. This 

 corn, as fodder, Mr. Holhrook considers the most 

 profilahle of any thing he grows on his farm ; he 

 sows it about the first of July, and hays it 

 about the middli! of September. He has apples 

 and fruit trees in considerable qnaiitiiics. Tliis 

 year he has set out seventy peach trees, about 

 forty plum trees, besides cherry, currants, and 

 raspberries. Hi,' has moved hi.s bam, and is 

 now accoiumoilated with a good cellar under all 

 the barn ; it is liiieil up with good stone wall ; in 

 this cellar he iiilcnds to put all liis iiianiir(;,wlii(;li 

 is to bt! a plaice of access to his hogs. He has a 

 steam furnace, whicli is worth the trouble of any 

 one to call and examine, if they arc ill the want 

 of such an article. Mr. Hulhrook does all the 

 work oil his farm with two horses. 



We next called on David .Atwood, whose firm 

 contained seventy acres. He had two acres of 

 corn ; his maniiru was manuliiclured by iiniliiig 

 one load of night manure to three loads of mini 

 or swamp muck. He spreads this manure aboiii 

 sixteen loads to the acre. His soil was that hr- 



tween liie pine plain silex and hill-siile loam and 

 primitive stone ; the corn we concluded would 

 give about forty-five bushels to the acre. He 

 had three-fourths of an acre of potatoes some- 

 what affected by the rot. He has four scpiare 

 rods of ruta haga ; these looked remarkably well ; 

 the largest we have seen on our route. He raises 

 about ten tons of hay ; he has four square rods 

 of cabbages and two of carrots ; they looked 

 well. He has about forty peach trees, with some 

 other fruits. Ho keeps one horse, one yoke of 

 oxen, and four cows. 



Leonard C. French's farm contains sixty acres. 

 He cuts eighteen tons of hay ; has three acres of 

 corn of the twelve rowed kind. He spreads fif- 

 teen loads of manure to the acre. We thought 

 there might be fifty or fifty-five bushels of corn 

 to the acre. He has two acres of potatoes on the 

 low land, on which in former years he has been 

 very successful by adding lime to the manure in 

 the hill: he has failed, the land being wet. He is 

 growing fruit, apples, peaches, plums, cherries, 

 &c. His winter apples looked well — the Bald- 

 win and blue pearmane in particular. 



John Goffe we visited next — found him digging 

 potatoes; they were of the blue and white kinds 

 with a few yellow. They were very much af- 

 fected by the rot. Mr. Goffe's farin conlains 

 seventy acres; he cuts twenty-five tons of hay, 

 keeps fourteen head of cattle, has two and a half 

 acres of corn and one and a half of potatoes. 

 His corn, the eight rowed long kind, manured in 

 the hill, one shovel-full to a hill — ten or twelve 

 loads to the acre. We thought there would be 

 55 or (30 bushels to the acre. 



George Whitford's farin contains thirty acres. 

 He has 2i acres of corn of the Canada kind, 

 planted three feet apart each way; 20 loads of 

 compost manure to the acre in the hill. We 

 judged there would be 35 or 40 bushels to the 

 acre; one acre of potatoes, manured as the 

 corn, somewhat affected with rot. Mr. Whit- 

 ford has done more in reclaiming his low land 

 than any fanner we have visited. His plan has 

 been to ditch and drain. In some instances he 

 ploughs, then spreads sand about two or three 

 inches thick, and then spreads over that about 

 twenty loads of compost manure to the acre. On 

 this he sows grass seed, and cultivates it. In 

 some pieces we saw there was no manure applied, 

 and it looked well ; but vvhe^i the rlressing of 

 sand and manure were both applied it looked 

 exceedingly W(dl. His firm in a few years, in our 

 opinion, with his present niaiiagemeiit, will more 

 than double its value. His plan of manufactur- 

 ing manure from muck and turfs succeeds to a 

 charm, as his crops testily. The best cabbages 

 we saw in our route, about five square rods, were 

 his. He is paying some attention to fruit trees, 

 and has sohl off his farm the present season 

 vegelalilcs to the value of $105. 



Samuel Patten's farm contains 130 acres. He 

 has been growing tlio white flat corn for fodder, 

 planted in drills about 3i feet apart, nnil sowed 

 thick in the hill, .3i bushels to the acre, that it 

 may not grow too rank. Mr. I'atlen ihiiiks this 

 is a good and economical way of growing fod- 

 der. He keeps one Imrse, one yoko of oxen, and 

 thirteen cows. The cows for a few weeks had 

 had been fed on the corn fodder, with good re- 

 sults. The (iroduct from his thirteen cows the 

 last year ending llie first of Siqitomber, ainoiintcil 

 to $3(i0. 



Doctor Woodbury's was the next farm we vis- 

 iii'il, containing eighteen anais. He is draining 

 and diiching his low land ; liis oliject is to grow 



ii.iy. His fruit tia-es apjiear well. He has two 

 pigs, who are daily at work making the best of 

 manure ; has two horses, and one cow, and one 

 yoke of oxen part of the year. He anticipates a 

 good deal from his fruit trees — the prospect is 

 favorable — he already grows thirty barrels of ap- 

 ples yearly. 



Stephen French, Jr.'s firm contains 70 acres. 

 He cuts 21 tons of hay — keeps thirteen head of 

 cattle and one horse. He has four acres of corn 

 of the long 8 rowed kind ; it looked remarkably 

 well — dropped and covered with the corn-plant- 

 er. We think there may be sixty bushels to the 

 acre. His manure of the compost kind twenty- 

 five loads to the acre, spread. He has Li acres 

 of potatoes. He grows twenty kinds of grafted 

 apples, plums, peaches, cherries, &c., all in good 

 condition ; from two trees he obtained three 

 bushels of the green Gage plums, and sold at 

 four dollars per bushel. Mr. French is making 

 great improvement on his farm. He is paying 

 considerable attention to stock. The manner of 

 managing his manure is commendable — digging 

 drains and ditching, and taking that which is 

 thrown out, with the washings of the highway, 

 and putting them as top dressings on his land, 

 and into his barn yard, &c. 



We next paid a visit to llev. Thomas Savage : 

 his farm consists of half an acre, on which stand 

 all his buildings. He paid considerable atten- 

 tion to fruit trees, which are in a flourishing con- 

 dition. If the product could be sold, the profit 

 would not be iuconsideralile. 



The farm of E|)hraim Snow consists of 23 

 acres. He has one acre of corn of the Canada 

 kind, planted three feet apart each way ; wo 

 thought there wouKl be 25 or 30 bushels to the 

 acre. He applies 15 loads of compost manure 

 to the acre spread. He cuts about twelve tons 

 of hay — has two acres of potatoes — some w'ere 

 planted without manure, others with manure the 

 same as the corn, with the aildition of ashes in 

 the hill when planted, and others ashed oa the 

 top of the hill when up; those ashed after the 

 potatoes were up were decidedly the best. His 

 crops looked well. 



* * « * » » * -J 

 Your eominittee were pleased to see an in- 

 creased attention to iVuit. We think the Iniid in 

 Bedford generally is well adapted to fruit, h 

 can be raised with less labor and the grower is 

 as well paid as for any other produce of the fiir- 

 iner; perhaps fruit is the most profitable cio|) 

 the laruier can groiv ; the demand is increasing. 

 It is important the various kinds of fruit should 

 bo well selected. 



Many of the farmers of IL'dford are paying 

 attention to the market at Manchester. Many 

 thousands of dollars are expended at Manchester 

 yearly for the products of the farm. The far- 

 mers of Bedlbrd are better located than any oth- 

 ers in the vicinity of Manchester to supply their 

 uiarkots. The di'inand lor fruit of all kinds is 

 on the increase, not only in our vicinity, but lor 

 distant markets ; the demand increases faster 

 than the supply. We are hapjiy to say that this 

 society has put forth exertions and has raised up 

 ail interest in this town ami in this vicinity that 

 never will fail as long us corn grows. 



I'roin the Maine I'';iriiinr. 

 RINGISONKS OK SOitllCTIIING ELSE. 



Dr. Hoi.MKS — I noliocd, in the Maine Farmer 

 of July 2S>ili, a coniinuiiioation from E. Fairliclil, 

 of I'aileii, ilf.-cribiiig the lameness of u valuable 

 horse owned by a friend of h'.s. 1 cannot discoi- 

 cr, in your remarks, that you have pointed out 

 an\ remedy for sni'li himeiics.s, upon which we 



