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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Jan. 28, 



REPORT No. X. 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS. 

 The Committee on Agricultural Experiments 

 submit fertile consideration of the Board of 

 Trustees the following in addition to tluir Re- 

 port dated 21 at day of October last, to wit: 



That Mr. Austin Bryant, of Cunmiington, in 

 the couiuy of Hampsliiie, s entitled to the so- 

 ciety's premium of twenty dollars, for having 

 raised the rjrcatest ciuantity of spring wheat, be- 

 ing thirty-four bushels and twenty- five quarts, on 

 one acre. Mr. Bryant's description of iiis cul- 

 ture is as follows. " The lot on which the wheal 

 grew is a gravelly loam, situated on an east- 

 ern declivity, and containing by estimation one 

 acre and a half. In September, 182C, it was 

 broken up; previous to that time it was in a 

 ■worn out state, producing but little hay. In the 

 spring of 1823 it was ploughed twice, manured 

 \yith 44 cartloads of manure, and planted with 

 Indian corn, the crop was rather ordinary, not 

 exceeding 50 bushels. In April of t!ie pre- 

 sent year the laid was again ploughed, har- 

 rowed, and cross ploughed. Previous to the 

 last ploughing seven loads of barn manu.c 

 were spread on about sixty rods of ground. 

 On the remainder of the piece I spread twelve 

 loads of leached ashes, and harrowed them in 

 on the surface. On the 30th of April I sowed 

 three bushels of wheat ; the wheat before sow- 

 ing was washed in clear water, and rolled in 

 lime ; after sowing, the ground ■was harrowed 

 twice, and rolled. About the first of September 

 I employed a surveyor to measure and slake 

 off an acre, being the part manured with ashes, 

 the part on which was spread the barn manure 

 being much inferior in quality. The acre was 

 reaped and threshed by itself. When measured 

 the produce was found to be thii ty-four bushels 

 and twenty-five quarts ; the wheat was harvest- 

 ed on the 2d and od of September. Its weight 

 is 61 pounds and an half to the bushel. The 

 expense of cultivation was seventeen dollars 

 and fifty cents." 



That Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little, of 

 Newbury, in the county of Essex, are entitled 

 to the society's premium of twenty dollars, for 

 having raised the greatest crop of millet, on 

 one acre, cut and cured for hay, being 2 tons, 

 15 cwt. 1 qr. and 20 lbs. " We look the first 

 piece of land that presented, which was that de- 

 scribed in No. 1. Vol. C. page 29, of ihe Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Repository in May, 

 1824. There were about three: cords of manure 

 spread and plouglied in. We would here re- 

 mark that the said manure v/as on the lot pre- 

 vious to ihe millet crop being thought of, 

 which was a coarse kind fit for a potatoe crop, 

 which did little or no good, and ot course was 

 lost in part. After once ploughing and har- 

 r-jwiug, the seed was sowtd the 4tli of Mav, 

 t>iree pecks on the acre, which was harrowed 

 in and afterwaids it was rolled. It came up 

 immtdialeiy.'but i»i consequence of the drought, 

 or some other cause, the growlli was very slow. 

 The weeds came up and outgrew the grain, 

 and early in July there was little else but weeds 

 to be seen ; wc then mowed it all down, and 

 left it to its fate, supposing the crop about lost ; 

 but in a few days the millet started, and grew 

 surptisingly, and was in a few days the hand- 



somest crop we had then growing ; it was mow- 

 ed the 24th of Sepleiuber, and housed October 

 2d, and weighed." Messrs. Tristram and Hen- 

 ly Little arc also entitled to the premium of 

 twenty dollars, for having raised the greatest 

 quantity of mangel wurtzel, being 83 tons, 10 

 cwt. and 14 lbs. on one acre. " The soil is a 

 clay loam: in 1823, about three fourths of 

 the same was sowed with onions, and manured 

 with about eight cords of compost manure'to 

 the acre ; but it produced Jan ordinary crop of 

 400 bushels to the acre. The other quarter 

 was sowed with wheat without any manure, 

 which mildewed, and of course was small. In 

 the fall<f 1823, there were about 10 cords of 

 compost manure drawn on the lot and put in 

 a heap. Most of the said compost was drawn 

 fiom the salt marshes when ditching the same ; 

 the other part was from the barn yard. In 

 the month of April, 1824, the heap was thrown 

 over, and well mixed. Between the 8th and 

 lllh of May the land was plougl-.ed and sowed 

 in the following manner. After one deep 

 ploughing Ihe ground was fuirowed (wo and a 

 half feet apart, and the manure put in the fur- 

 row?, and covered with a double mould board 

 plough; a roller was then passed on the top of 

 the ridge, and the seed dibbled in wilh the fin- 

 gers over the manure about six or eight inches 

 apart. In the course of the season they were 

 thinned, and left from six inches to twelve inch- 

 es apart in the row?. They were once hoed, 

 and ploughed three limes between the rows. — 

 The crop requires no more labour from plant- 

 ing to harvesting than a crop of pntiiloes. — 

 Tliey were harvested the 25th and 2Glh of Op- 

 tober, and we had 31 loads and 24 bushel?. — 

 Three of the average loads were weighed, the 

 weighers' certificate will show the gross iveight 

 being 3 ton=, 3 qrs. and 20 lbs." 



Messrs Tristram and Henry Little are also en- 

 titled to the society's premium of twenly dol- 

 lars, for having raised the greatest quantity of 

 tiirriips, being 783 bushels on one acre. " As 

 it respects (heir value, we think the same 

 weight not much, if any, inferiour to potatoes 

 for fattening cattle, or sheep ; and we are con- 

 fident (hey can be raised at half, or less (han 

 hal.'', the expense per bushel of a potatoe crop, 

 and from experience we can say (hey leave 

 the land clean and in good order for an at'ter 

 crop. We have unil'nrmly raised the besi ', 

 crops of grain and potatoes after them. The 

 present season we had a piece of land which 

 conlaiiiod one acre and eigh(een and a half 

 rods mowed, af(»r the hay wits cured, which 

 w.-is (he lOlh of July, ploughed, manured, solv- 

 ed, and cultivated, as is stated in No. I. Vol. 

 8, |>agc 29, of the Massacliusetis Agricultural 

 Repository ; began (o harvest them the first ol 

 November, and finished about the 10th or 12(h ; 

 and there were 874 bushels, equal to 783 bush- 

 els to tlie acre ; (he expense of labour about 22 

 or 23 days' work." 



Messrs Tristram and Henry Liltle are also 

 entitled (o (he. Society's premium of tliirly dol- 

 lais, for having raised the greatest quanti(y of 

 \ egetables (grain, peas, and beans excepted) 

 tor winter consumption on their own farm; the 

 produce from 10 acres of lilhige land is as fol- 

 lows, (o wit : 230 bushels of Indian corn, 10 

 bushels of barley, 12 Ions of English hay, 

 2 3-4 tons of millet, 400 bushels of potatoes, 

 1500 bushels of beets and mangel wurlzcl. 



920 bushels of turnips, 150 bushels of onions, 

 (which were sold) about two tons of cabbages 

 and squashes, together wilh a variety of escu- 

 lents, common to fiirms in general. The slock 

 on ihe farm usually consists of4 oxen. 10 cows 

 25 sheep, one horse, and about 6 swine. As to 

 (he value ot roots for feeding stock, there is a 

 variely of opinions; but from a number of 

 years' experience, we think them a valuable 

 addition and highly worth cultivating, compar- 

 ing them with English hay; and we know of 

 no better standard. In our opinion three 

 tons of mangel wurtzel, or potatoes, of (he two 

 we value the mangel wurtzel the highest, are 

 equal to one ton of hay for feeding slock gen- 

 erally ; but for milch cows we think two tons of 

 equal value ;— for feeding of store sivine, man- 

 gel wiirlzel is the only root that we know of, 

 which we can cultivate and feed to profit, six 

 bushels of raw mangel wuitzel, we think equal 

 to one bushel of Indian corn. In feeding swme. 

 we make corn the standard. The value oi' 

 English turnips for stock, excepting for milch 

 cows, we think but little short of jiolaloes ; but 

 roots generally, in our opinion, are worth 10 per 

 cent, more for fattening cattle, or sheep, com- 

 pared with hay, than they are for winter con- 

 sumption, except for cows that give milk. As 

 to the expense of cultivating roots fur feeding 

 stock, we know of no material dilTerence from 

 our former statement in the Massachusetts Ag- 

 ricultural Repository, No. 1, Vol. VII. page 

 51. for a crop of turnips; the mangel wurtzel 

 can be cultivated as cheap. As to the best 

 mode of preserving them, we have tried di- 

 vers ways, by pitting them, by putting them 

 into ihe barn and covering them ivilh hay ; 

 and by putting them into tin cellar ; the last 

 mode we think the best." iVIesbrs. T & H. 

 Liltle have made the following communication 

 on the subject of planting Indian corn in hills, 

 and in rows :— " In May 1824, the land was 

 ploughed plane, (as is our phrase,} for the cul- 

 ture of Indian corn. We think much pioughiijg 

 before planting is not so necessary, as frequent 

 stirring the soil after the grain is up and grow- 

 ing ; the piece contained two acres; one acre 

 was planted in hills, 3 by 3 1-2 feet apart : the 

 other part was jilanted in double rows, two 

 rows 9 inches apart : then a space for the 

 plough of 30 inches. The plougiiing and plant- 

 ing were done as nigh together as was cor- 

 venicnt, which was between the lOih and 20ili 

 of May; the seed was of one kind of the eight- 

 rowed yellow corn, from three to five stalks 

 were suffered to stand in each liill, and iu the 

 rows the stalks were from six to nine inches 

 apart. The manure was alike, a compost, 

 five cords were put in ibe holes in the hiit 

 part, and ten cords were put in the other, in the 

 following maner: — Furrows ivere opened 

 about three feet apart, and the manure put in 

 those furrows, and the corn dropped each side 

 of the manure in those furrows, and covered 

 ivith a hoc. The lot was four timeb hoed, and 

 the suckers ■were all destroyed on the row part. 

 The stalks were topped the middle of Septem- 

 ber, and about thai time the appearsncc ol that 

 which was planted in rows was so unpromising, 

 (for it was not then out of the milk, and the fear 

 of an early frost,) we commenced ciaiing it up 

 and giving the corn to the swine, which \\ c con- 

 tinued cutting occasionally until we had cut 

 nearly cnc half ; but the unusual traimih of the 



