380 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



June 13, 1R32. 



Agriculture. 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICUI,TURAL 

 SOCIETV. 



To tlie Trustees of llie MassachuscUs AgricuUutal Society. 



Gf.ntlemen — Situated at a distance from any 

 considerable market town, it would bo absurd in 

 me to think of entering into competition in the ag- 

 gregate amount of crops, witli fanners in the vicin- 

 ity of the city, where manure is attainable to any 

 desired extent. Ou the supposition, tliat the man- 

 agement of farms is judged in reference to local 

 advantages and inconveniences, my hope is found- 

 ed of sustaining a claim to a premium. There 

 have never been any very great improvements 

 made on my farm in any one year. The object 

 has been yearly to add something more in earthy 

 and vegetable substances to the fields, tlian was 

 taken from tliem in tlic removal of crops. To give 

 a just idea of improvements made, a brief history 

 of the operations may be necessary. 



My first purchase of land was in 1802, fifteen 

 acres; the greater part of which was in a very 

 rough state, and as much of it as had been tilled 

 reduced by severe cropping. Tlie rocks were re- 

 moved to inclose the lots, and the bushes subdued 

 witli the plough, as fast as necessary means could 

 be obtained for accomplishing those objects; the 

 progress was not rapid in the beginning, because, 

 being entirely destitute of capital, I was obliged, 

 in seaman's phrase, to " work iny passage." 



When the fields wore inclosed with walls and 

 the bushes subdued, attention was directed to the 

 ])lats which had been tilled almost to exhaustion. 

 And the principal means of renewinor ;]icm wilhiii 

 my power, was the incorporation of earths of ilif- 

 ferent qualities. Cold and tenacious soils were 

 dressed with silicious earth and other material 

 that tended to open and warm them. Sandy soils 

 were dressed with clay, swamp mud, and alluvi 

 ons in which sand formed the least considerable 

 part. This course, in seven years, gave ten tons 

 of English hay where less than two were obtained 

 before, and about double the quantity of grain on 

 the acre. 



In 1817, another lot of sixteen acres, a large por- 

 tion of it in similar stale with the first, was piu'- 

 chased and managed in the same way. About the 

 same time were ])urchase(l seven acres of fresh 

 meadow ; on which no other improvements have 

 been made than clearing aw"ay bushes, tunnelling 

 and cutting ditelies in such directions as would 

 irrigate the whole meadow. Another small lot 

 was inclosed from a pasture, in 1820, and has 

 since been cultivated as English meadow and til- 

 lage. Four acres of the above lots are light sandy 

 soils ; six acres hazel loam, suitable for grain or 

 grass; five acres dark friable soil; fifteen acres 

 argillaceous ; and ten acres of irrig.ated fresh 

 meadow. Seven acres were planted with Indian 

 corn the present year — three acres of loam and 

 four acres of sandy soil. On one acre of the loam 

 about six cords of barn manure were spread and 

 ploughed in ; on another acre, where in other 

 years meadow mud had been ap|died, six casks of 

 lime were spread ; on the other fields, which pro- 

 duced rye the preceding year, there was no appli- 

 cation. The corn was planted in drills; this meth- 

 od has been in i>ractice on the farm more than 



wliole cro]) 22,:i81 jiounds, 2!»8^1 bushels. The 

 same field the jireceding year, produced one hun- 

 dred and twenty bushels of rye. The present 

 year there \v;cre only about two acres in rye, and 

 and the produce was twentyfive bushels. 



There are nine acres in tillage, alternately plant- 

 ed with corn and rye, excepting once in five or six 

 years each field is planted with potatoes, beans, 

 or some other veget;d)le considered favorable as a 

 change from the ordinary coiu'sr. The stubble of 

 rye is ploughed in, immediately after the removal 

 of the crop{ and some kind of seed applied to pro- 

 duce herbage to be ])loughpd in as green dressing. 

 Potatoes this year were planted only on ttie bor- 

 ders of cornfields, under trees, and in other situa- 

 tions where not much produce could be expected, 

 — eighty bushels Were gathered. From two hun- 

 dred to three hundred has been the average crop 

 in the last four year.s. No other roots are cultiva- 

 ted except in the kitchen garden. Thirtytwo acres 

 are mowed, twenty of which have been jiloughed 

 and will produce good English hay in common 

 seasons, with liberal manuring? but a succession 

 of wet seasons lias introduced on a part of it so 

 much wild grass, that the hay is not now suitable 

 for the market, though good stock hay. There 

 arc ten acres of irrigated land, as above mention- 

 ed, and two acres of fresh meadow over which 

 water does not often pass. The hay was located 

 before the offer of premium was published, in such 

 manner that it is impossible for me to ascertain 

 wi',li accuracy the quantity. Some of it was 

 ])laccd in barns with old hay, and some of it sold 

 in the fields. The crop of hay has varied very 

 little for four years, yet supjiosed to have gradu- 

 ally increased. In 1827, the whole crop was 

 measured in the mow in Septendier, after it was 

 thoroughly settled. Four cords of English hay 

 were considered equal to a ton, and five cords of 

 fresh. According to that measurement, there 

 were thirtythree and three quarters tons of first 

 quality, or good English hay ; ten tons of second 

 quality ; and fourteen and two fifths tons fresh 

 hay. Five acres then mowed are now in tillage. 

 From two to three tons of second crop are annu 

 ally cut, iu situations where it is not convenient for 

 cattle to feed. 



Compost manure, made with reference to the 

 quality of the soil where it is to be applied, is 

 every year spread on the mowing land. Sand ii 

 made a princi])al ingredient of compost for clayey 

 soils, and swamp mud or clay for loose soils. — 

 From three to five hundred loads, forty bushels in 

 the load, are made in a year and applied chiefly 

 in autunm, not so much for choice as necessity, 

 there being no other season of sufficient leisure to 

 accomplish the work. In laying down tilled land 

 to grass, I choose to sow the seed about the last 

 week in August and put no grain with it ; but any 

 time in the month of September will do better than 

 either of the sjiring months; and if sown with 

 winter rye, it will do better than with spring 

 grain. The clayey soils which are not suitable 

 for grain, 1 sometimes turn over with the plough 

 immediately after the grass is cut, roll down the 

 furrows, and put on a dressing of manure and 

 seed again. In this course, cultivated grass is re- 

 newed without the loss of any crop. 1 use chiefly 

 bords grass seed, and put one fourth of a bushel 

 on an acre. 



I have forty acres of pasture of a light soil, and 



twenty years, and is in my judgment preferable to 



any other. The corn was harvested between 20lh I in the possession of other owners, it was alternate- 



oidy very small crops of corn or rye can now bo 

 obtainetl. The number of acres discouraged me 

 from attempting to renew it iu my usual way of 

 mixing soils; and therefore a ])lan is formed to 

 renew it in the operations of nature. Last spring, 

 a field of between two and three acres was fenced, 

 ploughed, and sowed with the seed of the yellow 

 locust tree. The seed came up well, and the most 

 thrifty of the young trees are nowthree and a half 

 feet high. If the worms should not oppose me, 

 I here will probably be a very flourishing grove, 

 which in a few years will etfectually recruit the 

 soil. In this connexion, it itiay not be amiss to 

 mention, that I have this fall sowed five acres of 

 common land with the seed of white pine, and am 

 now jdanling several acres with acorns, which it 

 is intended to protect against cattle with a fence. 



The number of apple trees on the farm is eighty, 

 most of them situated in two small orchards. — 

 There are some scattered trees, and a few cultiva- 

 ted in the garden. Nearly half the trees Lave 

 been engrafted, chiefly with winter fruit. This 

 year there are no apjilcs. The last year, proba- 

 bly, there w-ere a hundred bushels of winter ap- 

 jdes and enough beside to make some six or eight 

 barrels of cider. The principal attention given 

 trees, after they have attained the bearing state 

 and need little or no more pruning, is to scrape ofl' 

 the rough bark and moss^ early every spring, and 

 wash the bodies of the trees and t!ie large limbs 

 with very strong soap-suds or a solution of potash. 

 The barns have been bidlt in succession, and 

 some of those first erected are of very incommo- 

 dious form for the general purposes of a farmer. 

 They were built wdien there was no expectation 

 of needing much room for the storage of hay and 

 grain, and some other uses of them were in con- 

 templation. The first barn is twenty feet wide 

 and thirty feet in length ; the second, twenty and 

 forty ; the third, thirty feet square, built for the 

 exclusive purpose of storing hay ; the fourth, twen- 

 tysix and thirty ; and the fifth, thirty feet square. 

 Under a portion of two of the barns, openings are 

 left to shelter the cattle from the severity of the 

 weather. The barns were located with a view to 

 convenience and facility in getting the hay and 

 manuring the fields. There are four barn-yards, 

 three of them are built square, and hollowed a lit- 

 tle in the mitldle for the retention of the manure ; 

 the fourth is of irregular shape, to give the cattle 

 access to a spring of water. Into the yards, such 

 kinds of earth are carted, as are considered best 

 adapted to the fields where the manure is to be 

 applied. Vv'ith the earth every sort of vegetable 

 substance is incorporated, which can be easily ob- 

 tained. These, with the dropi)ings of the cattlo, 

 make rich beds of compost every year. 



The usual stock on the farm consists of one 

 horse, six oxen, three rows, and eight or ten young 

 creatures. The horse and oxen not pastured much 

 on the farm. From about the middle of July to 

 the first of Sejitcmber this year, five cows were 

 milked, two of them heifers of only two years old. 

 The cows were under the care of a tenant. — 

 Cheese-making was not commenced early in the 

 season, and continued oidy to 20th September-. 

 Milk was daily trdicn for the use of thq family, in 

 which tiicre are several young children. The re- 

 turn of cheese made was four hundred and sixty- 

 four pounds. Fi-om the 20th September to 5th 

 Novend)er, butter was made with four cows and 

 the milk civen to swine. The retuVn of butter 



September and 20th October-. Weight of the ly tdled and pastured iu so quick succession, that was seventy pounds. The cows have something 



