572 



NEW ENGLAND FAJIMER. 



Dec. 



AQBICULTUKAL PHODUCTS. 



Flour. 



Best barrel from wheat grown in this State, 

 Chase & Mason, Fall River, ,, Diploma. 



Spring Wheat. 



1. 0. Curtis, Sheffield, $5 



2. E. W. Gardner, Nantucket, 3 



Indian Corn. 



1. 0. Curtis, Sheffield, 5 



2. W. Clapp, Dorchester, 8 



POTATOES. 



1. J. Brooks, Jr., Princeton, $5 



2. J. F. C. Hjde, Newton Centre, 8 



Red Top Seed. 

 1. S. T. Thurlow, West Newbury, 6 



VEGETABLES. 

 . Collection. 



1. S. A. Merrill, Salem, §10 



2. J. F. C. Hyde, Newton Centre, 5 



Chinese Sugar Cane — Experiment in the growth 

 of the Cane, including trials for fodder, sir- 

 rup and sugar. 

 1. J. F. C. Hyde, Newton Centre, 25 



. J. Lake, Topsfield, 16 



BREAD. 

 Wheat. 



1. Mrs. W. Harden, Quincy, 3 



2. Mrs. J. T. Ludden, Braintree, 2 



Rte and Indian. 

 1. Mrs. E. Stebbins, Boston, 3 



Wheat and Indian. 



1. M. F. & J. A. Brigham, Boston, 3 



2. Mrs. A. Merrill, Needham, 2 



Rte 

 1, Mrs. A. F, Adams, Fitchburg, 3 



DAIRY.— BUTTER. 



Jdn8 Butter — bO pounds. 

 1, Mrs. W. Roper, Princeton, 



Made Since June — tO pounds. 



1. T. M. Stoughton, Gill, 



2. W. Robinson, Jr., Barre, 

 8. P. M. Wright, Windsof, 



Lump— 20 pounds. 



1. Henry Boyles, Princeton, 



2. John Forbush, Bolton, 



3. W. Eames, Worcester, 



CHEESE. 

 New — \Q^ pounds. 



1. W. Robinson, Jr., Barre, 



2. Samuel Ellsworth, Barre, 



3. H. Tidd, New Braintree, 



FRUITS.— APPLES. 



Collection, largest and best. 

 1, T. Clapp, Dorchester, 



Gratuity for Collection. 

 J. Lake, Topsfield, 

 Twelve Varieties. 



1. W. Stratton, 



2. D. C. Brewer, Springfield, 



3. W. W. Wheildon, Concord, 



PEARS. 



COLLBCTION, largest and best. 

 1. John Gordon, Brighton, 

 a. Hovey & Co., Cambridge, 

 3. H. Vandine. Cambridgeport, 



Twelve Varieties. 



1. A. Low, Roxbury, 



2. W. Bacon, Roxbury, 



Best Dish. 



1. T. Clapp, Dorchester, 



2. W. Bacon, Roxbury, 



3. Jesse Haley, Cambridgeport, 



PEACHES. 

 Collection, largest and best. 



1. T. Clapp, Dorchester, 



2. Asa Clement, Dracut, 



CRANBERRIES. 

 One Barrel. 



1. A. K. Leland, Sherborn, 



2. E. D. Miller, Dorchester, 



3. Edward Reed, Burlington, 



GRAPES. 

 Best New Native Hardy Seedling. 

 1 E. W. Bull, for Concord Grape. 

 Best Display op Native Grapes. 



1. C. E. Grant, Roxbury, 



2. G. B. Cutter, Weston, 



3. K. Bailey, Charlest<iwn, 



Best Display of Foreigs Grapes. 

 1. Dr. Durfee, Fall Biyer, 



$15 



15 



10 



5 



15 



10 



6 



$15 

 10 

 5 



$20 

 15 

 10 



15 

 10 



$15 

 10 



$10 

 8 

 6 



20 

 15 

 10 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 



Collection. 



1. Nourse, Mason & Co. $60 



2. Blake, Barnard & Co. 40 



3. Parker, White & Gannett, 30 

 Nourse & Co., Diploma and $20 



To NouBSE & Co.— Scythe Snath $2 ; Eagle Corn Stalk 

 Cutter $5 ; Billing's Horse Corn Planter $6 ; Emery's Porta- 

 ble Saw Mill $10 ; Johnson's Fan Mill $5 ; Self-Acting Cheese 

 Press $5 ; Fay's Hand Press, Diploma. 



Noorse, Mason & Co.— Best collection of Plows, Diploma 

 or Medal ; Stevens' Iron Scythe Snaths $2; Steel Tooth Har- 

 rows $3; Howe's Drill Harrow $"^ ; Knox's Gmg Cultivator 

 $3 ; Horsp Hoe $5 ; Vegetable Cutter $o ; best collection of 

 Baskets $2; Armsby's Hand Corn Sheller $3. 



Parker, White & Gannett. — Fyler's Patent Churn $5; 

 Whitman's Double Horse Power $10 ; Belcher's Self-Sharpen- 

 ing Hay Cutter $5. 



Blake, Barnard & Co.— Ridging Plow $3 ; Ox Yokes $5 ; 

 Dodge's Pump $2; Pratt's Axes $5. 



Best Horse Power, Burt, Wright & Co., Harvard, $10 



Garden Hoe, J. W. Crosby, North Bridgewater, 1 



Potato Digger, H. Partridge, Medfield, 2 



Manure Forks, " " 2 



Rotating Harrow, H. Hall, Putnam, 0. 3 



Shovels, 0. Ames, Easton, 2 



For the New England Parmer. 



EXPERIMENTING WITH ASHES AND 

 PLASTER. 



Since 1855 I have tilled sandy loam soil ; prior 

 to that date I had always, for the last forty years, 

 worked on hard, rocky soil, and of course was not 

 posted as to the best way of tilling the sandy soil. 

 Being in want of manure, I bought some plaster 

 and ashes ; the ashes I applied to my corn, but left 

 one part of the field without ashing; that which 

 was ashed grew much the heaviest corn, as I ex- 

 pected. As to the plaster, I did not make satisfac- 

 tory experiments the first year, but in '56 and '57, 

 wishing to know whether it made the crop any bet- 

 ter, I commenced the trial of plastering some, and 

 leaving some rows not plastered. I saw no differ- 

 ence in '56, but not being quite satisfied, I tried the 

 experiment in '57, in a number of different places, 

 in different fields. I left some rows without plas- 

 tering, and in one case I double plastered, putting 

 two table spoonsful instead of one in each hill. In 

 digging, I carefully measured the potatoes, and in 

 no case was the preference given to the plastered ; 

 the row double plastered being in no way different 

 from those not plastered at all. As to ashes ap- 

 plied to potatoes in '56 — about the 8th of May I 

 planted a piece of potatoes. To one part I applied 

 dry house ashes in the hill, some two gills to each 

 hill, and one part I manured with coarse, unferment- 

 ed horse manure, and one part was unmanured. At 

 digging time I carefully dug and measured, and 

 found that where the ashes were applied, the larg- 

 est crop. Twelve hills in the best of them made 

 a bushel, and eighteen of that where it was ma- 

 nured, and twenty-six where not anything was 

 put on the land. In '57, on similar soil, it was re- 

 versed. About the 7th, 8th and 9th of May I plant- 

 ed a field of potatoes, and applied ashes as in '56, 

 on a part of the field, all the rest of the field being 

 lightly manured in the hill with light, coarse, un- 

 fermented manure. At digging time I found that 

 the potatoes were much the best where I put the 

 manure — just the reverse of that last year. Now 

 what has caused the difference ? As there was no 

 difference in the soil, I can only account for it from 

 the fact that in July, '56, it was remarkably dry 

 whereas the four months of last summer. May, 

 June, July and August, were all quite rainy months. 

 I think that the ashes helped in sustaining moisture 



