AND H O II T I C U L T U JJ A L REGISTER, 



PUBLISHED BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO 



NOIITK MARKET STREET, (Aorici;i.tuhai. Warehouse.) 



vol., 



kl*.l 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1840. 



[NO. 81. 



N. E. FARMER. 



NEW HAVEN COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 



SOCIETY. 



Report of the Commillee on F(trms. 



(Coiilinued.) 



FARM OF Ma TOWXSEND. 



The next farm visited by your committee was 

 that of Mr Win. K. 'I'ownsend, of East Haven, situ- 

 ated on the eastern border of New Havfin harbor, 

 and inchidinjj the salt meadows on its margin. — 

 From ihese meadows the land rises with a gentle 

 acclivity to the siiminit of the ridg'e upon which 

 the road from New Haven to the lighthouse cross- 



Ies the farm, and where also the house and farm 

 buildings are situaled. It thence descends slight. 

 '. ly to the east, to a swail throuijh which there is a 

 I small run of water. 1 he hill east of this swail is 

 covered with a thrifty growth of wood, and consti- 

 tutes the principal wood land of the farm. 

 I Farm. — 'i he farm is nearly square and consists 

 1 of 43 acres of salt grass and 118 acres of upland, 

 j 40 of which lies upon the east side of the road. It 

 \ has a north-western exposure, aflbrding a beautiful 

 I view from the harbor. 



i Buildings — These are all arranged with a due re- 

 I gard to convenience, and are in good condition. The 

 barns and piggery have been erected by the present 

 proprietor, after approved models, and prove con- 

 clusively that much labor maybe saved by judi- 

 cious arrangement, with but trifling additional ex- 

 pense. For each implement of husbandry a special 

 and convenient place of deposit is also provided. 

 As much attention has been paid to the rearing of 

 neat cattle and hogs upon this farm, it has been a 

 leading object with the proprietor to have all mat- 

 ters Ciuinected with those branches of husbandry 

 carefully arranged. Farmers about making simi- 

 lar erections may derive many useful hints from an 

 examination of these premises. 



Fences. — The fences upon the farm throughout 

 are good, and those which have been remodeled in 

 the course of improvement pursued by Mr Town- 

 send, are strong and durable. His walls with 

 posts and rails, may well be examined as speci- 

 mens of fences exceedingly permanent and yet not 

 unreasonably expensive. 



Soil. — The soil of the farm is a aandy and grav- 

 elly loam, upon a gravelly subsoil. In some small 

 portions there is a slight admixture of clay. Com- 

 pared with some of the deep rich soils of the coun- 

 ty, it is naturally light and thin, but is capable of 

 being brought into a state of high cultivation, and 

 of producing heavy crops, less luxuriant perhaps in 

 tlie amount of vegetation than those upon soils 

 more retentive of moisture, yet of excellent quality, 

 wasting less in the curing, and telling well in 

 weight and measure. 



Cultivalion. — The general cultivation is thorough 

 and good. It is an object with the proprietor to 

 have his whole f-.rm in a state of improvement. 

 To effect this he reclaims successive portions from 

 the condition in which it was left by the former 



occupant, by careful and thorough tillage, collect- I When thus sown, they produce an average of 45 

 ing the rocks and stones into strong and durable ' bushel.». 



fences, and applying a heavy coating of iiiaiuire. | IVheat — Is occajionally sown, hut is thought less 

 Under this course his whole farm, with the excep- ; sure, and generally profitable, than rye and barley. 



tion of two fields not yl reached in the regular 

 order, has been thoroughly cultivated and greatly 

 and permanently improved. 



After such improvemeut, however, these lands 

 are not, as is too often the case, .igain reduced to 

 their former condition, or rendered still le.ss pro- 

 ductive, by injudicious and excessive cropping, 

 without any return to the soil ; but by such subse- 

 quent careful treatment, as every good farmer 

 ought til give Ills land, they ore kept constantly 

 improving. 



Rolatioii. — Two different courses of cropping 

 are followed, the one extending through three sea- 

 sons, with two coatings of manure ; the other 

 through two only, with a single application of ma- 

 nure. The former is after grass — corn with ma- 

 nure, potatoes with manure, and winter rye or bar- 

 ley with grass seed. The latter is corn, potatoes, 

 pumpkins, or turnips, at'ter grass with manure, and 

 winter rye or barley with grass seed. 



Cum — Is planted only on sward. Twenty or 

 25 double loads of manure per acre being spread, 

 the land is ploughed deep and clean, is rolled and 

 planted during the first or second week in May, 

 five kernels to the hi'I, and three feet three inches 

 distant each way. The crop receives three hoe- 

 ings without hilling, biMug dressed both ways at 

 each hoeing with the horse plough or cultivator. 

 Fifteen bushels of ashes or three bushels of plaster 

 per acre, are applied to the hills before the second 

 hoeing. The crop is cut up at the ground and 

 stacked usually in the Inst of September, yitld^ntr 

 70 bushels per acre. The seed before planting is 

 soaked in tar water to prevent the ravages of worms 

 and birds. 



Potatoes — Are cultivated for the New Haven 

 market. The Mercers are the favorite and most 

 productive variety. The Scotch Greys, .Mohawks 

 and Pinkeyes, are also raised, to suit the various 

 tastes of customers. Land the previous year in 

 corn receives 20 loads of manure, and is ploughed 

 clean. For Mercers the rows are tw(j and a half 

 feet apart ; for other varieties three feet, and the 

 hills upon the row one and a half For early mar- 

 ket they are planted in April; for the general crop 

 in the latter part of May, and are dre.ssed with the 

 cultivator and hoed twice. The early planted are 

 dug tor market in time for a crop of rye, the regu- 

 lar crop as late as the season will allow. For 

 seed, potatoes of ordinary size are cut into two pie- 

 ces, and one piece is put in each hill- Thus treat- 

 ed, they produce 250 bushels to the acre. 



Rye — Is sown after corn, potatoes, pumpkins, or 

 turnips, with two ploughinirs and one harrowing, 

 and the seed is covered with the harrow. One 

 and a halfbusliel of seed is sown, and the actual 

 measured average for several years is twentyfive 

 bushels. 



Oals — Being considered not as profitable as bir- I cows 



Bnrlc}! — Is sown on land prepared as for oats, 

 and yields an average of .'iy bushels. It is consid- 

 ered the best white spring cro|) raised. 



Pumpkins — Of different varieties are raised as 

 food for cows and hogs. Turf land is ploughed 

 clean, rolled and marked out in lines 10 feet apart 

 both ways. At the intersection of the lines, the 

 turf is dug out and the hole filled with manure and 

 earth. Six or eight seeds are planted in each hill, 

 the two most vigorous shoots only being allowed to 

 remain. Great crops are thus obtained, and are 

 found invaluable in the dairy. 



Rula Basa. — The land is prepared in the fall 

 as for common turnips. In the spring the seed is 

 planted in drills, and hoed sufficiently to keep the 

 j weeds entirely subdued. The common white tur- 

 nip is raised only as fall feed for cows. 



Manure. — Three hundred double loads are an- 

 nually made on the farm, of which over fifty are 

 from the hog -pen. All refuse vegetable matters 

 are collected in the yard. Sea weed is used in 

 the hog-pen only, as it is found not to decompose 

 in the open yards. All the manure is applied in a 

 fresh state upon land to be ploughed, except that a 

 large compost heap is prepared during summer for 

 root crops and meadows. As much is applied on 

 land to be ploughed as the plough will cover, usu- 

 ally twentyfive double loads. But few fish are 

 used, though taken in the vicinity, because they 

 are considered not worth the time and expense re- 

 quisite to procure them. No manure is purchased. 

 Of plaster about three fourths of a ton is annu- 

 ally applied to the meadows and pastures. 



Shell lime to the amount of 60 bushels is added 

 to the compost heap. 



Meadows. — Thirty acres are in meadow. None 

 has been seeded within three years; attention for 

 that time having been given more particularly to 

 the p.isture land. The nieidows are depastured 

 by cows closely in the fall, but not in the spring. 

 As the grass loses its vigor in different places, ma- 

 nure from the compost heap, at the rate of fifteen 

 loads per acre, is applied and spread in the fall. 

 Ten quarts herd's grass, four of red top, and two 

 of red clover, is the usual quantity of seed. No 

 hay is ordinarily sold or bought. In haying, a 

 portion of the men continue to mow until time to 

 cart in the afternoon. The boys, and occasionally 

 one man, ted, open and turn, until from two to three, 

 P. M. They then with the revolving horse rake 

 put the whole into heaps in a surprisingly short 

 time. All the hay sufficiently made is carted, and 

 the remaining heaps dressed off with a hand rake. 

 The hay being thus secured while warm from the 

 influence of the sun, is found to be sweeter and 

 better relished by stock. 



Pastures. — Of these there are 56 acres divided 



into five lots, four of which are fed exclusively by 



They are changed each week. In this 



ley, are seldom raised, and only with peas for feed. | manner fresh feed, and it is believed a much larger 



