vol . \VI. Nt>. 50. 



AND G A R D E N E B ' S 



JOURNAL 



895 



[ have no pstiiiiate of the t'.\|)ense of cultivating 

 an acre of potatoes in Essex County except tho 

 one on page 22, [845.] If we suppose tlie amount 

 ofseeil used to bo 20 bushels, and that the (liggini; 

 is at the rate of 30 bushels to a day's work, the 

 expenses will not much fall short of $50, including 

 ten loads of manure at $2 per load. The crop 

 in such case, with ordinary success, may be rated 

 at 300 bushels. The jirice is seldom less than 26 

 cents, and rarely exceeds 40 cents in quantities. 

 Potatoes return nothing of value to the .soil. Wheat 

 within my own observation, has done extremely 

 well after potatoes. Potatoes are best grown in a 

 deep rich loam ; and will well repay good culti- 

 vation. 



O.vioNS are a considerable crop in the county ; 

 the cidtivation as a field crop has been principally 

 in Danversaiul Neubuiy. Of late they have been 

 subject to a blight, which n.'duces the value of the 

 crop, and sometimes renders it vvorlhless. Neither 

 the cause nor preventive is understooil. In Dan- 

 vers, until the two last years, 25,000 bushels a 

 year have been raised ; the last year, two thirds of 

 that amount. They are sold in the market to be 

 shipped to New Orleans or the West In<lies ; and 

 the price varies from 30 to G7 cents : 300 to 400 

 bushels to Ell acre may be considered a fair crop ; 

 600 bushels are sometimes obtained. The esti- 

 mate of the cost of cultivation, which I have ob- 

 tained, is fifty day's labor to an acre. This in- 

 cludes nothing for manure nor rent of land. The 

 manure very generally applied, where att.iinable, 

 is muscle-bed, which is obtained in Salem at the 

 rate of §1 per horse load ; and laid in heaps on 

 the land in autumn, where it is completely pulver- 

 ized by the action of tho frost. 



In Wealhersfield, Conni.'Ctieut,it is well known 

 that this vegetable has been extensively and profit- 

 ably cultivated for years ; and mnin'y by female 

 labor. After the land is ploughed, manured, and 

 fitted for the seed the whole labor is performed 

 by women, even to fitting the crop for market; — 

 formerly in successful seasons $100 or more was 

 not an uncomtnon result of a woman's siimtner 

 labor in the onion field. We should be sorry to 

 see women in our country subjected to the severe 

 and degrading services and toils, to which the 

 wives and daughters of the agricultural laborers of 

 the old countries are accustomed. But exem|)tiou 

 from all necessity of bodily exertion is usually a 

 curse, not a blessing ; and many of the lighter 

 kinds of agricultural labor would be as proper for 

 women as for men did not custom forbid it, a cus- 

 to:n of at least questionable utility. Rather than 

 eti''a"e in this, many of our young women quit 

 their parental lionies, and prefer passing months 

 and even years in heated rooms amid the dust and 

 confinement and deafening din of machinery, to 

 the light but cheerful and invigorating labors 

 of gardening and agriculture, in the pure and 

 bracing air and the green and open fields. The 

 culture of silk promises to afford a healthful and 

 profitable occupation for female labor. 



Of the other crops there can be said to be no 

 general cultivation. Ruta P.aga, Carrots, Heets, 

 and Cabbages have been sometimes extensively, 

 and continue in some degree, to be cultivated, but 

 not to any noticeable extent. In this respect we 

 believe the Essex farmers have not yet come to a 

 perfect understanding of their true interest. There 

 are three sorts of fanning. The first, where aa- 



riculture is pursued as subsidiary to .soisiething 

 else, and is a mere accoinpaniuient to n trade, 

 business, or profession. The second, where a 

 bare living is sought for; and men are satisfied 

 with the ordinary supplies and comforts of a farm 

 without any view to improvement or gain, 'i'liese 

 two classes may be said to comprehend the great- 

 er part of the agricuhural populaiion of Essex; 

 and their situation is :dmost uuivtMs.illy comforta- 

 ble and independent. The third class is, where 

 agriculture i.s pursued like any other business in 

 the community with a ])ro|)er ouilav of capit.il 

 and labor, and wi:h a main view to pecuniary ad- 

 vantage. From the number of markets accessible 

 in the coimty, and the amount of manufacturing 

 population within and in the vicinity of ihi' county 

 to be sustained, this class is destined to arise ; 

 and when this is the case the cultivation of green 

 crops and esculent vegetables will form an essen- 

 tial part of the rotation of products. 



T shad here subjoin a list of remarkable pro- 

 ducts, which have been obtained in the county, 

 many of wh^-h have been certified under oath to 

 the Massachusetts and Essex Agricultural Socie- 

 ties; others have come under my own personal 

 observation, or rest upon testimony so well au- 

 thenticated that it is difficult to reject it. Where 

 the products themselves have been actually meas- 

 ured, and the land on which they were grown 

 measured, and the whole certified by theassevera- 

 tions and oaths of persons, whose credibility is 

 unquestioned, I am at a loss to know by what 

 ri;:ht or reason these statements should be dis- 

 trusted. The authorities are at the service of 

 those persons, whose curiosity would be gratified 

 by knowing them. 



Of Wheat, 24, 25, and 32 bushels to the acre. 



Of Indian Corn, 70, 72, 84, 90 1-2, 90 3-4, 105, 

 110, 113 1-2, 115, 117 1-4 bushels. 



Of Barley, 50. 51 1-2, 52, 54 bushels. 



Of Rye, 40, b6 bushels. 



Of Oats, 1,000 bushels on 20 acres. 



Of Potatoes, 400, 484, 518 1-2 bushels. 



Of Carrots, 849, 864, 878, and 900 bushels. 



Of Mangold Wurtzel, 924. and 1,340 bushels to 

 an acre at 56 lbs. to a bushel. 



Of Beets, 783 bushels. 



Of Ruta Baga, 688, 903 bushels. 



Of English Turnips, 636, 687, 672, 751, 814 

 bushels. 



Of Onions^ 651 bushels. 



From one acre of land upwards of three tons of 

 well cured Millet were obtained. 



From one acre of redeemed meadow 4 1-2 tons 

 of English Hay were weighed and sold in 1836-7. 



From six acres of land more than 29 tons of 

 good English Hay, weighed at the town scales, 

 have been cut in a season. 



Six hundred dollars worth of Winter Squashes 

 were sold the last season from two acrts of land. 

 The number of pounds is not ascertained. The 

 market price was very high. 



The products of an acre and a half in a gar.len, 

 the present season, are worthy of notice. 



The land was manured with eight cords of ma- 

 nure to the acre, and there have l)een grown on 

 it for sale, and to be sold, as follows : 

 3,500 bushels of Onions, at 5 cents 175 00 



45 barrels of Beets, at $1,50 per barrel 67 50 



Cabbages sold . 100 00 



14 bushels of Parsneps 10 50 



2 do Beans 4 00 



20 



do Potatoes 



6 67 



S363 67 

 Besides a su|}ply of vegetables for family use 

 from the sanie garden. 



The e.otalilishment with which the last account 

 is connected presents one of the most beaulifid 

 examples of persevering iiubistry, and admirable 

 domestic economy and man.'igement, to be met 

 with in our industrious and frugal community. — 

 The individual began his married life with only 

 $500, whith was the dower of his wife. He has 

 never been the owner of more than 10 1-2 acres 

 of land, but has often hired land for improvement. 

 His whole and exclusive business has been farm- 

 ing. He has been blest with ten children, of 

 whom seven are sons, and all of whom have been 

 brought up in habits of usefid industry and had 

 the advantages of a useful eilucalion. His house 

 is handsome enough to satisfy any reasonable am- 

 bition ; and his out-door and in-door establish- 

 ments patterns of neatness and order. He has 

 all the needed comforts and luxuries of life ; and 

 in property may be pronounced independent. — 

 The habits of such a family are in themselves a 

 fortune. He and his two sons have this year cut 

 and cured 75 tons of hay ; and better hay is not 

 to be found. 



BRUSSA MULBERRY. 



Mr Consul Rhind, who resiiled in Turkey a 

 long time, and interested himself in the subject of 

 mulberry and silk, speaks very highly of the 

 Brussa midberry tree, of its capat-ity to endure the 

 rigors of severe winters — that it flourishes best in 

 high and even poor land — that silk made from it 

 is of superior quality, and highly estimated in all 

 foreign markets, esjjecially for sewing silk — that 

 when the crop season conunenccs, the leaves are 

 brought into the city by the cultivators in baskets 

 and sold in the market in quantities to suit pur- 

 chasers, in the same manner as fruits and vegeta- 

 bles. 



He entertains the utmost confidence in the ulti- 

 mate success of the silk cause in America. He 

 says "that silk can he produced with infinitely 

 le.ss trouble than is generally sup))osed, I am fully 

 persuaded. .'\nd I have in the course of my 

 travels visited most of the silk growing countries, 

 and gave considerable attention to the subject." 



Again he says — 



" The culture of silk is peculiarly deserving the 

 encouragement of paliiotic and benevolent men, 

 inasmuch as it will afi^ord (in its different mani- 

 festations) a living to l\\e most helpless of our race ; 

 aged and decrepit persons and children can all be 

 eir.jiloyed in some part of the process, and to a 

 portion of the female sex who may have been 

 reared in luxury and indulgence, but by change 

 of fortune have become reduced, yet are willing 

 to labor rather than depend on the cold hand of 

 charity or the benevolence of friends, this culture 

 will afford a certain and independent living, with- 

 out exposing them to the scoffs and scorns of a 

 selfish world." 



In reply to a letter of Mr Rhind to Judge Spen- 

 cer, accompanied with the Brussa mulberry tree. 

 Judge Spencer says — " The Brussa leaf is con- 

 siderably larger and thicker than the white mul- 

 berry leaf, and nearly if not equal to the Morus 

 Multicaulis." — yNorlhampton Couritr. 



