65 



NEW ENGLAND F A R xM E R 



SEPT. a I-!4 



Slock. — Two horses, 2 cows, 2 hogs. Poultry, 

 36 turkeys, 13 guslins, 65 chickens. Estimated 

 worth of stock, 8441. 



Ciueslions. — (t^ce Jiiilge DurlVe's refiort in hist 

 week's Farmer.) 



1st. I have used fisli mixed witli common soil, 

 to great advantage. Likewise, stiible manure, 

 spread and ploughed in, for a potato crop, and the 

 crop was as good, and the potato lietter Havered 

 than when manure was used in the hill. 



2d. None. 



3d. Have used ashes for cabbages several years, 

 and thoroughly tested their value. Use a pint to 

 each hill. 



4th. Have not. 



S'.h. Have not. 



6th. There is little difference when fish can be 

 obtained at ordinary prices. 



7th. Have used sea weeds of the kind indicated, 

 and found them more valuable upon soil of a grav- 

 elly nature than upon stiff loam. 



8th. Have not. 



9th. Have not raised wheat. 



10th. Corn, barley, rye, oats and potatoes. 



11th. [Not answered.] 



12th. Have generally put earth under ;iiy stalls, 

 and have thought that this mould impregnated wilh 

 the liquor of the stable, is worth thrice as much as 

 other manure. 



Report of the Rotch Farm, AT. Providence, leased and 

 cultivated by Mr Mam Jlnthony. 

 I have great satisfaction, says Dr. Jackson, in 

 laying before the citizens of Rhode Island, the very 

 lucid and detailed report of Mr Adam Anthony, 

 who is one of the most intelligent and successful 

 farmers in the State. Mr Anthony cultivates a 

 farm leased of Mr William Rotch, of New Bedford. 

 The farm is situated two miles north of the city of 

 Providence, and the soil is naturally poor, light and 

 Bandy, with some patches of thin swamp, having a 

 light covering of black peat. A large portion of 

 this farm was originally almost barren, or support- 

 ed only a thin forest of pine trees. By chemical 

 analysis of the natural soil, i:t was found to be an 

 ancient granite diluvium, charged with decompos- 

 ed vegetable matters, in an acid state. Hence the 

 theory of liis improvements by means of ashes, con- 

 taining alkaline matter and lime. 



* # * tf * .^ * 



Memoranda furnished hy Mr .'inthomf. 

 Farm consists of 



Ploughed land 30 acrefi, valued at S141 per acre. 

 Pasture 26 ' ' 70 ' 



Mowing 18 ' ' l.'iO ' 



Wood 30 ' ' 40 ' 



dy ; 4 1-2 acres no manure — 10 ashed, 100 bush- 

 els to acre. 



Pumpkin--, .5 tons from among corn. 



Other Produce— ]iref, 9^00 lbs. ; pork, 567 I'^s. ; 

 milk, 8764 gallons. 



Crops. 



Corn, 2,58 bushels— 64 1-2 bu. per acre: soil, 

 sand and sandy loam: manure, 7 eords per acre. 



Potatoes, ,592 bushels— 236 bu. per acre : soil, 

 sand and sandy loam: manure, 7 cords per acre. 



Turnips, 1300 bushels— (550 bu. per acre: soil, 

 sand and sandy Inam : 240 bushels of ashes: ma- 

 nure, 3 1-2 cords per acre. 



Barley, 10 tons — I 3-4 tons per acre;- cut for 

 fodder: soil, sand and sandy loam. 



Hay, 50 tons — 23 4 tons per acre ; 5 acres up- 

 land, 3 lowland ; sandy ; 10 of reclaimt^d peat bog ; 

 2 acres of upland, top dressed with 5 cords manure 

 per acre. 



Millet, 40 tons — 2 3-4 tons per acre : soil, san 



Mirth Providence, 12 mo. 2, 1839. 

 Dr. C. T. Jackson — Esteemed Friend — Having 

 filled such of the blanks in the form appended to 

 the circular as were necessary to the requisite 

 statements respecting my crops of this year. 1 avail 

 myself of the convenience of a separate sheet to 

 notice sirch of the questions as I am able to answer. 

 I have made no experiments that have been suf- 

 ficiently carried out to be of other importance than 

 as affording suggestions for further trial and more 

 accurate and extended observation. Of thi.s char- 

 acter are those with nitre, potash, &c., of which a 

 statement has already been given. It may he 

 well, howeve.'', to repeat it here. Several plats of 

 ground, each containing a rod, half a rod apart, on 

 a field of sandy soil which had been recently sown 

 with millet, without manure, were treated in the 

 following manner: one with lime, one with ground 

 oyster shells and another with salt — four quarts to 

 each : one with a peck of recent, another with the 

 same quantity of spent ashes : the n«xt with potash 

 and the last with saltpetre — each a pound. The 

 lime and oyster shells produced no effects, the mil- 

 let being no better than on the undressed ground 

 about them. Salt had been furnished in too large 

 a quantity, and destroyed most of the seed. The 

 few plants that came, however, grew very luxuriant- 

 j ly. There was no perceivable difference in the 

 I ashed portions, the crop being alike better than on 

 j the intermediate spaces. Potash and nitre gave 

 I the best results, the latter the most striking. The 

 I ground was in fine condition. It produced at least 

 1 three and a half tons of millet to the acre. 



I have tried lime in but a few instances, and not 

 ] at all in comports. In a potato drill, on a sandy 

 'loam, it was evidently injurious to the crop; and 

 I as a top dressing for grass grounds, one a sandy 

 i soil, the other a reclaimed bog abounding in vege- 

 j lable matter, it was of no perceivable benefit. 



Spent wood ashes have been the principal ma- 

 j nure which I have used in amending the condition 

 of light loams and sandy and gravelly soils. On 

 all these they are used to great advantage; and to 

 a profitable result in the improvement of the two 

 last mentioned, combined with the growing of clo- 

 ver they are almost indispensable, especially if the 

 soil be of very sterile character. 



Besides the experiment above noticed with n-round 

 oyster shells, I have applied them to sandy and to 

 loamy soil for grass and for turnips, but without 

 effect. 



Bog mud of peaty character has been used to 

 some extent in my manure trenches, and is deemed 

 excellent for the purpose — more valuable than 

 loam. 



On the sandy and poorer grounds of the farm 

 millet and clover are the most profitable crops. On 

 those of firmer texture the root culture has given 

 the best results. A part of the difference in the 

 supeiior profit, however, is but apparent. Requir- 

 ing most or all of the season to perfect their growth, 

 they prevent, without some inlervenient crop, late 

 summer or early fall seeding, the seasons, I be- 

 lieve, in which lands in high condition are most 

 profitably laid down to grass. The value of the 

 produce of the farm this year, inclusive of pasture 

 feed and the products of garden grounds, (included 

 in the ploughed land, but not otherwise noticed,) 

 is $2840. .'Vnd it appears on examination of my 

 accounts, that its conversion into the forms in which 

 most of it is disposed of, is not likely to give a very 

 dissimilar result Sales have been made to the 

 amount of $2962 84, and there is on hand .$669, 

 worth more than at the commencement of the year. 

 To this should be added .$600 for the manure made 

 by the stock ; making in the aggregate $4231 84. 

 From this sum should be deducted the cost of the 

 grain purchased, and the hogs and cattle fatted, 

 which amounts to $1214 6.5, leaving a balance of 

 .$3017 19 as the value of the produce. 'I he ex- 

 cess over the first estimate of .$177 19, will proba- 

 bly defray all extra expense incurred by the dispo- 

 sition which is made of it. 



The liquid manure from I he stock is saved, but 

 has never been separately applied. Both this and 

 the solid matter are received into a trench in the 

 rear of the cattle stalls, and with the admixture of 

 bog mud or loam, make a compost much more valu- 

 able than ordinary stable manure. Six dollars a 

 cord for it may be tliought to put an end to all 

 profitable results in farming, but the efTects of its 

 application sustain me in this opinion of its value. 

 It is charged at five dollars, in my estimates of the 

 cost of crops, one sixth part, I consider, as being 

 appropriated by the soil to its own improvement. 



I have limited my estimates in regard to crops, 

 to such only as have been raised on the farm this 

 year. There are others, in the rulture of which I 

 have had some experience ; sueh as oats, beets 

 and carrots. Oats, in general, give about the same 

 results as barley. Beets and carrots cost more in 

 the cultivation than ruta baga ; beets perhaps 6, 

 and carrots $12 an acre. The product, with me, 

 has been about the same, and they are probably of 

 equal value. The difference, if there be any, as 

 food for stock, has escaped my observation. In re- 

 gard to beets, however, I speak only in reference 

 to the scarcity and yellow French. Tlie white and 

 red are said to be of better quality. 



In the valuation of the lands of the farm, build- 

 ings have not been included. These, exclusive of 

 the dwelling liouse, would add about twenty per 

 cent, to their value, and of course, about one and a 

 half per cent, to the cost of crops as interest. 



For some further account of the method pursued 

 in my farming operations, and for the result for 

 1838, allow mo to refer thee t ) a letter addressed 

 to Henry Colman, published in No. 48 of the New- 

 England Farmer, for the current year. 



Respectfully, and very truly thy friend, 



ADAM ANTHONY. 



.4 Malural Coincidence. — At the great sale of 

 Durham breeds of cattle which took place lately at 

 Lexington, Ky., we notice among the sales the fol- 

 lowing coincidence : Victoria, purchased at $1750, 

 and Prince Albert, her calf, at $300. 



