1S8 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



equal to two baskets, was laid in a box to dry, 

 and on the 15th January, 1859, the ears weighed 

 Sil lbs., and the shelled corn 70i lbs. ; measured 

 ■i6l qts., — one bushel, 4J qts., — equal to 78.68 

 bushels by weight to the acre, and by measure, 

 71.77 bushels. The shelled corn was then spread 

 on a sheet to dry in a warm chamber. 



Feb. 4th, winnowed, measured and weighed 

 the same carefully, without losing a kernel ; mea-! 

 Fared one bushel, two qfs. ; 63 4-10 bushels tn I 

 the acre by measure; weighed 66 lbs. ; 73 37-56 ^ 

 bushels to the acre, by weight ; showing a shrink- j 

 age of 34 per cent, from the ear at husking time 

 to dry shelled corn. The corn stover when cut 

 up was quite dead ; the ears were hard and dry, 

 much dryer than corn usually is when examined 

 by committee. 



A WHEAT CROP. 



Martin Johnson said, my land was broken up 

 in the spring of 1857, and 400 lbs. guano mixed 

 with plaster, spread and cultivated in. Planted 

 with corn the first of June. The crop did not 

 amount to much, as the corn did not ripen well. 

 In the spring of 1858 the land was plowed twice, 

 and 160 bushels leached ashes and 300 lbs. guano 

 were spread and cultivated in. Two bushels of 

 China wheat were sown to the acre, and culti- 

 vator used to put it in. The land measured 304 

 rods, yielding 73 bushels, thresher's measure. 

 It is a superior variety. 



Remarks. — You ought to have stated the time 

 of sowing. 



A CARROT CROP. 



J. and J. T, Dunsmoor said, the land cultivated 

 was a loamy subsoil, and contained 138^ rods. 

 It had been a hop field for seven years previous 

 to 1857 ; that season it was sowed with wheat, 

 and produced a good crop. In the autumn of 

 the same year, 40 loads compost manure were 

 put on and plowed in. In the following spring, 

 *the land was plowed and harrowed again, and the 

 seed for the carrot crop was put in the 13th of 

 April. Beds were made wide enough for four 

 rows of carrots, and had the seed all taken, the 

 yield would have been much larger. The variety 

 snwn was the Orange, and 800 bushels carrots 

 aiid 100 of turnips were taken from the above 

 mentioned land, at a cost of $75. 



A POTATO CROP. 



J. and J. T. Dunsmoor said, our field of pota- 

 toes contained 117^ rods on a reclaimed meadow, 

 mud from three to four feet in depth. Plowed in 

 the autumn of 1857, and harrowed thoroughly. In 

 the spring, planted in hills three feet by two and 

 hoed once. The droppings of the sheep-fold 

 were used on this field, as it seems, to advan- 

 tage. Potatoes of the Davis Seedling variety, 

 cut small, with two pieces in the hill, producing 

 220 bushels. 



A CORN CROP. 



Joseph Goodrich said, my field contains 248 

 rods of land, by accurate survey. It was a piece 

 of old pasture land that ferns, whortleberries, 

 brakes and other small brush possessed, and nev 

 er had been plowed until Dec, 1857. 



In May following, the land was harrowed and 

 ihe loose stones taken otT. I then spread about 

 twelve cart-loads of green stable manure to the 



acre, and cross plowed ; harrowed the second 

 time and furroM'ed one way, aiming to furrow 

 four feet, but the ground being rough, there was 

 much variation in width ; applied about tight 

 cart-loads manure to the acre, in the hills, which 

 were placed from two feet to two and a half apart. 

 This manure was loam saturated with the drop- 

 pings of cows the summer previous. Flantcd the 

 12th of May a variety called the Carter corn, from 

 four to six kernels to the hill. After the corn had 

 come up, and previous to hoeing the first time, a 

 spoonful of plaster was applied to the hill. It was 

 hoed twice, and oxen were used to plow the corn. 

 In August, a shower of hail did much damage 

 to the crop, as, at the time, the kernel was set- 

 ting, which reduced it considerably. A short 

 time previous to harvesting, a drove of cattle 

 broke into the field and destroyed several bask- 

 ets of ears. The corn was cut up and stooked 

 in the field September 25th, and stood ten or 

 twelve days, when it was hauled to the barn and 

 set up where the air could pass through it. In 

 three weeks the corn was husked and two bush- 

 els of ears shelled, producing 43 qts., then spread 

 under cover where the sun and air operated upon 

 it ten or twelve days, and appeared as dry as 

 corn generally is in January ; then weighed the 

 same, and found the weight to be 72 lbs. Quan- 

 tity raised on the field, 241 bushels ears ; weight 

 of one bushel 36 lbs. ; allowing 56 lbs. to the 

 bushel, 154 13-14 bushels. By measure, when 

 shelled, 162, nearly. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NATIVE AND FOREIGN STOCK. 



Mr. Editor : — In reading the remarks and 

 suggestions in the Third Legislative Agricultu- 

 ral Meeting, I noticed a discussion about import- 

 ed and native cattle. Mr. Asa G. Sheldon, ot 

 Wilmington, said there ought to be no distinc- 

 tion made between the breeds, but all should 

 compete on the same level. This is right, as far 

 as my experience extends. I will relate a cir- 

 cumstance which occurred at our Middlesex 

 North Agricultural Society, in Lowell, last Sep- 

 tember. I entered a yearling heifer, native breed, 

 for the premium. This heifer I raised, and gave a 

 brief account of her keeping till the time she was 

 entered for the premium When one year old, she 

 weighed 650 pounds. When presented for the 

 premium she was 17 months old, and weighed 

 884 pounds. She was handsome, and with all the 

 qualities combined for a good cow ; she is now 

 22 months old, and weighs 1052 pounds. But the 

 committee never gave her a passing notice. The 

 premium was av/arded for a heifer weighing but 

 650 pounds, with a small sprinkling of foreign 

 blood. Let the farmers take the same care of 

 our native stock that they do of the imported, 

 and in a short time our native stock will be far 

 in advance of all others. s. R. 



Westford, Mass , Feb. 15, 1859. 



Striking Cuttings in Moss. — The variety 

 used is called Sphagnum; it is the long moss 

 found in loose and wet meadows, sometimes used 

 by the farmer in lieu of ice to pack outside of 

 butter boxes when brought to market. In pre- 



