42 ON COMPARATIVE VALUE OP CROPS. 



ing. Three years since, about half of the plane land, where the 

 onions grew, was subsoiled eight inches below the ordinary plough- 

 ing; the other half was not. In all other respects, the land was 

 manured and treated alike. The crop was decidedly better on the 

 part that was subsoiled, than on the part that was not. I am not 

 able to state with precision how much better, but should judge it to 

 he h'om fifteen to twenty per cent. At the time I used the subsoil 

 plough, it was the better to prepare the land for a crop of carrots, 

 without any expectation of a beneficial influence upon the onions. I 

 state the facts as observed, and presume the improved crop was the 

 consequence of the subsoil ploughing. I have not used a plough of 

 this description sufficiently, to speak with confidence of its general 

 utility ; but from what I have witnessed, cannot doubt it may be used 

 on some kinds of soil to great advantage. 



One other fact I observed on my field of onions, which may be 

 worth mentioning. When I procured the muscle bed, a part of it I 

 spread directly upon the land, and a part I distributed in heaps, and 

 after it laid through the winter, caused it to be spread. Where these 

 heaps laid, could be distinctly seen through the season, and the crop 

 was much less, than around them. Possibly, too much salt had 

 ■ mingled with the soil ; whatever may have been the cause, the ef- 

 fect was prejudicial. The extraordinary crop of onions the last year 

 induced many to engage in the cultivation the present. Many fields 

 have fallen short of expectation nearly one half. My own has done 

 well. Though had the season been a favorable one, I cannot doubt 

 that the crop would have been one quarter part more. The demand 

 for the onion has thus far been commensurate with the supply ; and 

 I see no reason to hesitate in the beUef, that it will continue to be 

 one of the most advantageous crops that can be cultivated. 



AARON C. PROCTOR. 



Danvers, October, 1848. 



ON COMPARATIVE VALUE OF CROPS, &c. 

 The Committee on the "comparative value of crops as food for 

 cattle," regret that it isnot in their power to award the liberal pre- 

 miums offered. These offers have been before the public for several 



