89 



oeqnul to fi\c eow.s. I'he swine, of course, perform their part 

 in tlie making of manures. 



Mr. Appleton believes in ''high farming," and endorses the 

 old assertion, that "if high farming will not pay, then low will 

 not." Thus far, he says, he has only been making a farm, 

 and it is his wish that the Essex Agricultural Society send 

 its committee on farms, three years 'hence, to ascertain the 

 result of his experiments, and his endeavors to get his farm in 

 high condition. By that time he expects to be able to show 

 tliat his pecilniary investments have not only been productive, 

 •but profitable. 



The committee have seen in Mr. Appleton's management 

 much that is worthy of high commendation, and they regard 

 his experiments in reclaiming low lands — viewed as experi- 

 ments — as of great value to the agricultural interests of Essex 

 ■county, Avhere there is so large a proportion of comparatiyely 

 ■unproductive swamps. • They consequently recommend that 

 the first premium of a diploma and thirty dollars be awarded to 

 Daniel E. Appleton of Ipswich. 



Dr. James R. Nichols kindly invited the committee, with 

 the trustees and a number of prominent Essex county agricul- 

 turists, to visit his " Lakeside Farm," although it was not en- 

 tered for premium. Had it been brought before the notice of 

 your committee, officially, they would probably have simply 

 reproduced Dr. Nichols's own comprehensive accounts of his 

 experimental agriculture, published in his valuable "Journal of 

 Chemistry," and also those given in t]\e agricultural address 

 which he delivered at Amesbury in September. Applying 

 chemical science to agriculture. Dr. Nichols has made inquiries 

 into the causes of the fertility and barrenness of the earth, the 

 food and nutriments of vegetation, tlie nature of the soil, and 

 the best means of meliorating its condition. Recognizing the 

 fact that it is as ncccsL^ary for a good farmer to feed his fields 

 as )t is to feed his cattle, he has endeavored to ascertain what 

 .e.lements have been abstracted from the soil of his farm, and 

 to restore them or tlieir chemical equivalents. Your committee 



