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First, it Avas the best crop brought to oin notice; to those 

 farmers that may say we had a lietter crop, we will say that we 

 should have been very happy to have seen it, and hope that 

 next year they will invite the Committee to view a much larger 

 one. Again, we think it may be well for the Society occasion- 

 ally to pay a premium for a crop that is not large, to encourage 

 those that have a good crop to compete for the i)remium and to 

 show by contrast the difierent results between liberal manuring 

 and meagre. 



Again, we sometimes hear the remark, that none but rich 

 men or fancy farmers can get a premium from the Essex 

 Agricultural Society. However groundless this may be, the 

 Committee wish to do what they can to show that it is not true. 

 Again, a crop that may appear small to some of the high 

 cultivators of Peabody and Marblehead, may appear large to 

 some in other parts of the County. 



We recommend the Society premium of a diploma and $10. 



There we're two entries for Mangold Wurtzels ; one by J. I). 

 W. French, North Andover, the other by Benjamin P. Ware of 

 Marblehead. It was difficult for the Committee to decide whicli 

 was the best conducted experiment. It will be seen by the 

 statements that Mr. French had liis rows six inches farther 

 apart than Mr. Ware, which enabled him to use the horse 

 cultivator between the rows. Mr. Ware does not tell us what 

 price he put for a day's laV)or ; Mr. French based his estimate 

 upon two dollars per day. Both pieces of land had been under- 

 drained and were similar in character. The land in both cases 

 was measured by the Committee. The Mangolds upon each 

 piece were uniform in size and very handsome. The one uses 

 stable manure composted with meadow mud ; the other, sea 

 manure composted with mud. It will be seen by the estimate 

 that they make a wide dilTei-encc in the value, Mr. French 

 putting them at $8.33 per ton, Mr. Ware at $13 per ton. It is 

 a trite saying that any article is worth what it will bring in 

 market. In a qualified sense this is true, but unlike hay and 

 grain, roots can not be kept but a short time ; a few tons may 

 be sold for $15 per ton, yet the whole may i^ot be safely esti- 

 mated at that price. 

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