196 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aprii, 



CHESHIRE COUNTY, N. H, 



The people in Convention, comparing their experiences 

 Another of the series of agricultural meetings 

 instituted in Cheshire County, was held at Keene, 

 Feb. 17, in the Town Hall. Gen. Converse, 

 President of the County Society, in the chair 

 The afternoon was devoted to a general discus- 

 sion of the subject of Manures, and to that of 

 Wheat, — the question upon the latter being, 

 whether the farmer cannot raise the grain and 

 supply himself with flour, at less cost than he can 

 raise other articles, subject himself to the cost of 

 finding a market, selling, and then, after paying 

 three or four profits to those whose hands it has 

 passed through, purchase what he needs for his 

 family supply? No vote was taken upon the 

 question, but judging from the remarks of the 

 speakers, we came to the conclusion that the im- 

 pression was a general one that the farmers of 

 Cheshire County were working at considerable 

 disadvantage in neglecting to raise wheat, and in 

 purchasing so largely of flour. As an illustration 

 of the amount of flour purchased in the towns, 

 it was stated that in a single town in that State, 

 where there was not a manufacturing estab- 

 lishment in the town, but where nearly all the 

 people were engaged in farming, and the popula- 

 tion only about fifteen hundred souls. Jive thous- 

 and dollars worth of flour was annually sold ! 

 And it was thought that about this state of things 

 exists all over New England. It appeared by the 

 statements made that there is no difficulty in ob 

 taining remunerating crops of wheat in that re 

 gion. Mr. George H. Wright, of Keene, said 

 he had always raised wheat, and got an average 

 of fifteen bushels per acre, and found the crop as 

 sure as any other. Mr. James Elliot, of Iveene, 

 said he had raised forty bushels of wheat on a 

 little less than one acre and a quarter ! Col. Ad- 

 ams, of Fitzwilliam, rarely failed in getting a good 

 crop of wheat ; thought it as sure and profitable 

 as any of our farm crops. Mr. BoTCE, of Troy, 

 said he went into debt for a farm, raised wheat 

 profitably, and soon brought the farm into condi- 

 tion to make it a sure and good investment of his 

 labor. 



The discussion of the subject of manures took 

 a wide range — but the evidence was, that the far- 

 mer must mainly depend upon what can be accu- 

 mulated on the farm through his own industry 

 and skill in collecting, composting and preserv- 

 ing it ; that this, more than all others, is the 

 manure best adapted to the soil and the crops, 

 and will secure to him the most successful and 

 profitable results. Mr. Milan Harris, of Har- 

 risville, gave detailed statements of his experien- 

 ces with guano, showing that on moist lands, 

 with proper skill in its application, he had used 

 considerable quantities with satisfactory results. 



But notwithstanding this, he candidly stated that 

 he agreed in the opinion expressed by others, 

 that the farmer must depend upon the resources 

 of his own farm, and if he used the specific fer- 

 tilizers, must use them as helps, rather than as 

 principals. In this connection, Mr. S. W. Bup- 

 FUM, of Winchester, spoke of the importance of 

 a better knowledge of our farm operations, and 

 especially in preparing the manures upon which 

 we are to depend for successful crops. He warm- 

 ly urged upon the farmers more reading and care- 

 ful investigation, and said no efforts they might 

 make would pay better in the end. In these 

 statements he was confirmed by the venerable 

 John Prentiss, of Keene, who said that farmers, 

 as a class, undervalued books, and that in the 

 fifty years he had been a bookseller in that place, 

 he had rarely sold a work treating upon agricul- 

 tural matters to a farmer ! The mechanic, the 

 machinist, merchant and manufacturer, were 

 eager to gather information from books, or any 

 other source, but the farmer seems to have pre- 

 judices that are invulnerable. Mr. P. also de- 

 tailed his plan of making up a manure heap by 

 collecting leaves and all sorts of vegetable refuse, 

 and composting them with matter from the cow 

 and horse stall, depositing the mass under cover 

 until it became quite fine, and then using it upon 

 his garden crops. Mr. Woodward, Editor of 

 the Keene Sentinel, spoke favorably of top-dress- 

 ing mowing lands before the roots of the grass 

 are exhausted, and thus make them continue to 

 yield a ton and a half per acre for a dozen years 

 in succession, instead of incurring the expense 

 of re-seeding each five or six years. 



In the evening, the meeting was much more 

 fully attended. A lecture was read by the Editor 

 of the N. E. Farmer, upon some of the hindran- 

 ces of good farming, and upon its social relations, 

 and then an animated discussion followed, which 

 continued until past nine o'clock. 



The next meeting of the series was held at 

 Marlow, 17 miles from Keene, the next day, Fri- 

 day, the 18th. Hon. Allen Griffin was elected 

 President, and Mr. Lewis, Secretary. The grass 

 crop, manures, grain crops and top-dressing were 

 the subjects discussed. The President opened 

 the meeting in an interesting speech upon prac- 

 tical topics, which operated as a key-note through- 

 out. Messrs. Elliot, of Keene, Downer, Dr. 

 Perkins, Col. Farley and Messer, of Marlow, 

 related experiments or experiences in regard to 

 one or another of these subjects. Mr. Powers, 

 of Marlow, said he brought land that was so poor 

 that sorrel would not grow on it, into a high 

 state of product by the use of meadow much. The 

 President confirmed this statement by saying 

 that he often had occasion to pass the land re- 

 ferred to, and believed it to be one of the most 



