VOt. XI. NO. 32. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



251 



MASS. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MR. TRISTRAM I<ITTI.E'S CULTIVATION OF A 

 CROP OF RYE. 



To the Committee on Agncultiiral experiments. 



Gentlemen, In sending you this connnunica- 

 tion I do not tliinli of givins^ much information to 

 the farmers generally ; luit the result I think will 

 prove the common opinion erroneous, that the 

 crop of Rye will not or cannot grow on clay soil. 

 The land on which the crop was cultivated is, of 

 that denomination generally. And in addition to 

 the Clay Veto, there were set out in the spring of 

 1822 forty five apple'trces, which are now capa- 

 ble of bearing as many bushels of fruit. The sea- 

 son of 1831 it was planted with Indian corn, with 

 about six cords of yard-manure ploughed in. It 

 yielded about sixty bushels of corn. At the last 

 hoeing which was about the first of August, there 

 were five pecks of rye hoed in, the following 

 spring I examined it and found it thick enough to 

 appearance, but quite small (or low), in the months 

 Of April and May there were spread on three cart 

 loads of cinders and sea-coal ashes which were 

 ])rocured from the blacksmith's shop, which upon 

 frequent trials, I think is valuable for grain crops. 

 It was reaped in August, and one load (which was 

 about one-third) was secured without rain; but 

 the scarcity of labor was such that the other part 

 had to remain in the field through a week of bad 

 weather which had to be turned and overturned 

 about every other day (to keep it from spoiling), 

 and with all the care possible, there was a vaste 

 in my opinion of four or five bushels. It was 

 threshed at different times in the months of Septem- 

 ber and October, and when winnowed there \tere 

 forty-five bushels and twenty quarts of good grain 

 with a quantity of refuse, caused by the bad 

 weather when in the field. The straw was sold, 

 and weighed, its weight was thirty-eight cwt. 

 Yours, Tristram Little. 



J\rewbury, JVov. 28, 18.32. 



This may certify that the above statement is cor- 

 rect. Henry Little, Assistant. 



This may certify that I measured the above 

 land cultivated with rye, and found the same to 

 contain one acre. Pike Noyes, Surveyor, 



Personally appeared, Tristram Little and Henry 

 Little, and made oath to the truth of their state- 

 ment above, before me, Silas Moody, 



Justice of the Peace. 



MR. NATHAJV SMITH'S CULTIVATION OP A 

 CROP OP RYE. 



Roxbary, Dec. 20, 1832. 



The piece of land on which I raised rye the 

 present season is situated in Roxbury, on the farm 

 of John Heath ; and is a stiff strong clay, has been 

 in tillage for seven years past, and has been plant- 

 ed and sown with potatoes, cabbage, and barley, 

 alternately, with manure each crop except barley, 

 when no manure was used. 



In the Spring of 1831, I ploughed and sowed 

 with barley about two-thirds of said piece with- 

 out manure, and the remainder with potatoes, witl 

 manure in the hills. After harvesting the barley and 

 potatoes, brought on where the barley grew about 

 four cords of coarse stable manure, and ploughed 

 it in. After ploughing and harrowing it again, I 

 sowed about two bushels of winter rye and half a 

 bushel of grass-seed and harrowed it again. 



About the first of Aug. 1832, I harvested the 

 crop, and at sundry titnea threshed it out, beiu 



exposed to hens, rats, &c. which probably wasted 

 considerable, and likewise three rods killed by the 

 water standing on it, which produced nothing'. 

 There were, likewise, thirty apple trees on the 

 piece, middling size, which injured the crop. It 

 was found after measuring the ground and measur- 

 ing the grain there were 72^^ bushels of rye, weigh- 

 ing 58 lbs. per bushel, ou one acre two roods* 

 24 rods, or 264 rods, and upwards of three tons of 

 straw. 



The entire expense of cultivation is estimated at 

 forty dollars. Nathan Smith. 



I, Charles Wentworth, of Roxbury, testify and 

 say that I was present at the measurement of the 

 grain within mentioned raised byMr. Nathan Smith, 

 and know the same is correct. 



Charles Wentworth. 



commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS. 



JVorfolk, ss. December 28, 1832. Personally ap- 

 peared the aforenamed Nathan Smith and Charles 

 Wentworth, and made oath, the facts stated in 

 their statement and affidavit are just and true. 



Before me, Joseph Harrington, Jus. Peace. 



The land on which rye was raised this season 

 by Mr. Nathan Smith, ou the farm of Mr. John 

 Heath, measures one acre two quarters and thirty- 

 two rods, six rods of which was cut green, leaving 

 1 acre 2 quarters and 24 rods harvested. 



Stephen P. Fuller, Surveyor, Boston. 



Roxbury, J^ov. 27, 1832. 



To the Committee of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Society on Agricultural Products. 



Gentlemen, In pursuance of the objects of the 

 Society, I lay before you a statement of the man- 

 ner of cultivating an acre of jwtatoes, and for 

 which I claim the premium offered by the Trus- 

 tees of said society for the year 1831. Late 

 in the fall of 1832, the sward was broken 

 by Hitchcock's Patent Cast Iron Ploiigh, drawn by 

 one yoke of oxen ; the field (one acre) had pro- 

 duced the summer previous, about one ton of hay. 

 In the middle of last May, sixteen cords of unfer- 

 mented manure, mostly from the sheepfolds, were 

 evenly spread over the field, and immediately turned 

 under with the plough across the first furrows. In 

 order to do this effectually, the furrow was made 

 8 inches at least in depth ; boys in front of the 

 team with i)rong hoes hauled into the previous 

 furrow the manure; (being strawy) by this ])ro- 

 cess it was buried deep. The harrow now passed 

 over the field to even down the sods, after which 

 it was marked out one way with the plough in 

 rows 2 feet 6 inches distant from each other. The 

 seed was planted in these furrows, one foot apart 

 and lightly covered with the hoe. In a week or 

 ten days, the plants beginning to break ground, 

 the horse plough passed twice between the rows, 

 the hoe following to draw down the furrows, cover 

 up weeds, &c. About the firstof July, the second' 

 and last dressing was completed by a similar pro- 

 cess ; the vines being at this time about 6 inches 

 high and in the bud. The last of July the vines 

 presented the even appearance of a clover field — 

 to rows or ground discoverable at a little distance 

 — all weeds were of course nullified. 



In October and first part of November the crop 

 \'as harvested, when by a careful measurement it 

 was found to be six hundred thirteen bushels and 

 five eighths of a bushel on one acre, and on 87- 

 160lh of said acre, or one half acre and 7 rods of 



' A rood is one fbuitb of an acre. 



the abovementioned field, the product was by care- 

 ful measurement found to be three hundred and 

 thirty three bushels and three fourths of a bushel. 

 This part of the field was planted with the La 

 Plata Reds. The other portion of the field were 

 in part the Pennsylvania Blues, part were of the 

 Canterbury Whites, regenerated from the ball 5 or 

 6 years since by Maj. B. P. Williams, of Roxbury, 

 Mass. Although the.se do not yield equal to the 

 reds or blues, yet in quality they very much re- 

 semble the celebrated Irish apple potato — their 

 yield surpasses any other white potato I am ac- 

 quainted with. I also planted a few of the almost 

 extinct red or crimson potatoes (for I know of no 

 other name for them) which took the lead for ex- 

 cellence 40 or 50 years since. The product from 

 a little over a peck, was one barrel of fine sized 

 potatoes of fine flavor. It will be recollected that 

 these potatoes were usually reserved for the next 

 spring eating, their relative yield, side by side of 

 the blues were 36 feet length of row, the blues 

 •29 do. The quantity of seed used to i)lant the 

 field was about fifty bushels ; the largest cut ; the 

 smaller ones, say the size of a hen's egg, planted 

 whole. I saw no difference in the product ; other 

 things being equal. 

 Yours, &c. 



Payson Williams, Owner. 



Jackson Durant Williams, Assistant. 



Worcester, ss. JVov. 27, 1832. This day, per- 

 sonally appeared the above named Payson Wil- 

 and Jackson Durant Williams, and made oath that 

 the above statement by them subscribed, is true. 



Before me, Ebenezer Torrey, Jus. Peace. 



Expenses of Cultivation of one acre Potatoes. 

 Turning over the sward, li, days work for 



one yoke of oxen, myself and son, 4.00 



Carting on 45 loads or 16 cords manure, 6.00 



Ploughing in ditto, - - 3.00 



Harrowing and marking out for ploughing, 1.00 

 50 bushels seed, at Is. 6d. per bushel, 12.60 



Planting, 5 days work, at 4s. - 3.33 



Ploughing, for 1st hoeing, half day, horse, 



man and boy, - - 1.00 



First hoeing, 2 days work, - 1.50 



Second hoeing, process similar, - 2.60 



Harvesting the crop, 20 days work, at 75 cts. 



per day, - - - 15.00 



Ox work, to cart the same to the cellar (be- 

 ing very near,) - - - 1.00 

 The proportion of manure drawn by the crop, 



I judge to be 33 pr cent, say 16.00 



$66.83 

 If I recollect right, the nine crops of potatoes 

 given in by me the la.st 13 years, eight of which 

 (I believe, for I speak from recollection only,) have 

 drawn the Society's premium, have in the amount 

 of expense been quite as high as this ; while 

 to my astonishment I have seen the expense of 

 others given of less than one half this amount. 

 Of one thing lam certain, that of the items above 

 I know not where I could deduct one cent from 

 the expense, notwithstanding the field is but a 

 stone's cast from the house. Other fields at greater 

 distance would demand a greater expense, and yet 

 the crop would be a profitable one, for this coun- 

 try at least — say 613 bushels at 20 cts. per bushol 

 cash in our market, would be $122.60 cts. 

 Deduct for expenses, 66.83 



$65.77 



P. W. 



