NEW EJVGL.AND FARMER. 



VOL. X 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL. NO. 52 NORTH MARKFT '^TRFFT i.n. ^.., a -.ir . J!^™^''™ 



i^ooi^ jux^, nw. u-^<jK.in niAKKl!.! jMlKhbT, (At THE AoRicuLTnRAL Warehodse.) — T. G. FESSENDEN EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 20, 1832. 



NO. 49. 



Ag^riculture. 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



ON THE BEST CULTIVATED FARMS. 



BiirjAMni GoiLo, Ei<i 



Dear Sir — It is but a few days since I saw 

 or knew of the premiums offered by the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Society, for the best cultiva- 

 ted farms ; and a less number, since I thought of 

 offering mine. Not being in the habit of writing, 

 I fear I shall make a bungling hand at it. 1 do 

 not suppose that mine will compare with many in 

 Massachusetts, where there has been thousands 

 laid out ; but believing that I have made consider- 

 able improvements within a few years, with small 

 expense ; I therefore offer my farm, which lies in 

 the East parish of Attleborough, containing about 

 three hundred acres of land, lying nearly square. 

 The soil is variable as to quality ; there are about 

 twenty acres of old fields, worn out, lying at one 

 corner; about fifty acres deep black loam, and 

 nearly clear of stones ; about thirty acres of mea- 

 f'ow or low land ; about one hundred acres of 

 wood-land lying upon one side : and another part 

 of strong, moist, cold land, which never ^vas 

 ploughed, and might nearly all be made into ex- 

 cellent mowing land, but it is used as pasture. — 

 My Englisli mowing lies at the head of a small | 

 spring brook, and has something of the shape of! 

 a plate, except that there is one place for the wa- j 

 ter to pass off; and the meadow or low land lies j 

 on said brook, to where it enters Ten Mile River. I 

 Two hundred acres of this farm I purchased I 

 about ten years since, for which I paid live thou- ' 

 Band dollars. The said farm was very much run 

 out, having been let for a number of years. The 

 first year I cut but three tons of English hay, that 

 could be called good, on the form that f sold. 

 Two or three of the last years, I suppose I have 

 cut from forty to fifty tons yearly. The last year 

 I kept an account of what I scfld, which was about 

 eighteen tons, which I put into a barn by itself; 

 that I sold for sixteen dollars per ton, by cartiuff it 

 five miles to Pawtuckel. The remainder of my 

 English hay I put into another barn for my stock ; 

 and it was quite certaiii that I did not sell half of 

 it. This year I think I have put into the same 

 barn twenty tons, for full, which filled a thirty by 

 forty feet barn, when it was first put up. l" i)u"t 

 more than this into another barn, for my stock. 

 Of said hay all but abont two loads was cut on the 

 said two hundred acres, and I have turned out 

 about fifteen acres to jjasture that was formerly 

 mowed. The method I have taken has been to 

 move fences and subdue hedges, plant but little 

 and manure highly. I have made it a rule for 

 five or six years past, to plant about four acres 

 with potatoes, and get from one to two hundred 

 bushels per acre ; and four with corn, yielding 

 about sixty bushels per acre, of shelled corn. I 

 generally spread on about five cords of manure to 

 the acre, and put about as much more in the hill. 

 My hands have told ni", sometimes, that I should 

 spoil my potatoes by putting in so much. 



But the greatest improvement I have made is 

 in subduing fallow land, which was always run 



round as though it was worthless ; and indeed it 

 was, as it then lay, for it was in the way, lyuig in 

 the middle of my mowing land and yielded noth- 

 ing of any value. I began upon the ujjper side, 

 (for it lay on a gentle descent,) and ploughed about 

 half an acre for experiment and drained it as well 

 as I could, but the water was constantly issuing 

 out of the ground on every part in our driest sea- 

 sons. My neighbors told me it was labor lost ; 

 but I carried in considerable old hay and long 

 manure, and laid it out for potatoes and j)lanted 

 them on it, and hoed them to subdue the ground, 

 for we could not turn it over with the plough, 

 that it would not turn back. In the fall we ga'th- 

 ered a fine crop of large excellent potatoes. I 

 think I have learnt by experience, that blue or red 

 potatoes are better suited to this soil than white 

 ones. 



I went on till the whole was subdued, and laid 

 down to herds grass and Rhode Island hay, bein" 

 about four acres ; and now it produces from two 

 to three tons of good hay per acre, yearly. There 

 is about six or eight inches of soil or mud on the 

 top, and we then come to a. hard pan of gravel 

 and clay. 



I have generally sown, for a number of years, 

 five or six acres of pasture land to winter rye, sueh 

 as was suitable, and put on no manure. I only 

 j take off a crop, and let it lie for pasture ; gener- 

 ally sowing on Rhode Island seed with the rye. 

 Sometimes I have sown it on the snov/ in the 

 si>ring, for experiment, but I do not know that it 

 m»,l'cs much difference. My winter rye is usual- 

 ly light, say six or seven bushels per acre. 



I have sown down mowing land with spring 

 rye, believing it to be much better than oats for 

 the land and also for the grass. The seed will 

 take much better for some reason ; and that ground 

 which is not suitable for rye, I sow only with hay 

 seed. I jmt on manure only when I plant it. — 

 Spring rye is generally quite good, say from twelve 

 to fifteen bushels per acre. I generally reserve a 

 spot for round or English turnips, and sometimes 

 Jilough a piece of sward after taking off the hay, 

 where I intend to plant the next year, turning it j 

 over smooth and spreading on some manure; then ' 

 harrowing it well with a light harrow, to cover the 

 manure, but not harrowing up the sward ; then 

 sow the seed thinly and harrow it in ; and some- 

 times raise a good crop very early iu this way, 

 say from one to two hundred bushels per acre. I 

 also sow turnip seed on my manure that I dress 

 my corn with in the hill, and raise my early tur- 

 nips for the family, and sometimes a large quantitv 

 of large turnips for the cuttle. I have also made 

 a point of raising a number of bushels of ruta 

 baga, for my table and cattle, which I think are 

 very excellent for railch cows. 



I have about sixty acres of English mowing, 

 and I generally have from twelve to fifteen acres 

 of it up to corn, potatoes, and spring grain. I 

 plant none but this. I have ploughed all of it ; 

 but shall not think of ploughing the low lands 

 mentioned, any ofiener than I find it necessary ; 

 but shall spread manure every fall. 



The hay consists of herds grass or timothy, red 

 top, Rhode Island, and clover. I have a ditch out 



of a swamp, and can water almost all my mowing 

 in the forepart of the season. I mow aliout thirty 

 acres of meadow or low land, which I think cuts 

 abont thirty tons of hay or nearly, and is princi- 

 pally the common brook meadow grass. I have 

 thrown the water over a part of it, which has 

 made considerable improvement to quantity and 

 quality of hay. I like to raise my own hay-seed 

 and sow it ; I think it docs much better than I can 

 buy. I do not clean it, therefore, I cannot be par- 

 ticular as to quantity. I want but little Rhode 

 Island or red top ; but am not afraid of putting on 

 too much herds grass or clover. If we do not 

 put considerable clover seed on rich ground, the 

 hay will be very coarse and nearly worthless. I 

 choose the early .spring sowing and think it the 

 best ; but wait till the ground gets dry, if it is not 

 till the fall. I have been troubled about low 

 ground taking the seed ; and have a number of 

 times sown in the spring, after the land was laid 

 down, on what sward there was, and it has done 

 well. I have about a hundred and thirty acres of 

 pasture land, about one half of which was never 

 ploughed. One half the other I plough and sow 

 to rye, as before mentioned ; the other quarter has 

 scarcely been ploughed these forty years, or since 

 my recollection. 



The number of apple trees on the farm is about 

 five himdred, mostly in orchards. One orchard 

 of about one hundred trees was set out about forty 

 years ago. One of about one iiundred trees, about 

 twenty years ago. One of about two hundred 

 trees, about fifteen years ago. The greatest num- 

 ber of them are natural fruit. About fifty grafts 

 have been grafted occasionally, as opportunity of- 

 fered, and some of them are hardly in bearing. 



To those trees we have done but very little, except 

 trimming, and putting chip manure and old pum- 

 ice around them, to keep the sward loose. I 

 made about ninety barrels of cider last year, saved 

 about ten barrels of excellent winter apples, and 

 sold as many as thirty bushels of fall apples, and 

 used a number of bushels in the family. As to 

 making cider, my rule is to pick the apples as soon 

 as I think them worth picking, and make thera up 

 into cider ; and as soon as apples are ripe, shake 

 and i)ick the rest, and put them into an apartment 

 in the mill, so that they will not heat, and keep 

 them till they are mellow and then make them up, 

 and see that the mill and press are clean and sweet. 

 I grind them out in the afternoon, and let them 

 lie in the trough and on the press, till the next 

 morning ; then press the cider out, put it into clean 

 casks, roll it iuto the cellar, place it where it is to 

 stand, knock out the bung, let it work, and stop it 

 again as soon as it is done. 



I put tlie greater part into two hogsheads. I 

 like them best, and am very careful to keep them 

 sweet. My rule is, as soon as the cider is out, to 

 wash them clean and dry them, and put them in 

 the cellar ; and if they get foul, I have tried to 

 cleanse them by setting a rag (dipped in brim- 

 stone) on fire and putting it into the barrel, then 

 bung it up, and sweeten them in that way ; but 

 the better way is to throw them aside, and get 

 more. I calculate to pick all ray apples by the 

 first of October. 



