no 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NOV. as, 11840. 



Buildings. — These are numerous and construct- 

 ed in the ordinary manner, without that attention 

 to convenience which migl'.t be expected on a farm 

 wintering st- large a stock. They are, however, in 

 good condition, and the committee found here also 

 a convenient work room wjth proper tools. 



Rolalion of Crops. — The regular rotation fol- 

 lowed on the farm is, iifter grass, corn with ma- 

 nure, applied m the fall; potatoes with manure; 

 rye with grass. This course is occasionally ex- 

 tended one season hy interposing oats after pota- 

 toes. 



Corn. — For this crop, 'M loads of rotten manure 

 are spread on grass land in the fall. In the spring ' 

 the land is ploughed clean, and the corn planted, 

 five kernels to the hill, in rows each way three and 

 a half to four feet apart, is ploughed both ways, 

 hoed three times, and manured with ashes on the 

 hill. It is cut np as early as the condition of the 

 corn will permit. The yellow variety is preferred, 

 and under this course produces 50 bushels. 



Potatoes This crop is sometimes planted on 



land prepared as for corn, but generally after corn. 

 The land is ploughed clean, and the seed, eight 

 bushels selected potatoes, one in the hill, isphinted 

 in rows three and a half feet apart: two lioeings 

 are given, and 200 bushels obtained. Mercers 

 and Englisli Whites are cultivated for eating and 

 Lady Fingers for stuck. 



drits — Follow corn or potatoes; two ploughings 

 are given, one half the seed (two and a half or three 

 bushels tu the acre) is sown and ploughed in, and 

 the other half is then sown and ploughed in: they 

 are cut when half changed, and yield thirty bush- 

 els. Special pains is taken to change the seed 

 often. 



Rye and ff'heat — Are sown together after corn 

 and potatoes, with two ploughings ; the seed, one 

 and a half bushels, being also covered with the 

 plough, and the grass seed bushed in. On strong 

 land in good condition this admixture is found ad- 

 •viintagpous, and twentyfive bushels per acre are 

 obtained. 



Pumpkins — Are planted only with corn. 



ifoo(s.— White turnips are raised, and a'.so some 

 300 bushels of Ruta Baga. The latter are sown 

 about the first of .luly. 



Manure. — Three hundred loads are annually 

 made in the yards. Every thing suitable is carted 

 in. Much of the manure, however, is suffered to 

 remain exposed to the action of the elements in 

 open yards through the summer, and in the fall is 

 carted out and spread on land to be ploughed the 

 .succeeding spring. That here is an enormous 

 -waste appears from the fact, that when the same 

 number of loads of fresh manure are applied, side 

 by side in the spring, the effect upon the crop is 

 found to be at least eciiial, while the quantity of 

 vegetable matter contained in the fresh manure is 

 little more than half that in an equal quantity 

 spread in the fall. 



Ashes are applieil to corn only. 



Salt Muck. — Two hundred double loads of this 

 are annually carted from an estuary of the sea near 

 the land on the point: the muck is thrown out with 

 an ox shovel in the winter, and carted, when dry, 

 in the spring. The excavation is le-filled by the 

 spring tides. 



It is believed that tliis species of manure will, 

 ore long, more than supply tho absence of fish, 

 which are becoming scarce, and are already too 

 high priced to be profitable. Indeed, it is unhesi- 

 tatingly asserted by those whose opinions are wor- 



thy of hiijli respect, that in any mode of application 

 other than through the compost heap, fish injure 

 the land more than tliey benefit the crop, unless 

 indeed the land is already so light that no other 

 mode of forcing a crop can be resorted to, and even 

 then that the cost exceeds the profit. They claim 

 that the same expense applied directly to the farm 

 in careful cultivation, and in the shape of manure 

 made on the land, will produce better crops, and 

 at the same time greatly improve the farm itself, 

 while under the fish husbandry, without other ma- 

 nure, beside the great expense, and the pollution 

 of the whole atmosphere, the land becomes annual- 

 ly less and less capable of producing heavy crops. 



If, however, the land is sufficiently tilled, thor- 

 oughly to incorporate with it the decayed fish, or 

 ifthe fish are used only as a component part of 

 the compost heap, it is believed that this deterio- 

 ration may be avoided. 



Salt muck has an entirely different operation. 

 There is in it enough of rich vegetable and animal 

 substance to produce an immediate and admirable 

 effect, and it also, by reason of the earthy matter 

 contained in it, changes in a degree the character 

 of the soil itself. It thus has a direct and immedi- 

 ate effect, which at once more than repays all the 

 labor and expense of the application, and also a 

 permanent influence in ameliorating the soil. 



An examination of the land of the Messrs Spen- 

 cer, at the Point, will satisfy any one of the excel- 

 lence of this kind of manure. 



Fish.-^The Messrs Spencer, being owners in 

 two fisheries, annually apply, of those not readily 

 sold, some 200,000 to their oul-lands. None are 

 put upon the home tract, and few upon the land at 

 the Point: they are applied to moist land, not be- 

 ing considered of much value on dry soils. 



Meadoivs. — On the two tracts exhibited to your 

 committee, there are 40 acres of fresh and 25 of 

 salt or tide meadows : the former have all been 

 cultivated, remaining in grass, without manure, six 

 years, and producing, by estimation, two and a 

 half tons per acre. The tide meadows give one 

 and a half, much of which is the black variety. 

 The cutting of the upland grass commences about 

 the first of July. It is mowed and spread, the next 

 day placed in heaps, and the third day carted after 

 opening. On some of the home meadows the crop 

 of grass was enormous. For meadows, ten quarts 

 of herd's grass and clover seed are sown, the for- 

 mer in the fall, and the latter in the spring. 



Pastures. — These are principally cultivated : — 

 those upon the ooint have been enriched by salt 

 muck, and are excellent : they are fallowed, with 

 four or five ploughings, for rye, and are mowed the 

 first season after being stocked with grass. 



Stock. — Six yoke of oxen, raised on the premi- 

 ses, are empUiyed for farm work. They are pure 

 red, and fine specimens of the working oxen of our 

 native breed. The cows raised on the farm are 

 also of native breed, and yield 14 quarts of milk 

 each tlirough the season. There are also 36 head 

 of younger stock, all of the same color and breed, 

 raised on the farm and in fine condition. 



Hogs. — The common breed are raised for fatten- 

 ing for family use, and for payment of workmen, 



&.C. 



Sheep. — Thirtysix of the Bakewell, and a cross 

 with the Merinos are kept. This crossing is found 

 to succeed admirably : the half blood produces 5 

 lbs. of wool and a much larger carcass than the 

 Merino. 



Horses. — Two are kept for work on the farm 

 and one for family use. 



PoiiWrv.— Chickens, turkeys and geese, are rais- 

 ed for family use and al.so for sale. 



Labor. — One of the owners, and two sons of the 

 other, all emphatically working men, with four men 

 hired for eight or nine months, and one also through 

 the winter, perform the labor of the farm. 



If'oodlanrt. — On the whole farm there are l.TO 

 acres. It is thrifty and not pastured. 



Water The two tracts visited by the commit- 

 tee are well watered by streams and springs. 

 Receipts — As estimated by Mr Spencer : 

 Grain, $50 



Stock, 300 



Hogs, 50 



Hay, 150 



Butter and cheese, 30 



Potatoes, 300 



Turnips, 150 



Poultry, 20 



Wood, 20 



$1070 



Having thus explained their views of the princi- 

 ples upon which a decision in respect to the award 

 of premiums should be made, and given a detailed 

 view of the condition and mode of cultivation pur- 

 sued on each farm presented for their inspection, 

 your committee now proceed to the far more diffi- 

 cult duty of examining the claims of the different 

 applicants and of determining the order in which 

 the several farms should be placed. 



The wish of the committee would be, if consis- 

 tent with their duty, to give all the premiums to 

 small farms, because they are persuaded that the 

 subdivision of the country into farms of that de- 

 scription, occupied and cultivated by the owner of* 

 the soil, is, in New England, most conducive to a 

 healthy state of society and to the prosperity of ag- 

 riculture. The farmer who, by his personal indus- 

 try, cultivates, and in a short time pays for, a small 

 farm, and at the same time raises his land from a 

 neglected and impoverished stale, to a high and 

 productive condition, deserves, in the judgment of 

 your committee, a far higher meed of praise than 

 lie who with abundant capital and extended facili- 

 ties causes his broad acres to be cultivated even in 

 the most approved mode of husbandry. 



With these views your committee felt great em- 

 barrassment in respect to the award of the first 

 premium. In their judgment, the question lies be- 

 tween the first two farms visited by them. That 

 of Mr Davis is an excellent farm, of strong, rich 

 soil and in good condition, and Mr Davis has, by 

 his industry in the care of his farm, and by the 

 raising of garden seeds, during the time he has oc- 

 cupied the place, far more than paid its first cost, 

 and also the cost of the buildings erected upon it, 

 and has greatly improved the condition and in- 

 creased the fertility of his land. Vour committee 

 arc not disposed to say a single word to detract 

 from the deservedly high character of the farm, or 

 of Mr Davis as a cultivator. 



Under all the circumstances, however, and after 

 a full and careful examination of the matter in all 

 its bearings, they feel constrained to award the first 

 premium to Mr Townsend, of East Haven. 



Mr Townsend took possession of his farm seve- 

 ral years since, when, by heavy cropping, misman- 

 agement and neglect, it was entirely worn down 

 and unproductive, and its buildings and fences 



