NEW ENOI.A]\l> FARMER, 



Published by John B. Rdsseli., at Mo. 52 JVorth Market Street, (at the Agricultural Warehouse). — Thomas G. Fessenden Editor 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1829. 



• N,o. 32. 



AGRICULTURE. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FAKIVIER. - 



The Comiuittee of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society, apijointed to view tlie Farms entei-eil for 

 the Preiiiiuius ollored \n 1828, have attended to 

 that duty, and submit the following 



REPORT. 



• The whole number of Farms entered for premi- 

 ums were six, to wit., the farms of Jacob Osgood, 

 and David Gray, in Andover ; — of Daniel Put- 

 nam, in Danvers ; — of James Pecker, in Ames- 

 bury ; — of William Thurlow, and the Indian 

 Hill Farm, in West Newbury. These were sev- 

 erally examined by the Committee in June and 

 September ; — a particular description of them, to- 

 gether with an account of their productions the 

 present year, will be found in the statements of 

 the several claimants annexed to this Report. 



Mr Osgood's farm is situate in the West Parish 

 of Andover, and contains about one hundred and 

 fifty acres, besides his woodlands. The land is 

 level, and naturally cold and unproductive. The 

 present proprietor has bad the entire management 

 of the farm, for the last forty years or more ; and 

 its present appearance is a most striking illustra- 

 tion of how much may be efiect^ecl by the perse- 

 vering industry of man, where Nature has bestow- 

 ed her gifts but sparingly. By a judicious divis- 

 ion of the land info lots, and by unremitted atten- 

 tion to the collecting and making of manure, Mr 



is to be found in his collar — here is cider from one 

 to nine years old, clear as Madeira, and but little 

 j^infirior, and this without the aid of ardent spirit or 

 other foreign ingredient. The perfection of his 

 L-ider, r.s he assiu'cd us, was to be attributed en- 

 tirely to his care in the selection and preservation 

 of the apples ; to his particular attention to clean- 

 liness in the making, and the casks in which it 

 WIS put ; and to the straining the liquor so as to 

 free it from every particle of pomace, or other sub- 

 stmcc that tends to hasten its acidity. He also 

 aisurod us, that the additional care in the making 

 or" this liquor, was more than doubly repaid by the 

 p:ice it commanded when he ofl'ered it in the mar- 

 kit. And that he always found a ready and gen- 

 erous market for all the good cider he had to offer. 

 Tiie stock of cattle upon this farm indicated care 

 in their selection, and good judgment in their 

 maiagement ; — and the products of the dairy we 



earned to be one of the best sources of profit upon 



I 



the farm. While we have spoken thus freely of 

 thr management of the farm without, we cannot in 

 juaice, omit to say that the management tvithin 

 dotrs is equally worthy of praise and approbation. 

 Ifwe were to select, within the sphere of our ob- 

 servation, a perfect exemplar of a good house wife 

 aid dairymaid, we know of no woman whose 

 chims would be superior to those of Mrs Osgood, 

 Jlr Gray's farm is situate in the South Parish 

 o' Andover, end contains about one hundred acres, 

 o:clusive of woodland. The natural condition of 

 tie soil is a perfect contrast to that of Mr Os 



rv„ 1 , ., r , . •. ■ '""D s farm. It is hilly, rocky, hard and strong. 



USGOOD has converted the oiico. barren nlajas iiif</.Ji!„„» i i- .• c ■ ■ 



,__ ..^ , , „ ., ^ , . '. '.r"«fe also arc many indications of pcrsevenng lii- 



beautiful and fertile fields. These are now fenced 

 by nearly one thousand rods of stone wall, mostly 

 laid by his own hands ; — the rocks to make which 

 were all brought the distance of half a mile or 

 more. EIr Osgood uses his fields alternately for 

 cultivation or jiasturage, thus giving to thym all in 

 their turn, the benefits to be derived from plough 

 ing and manure. By this means no part of his 

 lauds lun to waste ; — and no part of them is in- 

 fested with noxious weeds, or troublesome briart 

 or bushes. He does not permit these indices of 

 bad husbandry to have foothold, even upon tin 

 borders of his lands. 



One of the most prominent improvements seen 

 upon this farm, is in the reclaiming of cold unpro- Reports. 



dustry, and much hard labor. In the course of 

 the last thirty years, Mr Gray has made a good 

 farm, \vhere there was no f-irin before. He has 

 cleared his lands of rocks, and used them in the 

 construction of firm and permanent fiences : — he 

 has literally " made the rough places smooth, and 

 !he wilderness to blossom as the rose." His labor 

 iias at all times been employed with that judicious 

 economy, so essential to the New England Farm- 

 er, as to yield an immediate and sure reward. — 

 The whole appearance of the farm indicates good 

 husbandry. The Committee forbear speaking 

 more particularly in relation to it, in consequence 

 of the observations that have been made in former 



ductive wet meadows. Jlore than thirty years 

 since Mr Osgood commenced the draining of this 

 kind of land, and carrying the sand from their 

 borders upon the surface : This was done in the 

 winter season when the ground was frozen, and 

 when t!ie oth.er parts of the farm did not demand 

 his labor. In this way, many acres of his best 

 mowing lands, situate near his barns, now pro 



Mr Putnam's Farm is -situate in the North Par- 

 ish of Danvers, and contains about eighty acres. 

 The soil is naturally good ; — some parts of it fa- 

 vorable for cultivation, others rough and hard to 

 be subdued. Within a few years, Mr Put.nam 

 has converted some of his roughest pastures into 

 very productive mowing lands ; — he has also made 

 successful experiments in the reclaiming of wet 



ducing annually two or three tons of good fodder meadows. The most manifest improvement upon 

 to the acre, have been made, where nothing valu- the farm, is the judicious means used in the 

 »rew before ;— even where it was not safe | making and preserving of manure, 



able : 



By these 



for man to tread, unless the ground were frozenJ means alone the produce has been more than 

 forlear ofsinking inaguagmire. Mr Osgood has doubled within the last twelve years. We have 



been equally fortunate in his cultivation of fruit 

 as in his other improvements. His orchard is 

 scattered in all parts of his farm — it having been 

 his policy to place trees where he thought they 

 would grow, rather than to liave them look pretty 

 in a row. But the best part of his orchard policy 



year 



rarely if ever seen this part of the farmer's duty 

 better attended to than by Mr Putnam. Consid- 

 ering the quantity of labor bestowed upon this 

 larm, and the divided attention it received from its 

 proprietor, in consequence of other more advan- 

 tageous employments, it gave many indications of 



good management, and displayed many points to 

 merit our apprbbation. 



Mr TnuRLOw's Farm is situate in West New- 

 bury, and contains about one hundred and fifty 

 acres. The soil is naturally good — perhaps equal 

 to any in the fcounty. The location is upon the 

 northern and eastern side of a hill, three hundred 

 feet high — and upon the summit of the same. 



Upon this farm is the most extensive orchard of 

 apple trees in tiie county. The average produce 

 of the orchard for the last eight or ten years, has 

 been from five to .six hundred barrels of winter 

 apples in a year. They are mostly the russet ap- 

 ple. The trees grow on the northern and steep- 

 est part of the hill, and the land about them is 

 used for a pasture. No special care has been 

 taken of the trees since they were planted ; but 



without this, they fiourisJi and bear abundantly 



The present season, the blight that aflTected all 

 other orchards in the count}', extended to this, so 

 that the produce was a mere trifle. In addition 

 to this, we noticed upon the trees the canker loorin, 

 that sure destroyer of all within its path. Mr 

 TuuRLow had a handsome field of wheat, of 

 about six acres. We learned that he was accus- 

 tomed annually to raise wlieat, and that his aver- 

 age produce is about twenty-four bushels to the 

 acre. His crops have not been injured by blight 

 of any kind, so much complained of by other 

 farmers in the county in their attempts to raise 

 this species of grain. 



Mr Thurlow's farm is as well stocked with 

 animals of the diilerent kinds usually kept on 

 farms, lig'aiiy other we have seen. He keeps from 

 twelve to fifteen caws, and uses their milk princi- 

 pally for the making of cheese. His dairy is man- 

 aged with the greatest propriety and neatness. 



His cheeses have heretofore received the first pre- 

 mium of this Society, and will bear comparison 

 with the best productions of other counties. The 

 breed of swine kept upon this farm, has long been 

 celebrated in the neighborhood as superior. His 

 hogs have repeatedly attained the weight of 500 

 pounds, and over, at the ordinary age for killing 

 them. Considering the small quantity of labor ap- 

 plied in the management of this farm, yoiu- Com- 

 mittee believe it one of the most pirofitable and 

 productive farms iff the county. 



Mr Pecker's farm is situate in Amesbury, and 

 contains about fifty acres. The soil is of good 

 quahty. The persevering industry and judicious 

 economy of its proprietor, are the most striking 

 characteristics of this place. Under the skilful 

 management of Mr Pecker a few acres are made 

 to yield as much as many large farms ; and with 

 much less expense of labor. Your Committee 

 were much jileased with their view of this place ; 

 and astonished at the amount of its products. 



The Indian Hill Farm in West Newbury, under 

 the care of Mr William J. Greive, was visited 

 by your Committee. They regret not being fur- 

 nished with an account of its products the present 

 year. They were much gratified, with the many 

 indications of industry and effective labor display- 

 ed on this farm. Numerous experiments have 

 been commenced, that will require more than one 

 season to test their merits ; and your Committee 

 sincerely hope that the result will prove, that ttie 



