162 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



to each other. Dropping corn is a slow and te- 

 dious pi'ocees, and Ave hope iiirmers will carefully 

 examine this and other machines for this purpose 

 before the setison of planting comes on. We have 

 no doubt but there is a better way of doing the 

 work than by dropping by hand. 



One of theso implements is left at this office, 

 where farmers may examine and try it. 



A CORN CROP. 



STATEMENT OF JOEL IIAYAVARD, OF ASHBT. 



Gentlemen : — The field of corn I present for 

 your consideration Avas grown on one acre of land, 

 and was treated in the following manner ; it be- 

 ing of a deep loam, and inclining towards the 

 east. It was broken up in the fall of 1852. In 

 the spring of 1853, applied 27 loads of compost, 

 and planted to corn, raising 78 bushels per acre. 

 In the spring of 1854, May 9, plowed eight inch- 

 es deep. May 15 and IG, spread 13 loads of green 

 manure, and plowed 10 inches deep. May 17 and 

 18, furrowed both ways, three feet and three 

 inches apart, and put 13 loads of compost in the 

 hill, and planteil with the Tuscan wliite corn, 

 putting four and 5 kernels to the hill. Plowed 

 and hoed twice. The committee on grain of the 

 Worcester North Agricultural Society visited the 

 field in October, and selected one rod as an aver- 

 age of the field, which was harvested and weighed 

 35 lbs. Allowing 70 lbs. for a bushel, there 

 would have been 80 bushels per acre. I also 

 raised 4 bushels of beans and 1 load of pumpkins. 



ESTIMATED EXPENSE. 



Plovring twice $3,50 



Tweoty-six luads of manure 26,00 



Spreading the same 2,00 



Planting .3,00 



Plowing and Uoeing twice 5,00 



Cutting and binding stalks 2,60 



HarFcsting 5,00 



Total $47,00 



CREDIT. 



By 80 bushels corn, at $l,12i per bushel $90,00 



Stalks and husks 15,00 



4 bushels beans 8,00 



1 load of Pumpkins 1,00 



Total $114,00 



Estunated expense 47,00 



Net profit $67,00 



Remarks. — The "printer's devil" is not furly 

 chargeable with all the errors that are committed. 

 The word '■'■eleven''^ was so fairly written that 

 when the question was referred to us for a solu- 

 tion, we directed that it should stand as eleven, 

 tliough the sense was not obvious. AVritcrs must 

 be careful, as well as printers and editors. In the 

 manuscript of this communication, we have cor- 

 rected an error which, liad it remained, would 

 undoubtedly be charged to the printer. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CORRECTION. 



^Ir. Editor: — In the Farmer for Feb. 3, your 

 printer's devil makes curious sense out of a few 

 lines 1 sent you about my experiment with pota- 

 toes. Instead of "two barrels," read two pounds. 

 For "eleven eyes to a piece," read one eye to a 

 piece. And in the eleventh line, for "sixty bar- 

 rels," read sixty pounds. And for a signature 

 read S. Tenney instead of T. Tenney. The soil 

 in wMiich I planted the potatoes would have re- 

 quired at least twenty-five loads of manure to the 

 acre, to have put it in good condition for corn. 



I tried tlie experiment out of curiosity, to see 

 if potatoes would grow, seeded at less than one- 

 half ounce to a liill. Sixty out of seventy-five 

 grew. Yours, .tc., S. Tenney. 



West Polarid, Me., Feb., 1855. 



SEVENTH LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL MEETING. 



Reported for the New England Farmer, 

 BY WILLIAM W. HILL. 



The seventh weekly meeting was held at the 

 State House on Tuesday evening, Feb. 27. The 

 subject for discussion was Manures. 



Dr. Reynolds, of Concord, presided, and re- 

 marked, as he assumed the chair, that he found 

 himself called upon to occupy the position unex- 

 pectedly, and was unprepared to make remarks. 

 He then went on to observe that in New England, 

 manures are essential to agriculture, while in 

 some sections of our country, as in the ^lississippi 

 bottoms, large crops are obtained without it. Our 

 climate, too, is such that it is necessary to stim- 

 ulate our crops. For these reasons, it has been 

 the great question with agriculturists how to sup- 

 ply these stimulants in the cheapest manner. If 

 guano answers all the purposes which it is said it 

 will, it is the cheapest manure there is, — that is, 

 if we have to purchase our fertilizers. Dr. Rey- 

 nolds detailed an experiment made summer before 

 last, by a gentleman in his neighl)orhood. He 

 plowed up a piece of pine plain, the produce of 

 one acre of which he told his workman should be 

 his, (and he would plow it,) provided he would 

 put on 25 loads of compost manure. The adjoin- 

 ing portion he manured with 250 pounds of gua- 

 no to the acre. The whole was planted with corn 

 at the same time, and received the same cultiva- 

 tion, and the result was that the guano lot yield- 

 ed double what the other did, per acre. The 

 compost was hauled half a mile, and the expense 

 of getting it upon the land exceeded the cost of 

 the guano. People have complained of the guano 

 failing the past season. He thought the fact was 

 to be attributed, in a great measure, to its being 

 used alone, without being mixed with compost or 

 other manure. In consequence of this neglect, 

 the roots of the plants have been brought in con- 

 tact with the caustic guano, and the result was 

 fatal to them. We have got to learn how to use 

 it. The drought, too, probably had something to 

 do with the failure of the guano. Dr. Reynolds 

 concluded by introducing to the meeting — 



Dr. A. A. Hayes, State Assayer, who com- 

 menced by speaking of the necessity of cheap fer- 



