1825.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



2l3 



autumn caused oui feuis to be ijioundlcss. Be- 

 tween the 20ih ofOctobtr and 1st of November, 

 tlie crop wa? ! .uvcsted andhuskcd, and the 

 weigh; IVoni that planted in the hills was 7750 

 Jbs.net lo the acre, und irom the lialf acre plant- 

 ed in rows 4389 lbs. net. There was no per- 

 ceptible difference in the crop between that 

 which was cut early and that part weiijhed, as 

 to quantity; 70 Ids. of ears made one bushel of 

 corn after it was shelled at the time of har- 

 vesting. There was no material difl'ercnce as 

 to the expense of cultivating the above acre 

 in hills from our statement in No. I, Vol. VII. 

 of the Massachusetts Agricultural Rejiositoiy ; 

 that which was planted in rows was double of 

 that in hills from the planting to the husking ; 

 and we suppose it will be so in shelling, in con- 

 sequence of the smallness of the ears. The 

 stalks or stover we value from the part in hills 

 equal to one and a half tons of hay; that part 

 in rows, to two tons. Nov. ].5ih, one bushel of 

 ears ivas weighed; the weight of which was 

 thirty-five pounds twelve ounces." 



That Mr. Leonard Hill, of East Bridgewa- 

 ter,is entitled to the Society's premium of twen- 

 ty dollars, for having raised the greatest quanti- 

 ty of potatoes, being 688 1-2 bushels, on one a- 

 cre. " In the month of May last I ploughed a 

 piece of moist stubble ground, of a deep soil, 

 where I had raised a good crop of Indian corn 

 the year before; I also cross-ploughed and fur- 

 rowed it, making the furrows two feet eight 

 inches apart. I then filled up the furrows with 

 60 loads of coarse manure, which I took from 

 under my linters, where my cattle were kept 

 in the winter, and which was full half straw 

 and hay. Upon this manure in tlie furrows, 

 I planted 38 bi.sheis of the common long red 

 potatoe, culling the largest into two or more 

 pieces, and placing them about 12 inches ai)art, 

 v.-hich I covered with a hoe. After they were 

 well up I ploughed and hoed them, each three 

 times. In October they were dug and measur- 

 ed, and the amount of potatoes produced on the 

 piece which contained one acre and no more, 

 was 688 1-2 bushels, as will appear by the cer- 

 tificate of the measurer. The expense of cul- 

 tivating the above acre of land, digging and 

 gathering llie crop, &c. exclusive of manure, 

 was twenty-two dcllars and seventy-eight cts." 



That Colonel John Wil-on, of Deerfield, in 

 the county of Franklin, is eniitled to llie Soci- 

 ety's premium of twenty dollars, for having rais- 

 ed ihe greatest quantity of Ruta Baga, being 

 608 bus'-.els on one acre. " In the spring of 

 1823, after my clover had got up to be good feed 

 1 ploughed it in, after a tew days harrowed it 

 well. About the 15th of June I furrowed it in 

 rows three feet wide, put twenty loads of barn 

 yard manure to an acre in the furrows, and cov- 

 ered it pretty deep. I tlien wilh a hand roller 

 16 inches diameter, with three spurs in its cir- 

 cumference at 16 inches asunder, passed along 

 the ridges to mark the hills for Ruta Baga ; 

 the spurs in the roller were about three inclies 

 long and shaped like a Farrier's phlemes ; 

 after this the seed was dropped, and covered 

 by the Iiand, the ground being very drv at 

 the time of [>laiuing, and continuing so for 

 several weeks. Very little of the seed came 

 up short of four weeks, and much of it never 

 vegetated at all, so that from two acres I had 

 but about 300 bushels. In hoeing this piece I 

 of furrowed land I found a joint harrow very 



convenient, for it would suit itself to il-.c surface 

 of the ground. I would here mention that 

 in harrowing corn I have noticed a great de- 

 fect in tlie work of the common harrow at the 

 2d and 3d hocings, as the outside hindermost 

 teeth tear away the hills, and probalily injure 

 ihc roots, at the same lime leaving the middle 

 of the row untouched. In April last I plougU- 

 edthe same land on which I had RutaBaga last 

 year, and on a part of which I raised the crop 

 now reported. After the Avccds began to 

 show themselves, I harrowed it to destroy 

 ihcm. On the first of June I manured, plough- 

 ed, and sowed a strip of the same land broad- 

 cast, with Ruta Baga seed, for the purpose 

 of transplanting. After the plants were large 

 enough to take up, which was about the first 

 of July, I put on SO^Ioads of manuie to an a- 

 cre, and ploughed it in, after which I went 

 over it with abrushharrow to smooth the sur- 

 face. The manure was of different kinds, 

 some from the barn yard, some from the 

 sheep yard, and some from the hog yard. I 

 found the crop best where the hog manure was 

 spread, where they stood in tlie bed where 

 the seed was sowed and not transplanted. Fiom 

 the little experience I have had, I believe it is 

 best to transplant Ruta Baga for many rea- 

 sons ; they are not liable to be choakcd by. 

 standing too thick in tlie hills before they are 

 pulled out ; they arc less in danger of being 

 destroyed by worms. By ploughing the land just 

 before transplanting there is n.ucli less trouble 

 from weeds ; the st. Ik does not run so high a- ' 

 bove the ground ; the labour is less as it saves 

 the first hoeing which is the worst. I cannot 

 tell how much labour it was to transplant them, 

 being at a convenient distance from my house, 

 it was done at morning and evenings, and 

 in dull weather; but I should think a man 

 could set a quarter of an acre in a day,after the 

 hills were marked, which a rnaii would do in an 

 hour. This was done wilh the hand roller pre- 

 viously mentioned, leaving three feet four inch- 

 es betvveen the rows. They were hoed twice ; 

 Ihe first time a man would hoc a quarter of an 

 p.cre in a day, and the second tinie .'iomelhing' 

 more ; Ihey were ploughed nt both hoeings 

 wilh a horse plough. The first time turned a 

 light furrow from the rows, the second time to] 

 Ihem. On the 0th, lOtb, and nihofNovem-! 

 ber they were harvested, and produced 700 j 

 bushels, equal lo 608 bushels lo the acre ; (hey j 

 were measured in a cart previously measured 

 with apples for that purpose ; (hey being large, 

 I thought that would give fairer measure than 

 the basket. The labour in harve.sling is (ri- 

 fling ; two men and two boys pulled and cut 

 (he lops of 300 bushels in (wo hours and an 

 half, and carted the same lo the cellar (he same 

 day. Two average car( loads of 25 bushels 

 each were selected, and put into a separate 

 cellar, and on the 23il day of November, they 

 were weighed ; the 50 bushels gave 2634 lbs. ; 

 these probably gave less weight than thev 

 would average, as (hey were all large and 

 v.'ould not pack so close. The measuri.ng (he 

 cart, (he harvesting, (he measuring the crop, 

 and the weighing, has all been performed by 

 Cyrus Briggs and DavidFarnsworth. The enlire 

 expense of cultivating (he oneacre and 2-J 

 rods, was forty-seven dollars and fifty cents. 



Stephen Longley, Esq. of Shirley, in the 

 county of Middlesex, claims the premium of 



I after being husked five weeks, 59 



twenty doUar.s, for having raised the grenteii 

 quantity of Indian Corn, being ] I2 bushels and 

 21 quarts on an acre, but not producing the cer- 

 tificates made naccssary by the rules of the Trus- 

 tees, your conimiltee arc prevented from award- 

 ing to him the said premium. Mr hoogley's 

 description of his cuUure is as follows:—" In 

 the spring ol 1823, I ploughed (his piece of 

 ground as grass ground, and planted it »vi(li Ir- 

 dian corn, manured it in the hill as usual. I had 

 a common crop, forground managed in that way. 

 In (he spring of 182 1 1 split (he hilis on Ihe same 

 piece of ground two furrows in a row, then 

 s|iread on the same 10 common cart bodies full 

 of manure, a mixture of meadow mud and barn 

 manure. In (he fore part of May 1 ploughed it 

 in, then furrowed out the ground about five or 

 six inches deep, at (he distance of 6 and a half 

 feet ; then sircwed raanure, of (he above descrip- 

 tion, 10 loads on those furrows ; then covered 

 this manure, by lurning a back furrow on each 

 side, which made the last furrow about 24 inch- 

 es distani, in (hose two last furrows. I put twelve 

 carl loads of manure, principally made from Ihe 

 hog yard, with meadow mud and straw for the 

 hills, placing it opposite the intervals in each of 

 those two last rows, thus ,',',' ■ being 20 

 inches in those rows, then planted it wilh Brigh- 

 ton corn, nnd put ibiir kernels in each hill. 



"• In this way I raised 20G baskets of ears, and 

 two of those baskets make one bushel and three 

 quarts, equal to 112 bushels and 21 quarts of 

 shelled corn, to the acre ; and performed with 

 about one third more labour than in hills; the 

 corn weighed 

 lbs. per bushel."'' 



Colonel Joseph Valentine, of Hopkinton, rais- 

 ed thirty-one bushels and an half of spring 

 wheal ; and Payson Williams, Esq. of Fitchburg, 

 five hundred bushels of potatoes on one acre. — 

 Mr Nathaniel Davenport, of Milton, in a com- 

 rauiiicntion addressed to the Trustees, stales that 

 he raised about (wo Ions of millet on one acre, 

 and (hat he planted in the year 1816, one hund- 

 red apple trees on one acre ; but he has omitted 

 to exhibit the surveyor's cerdficates. 



For raising the grealest quantity of Barley 

 on an acre, not less than 45 bushels ; for raising 

 the grealest quantity of Rye on an acre, not less 

 than 30 bushels ; for raising the greatest quan- 

 tity of Carrots on an acre, not less than 600 

 bushels ; (br raising the greatest quantity of com- 

 mon Beets on an acre, not less than 600 bush- 

 els; for raising (he greatest quantity of Parsnips 

 on an acre, not less than 400 bushels ; for rais- 

 ing the greatest quantity of Onions on an acre, 

 not less than 600 bushels ; for raising the great- 

 est quantity of Cabbages on an acre, not less 

 than 25 tons weigh(, free from earth vyhen 

 weighed ; for raising the greatest quantity oi 

 dry Peas on an acre, not less than 30 bushels : 

 for raising the greatest quantity of dry beans on 

 an acre, not less than 30 bushels ; for proof of 

 having produced the grealest quantity of dressed 

 Flax raised on half an acre, not less than 250 lbs ; 

 for giving satisfactory evidence on "Soiling Cat- 

 tle," not less than 6 in number, and through the 

 whole season, together with a particular account 

 of the food given, and how cultivated ; for ma- 

 king (he experiment of turning in green crops 

 as a manure, on a tract not less than one acre, 

 and proving its utility and cheapness, giving a 

 particular account of (he process, and its re- 

 sult; for proving by actual experiment the best 



