NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 24, 182! 



EitracU from a pampldtt containing Proceedings of 

 the Essex .Igricultural Soeitty. 



(Continued from page 412 of the ~th vol.) 



DANIEL PITN'AM'3 STATEMENT. 



To the Committee on Farms, appointed hi) the Tnu- 

 lees of the Essex Agricultural Societij, 1828. 

 Gr.NTLEME.N — My liirni contaiiiij uboul ciglity 

 acres of laml ; nvciuy-tlirce or four of wliich is 

 tillage; ofilii.sl usually plant about four acres, 

 nn<l sow from two to tlircc — the rciiiaiiiiiig six- 

 teen or seventeen I mow ; I also mow about 

 twelve acres of wet meadow land ; the remainder j 

 of the farm is pusturage. Five acres or more i 

 (part of it tillage, but more of it pasturage) is 

 covered with apple trees. There are also many ; 

 such trees by the walls on other parts of the} 

 farm. 



My usual stock consists of eight cows, one yoke 

 of oxen, one horse, and from three to six swine.— 

 The greater ])art of this year I have had two yoke 

 of oxen. 



Means and .Manner of Making Manure. 

 About ten years since (in 1318) I erected the 

 building in which my swine are kept. It is at the 

 foot of a small knoll of gradual descent ; into this 

 knoll I dug, making thus a yard for the hogs ; the 

 bottom of which descends from the house, and is 

 about two feet lower on the side farthest from the 

 house than at that one adjoining it. The bottom 

 of this yard is paved with small stones; the ends 

 arc some inches higher than the middle ; it is 

 ■water tight. The yard is about twenty-tight feet 

 long and twenty wide — by the bank forniod when 

 digging the yani, is a wall about five feet high — 

 along the top of which is a stick of tinjber bolted 

 to the stones forming the wall. The surface of 

 the ground ascends but little from tlio to]) of this 

 bank ; it is convenient going upon it with a cart ; 

 backing the wheels down to the timber, and tip- 

 ping the contents directly into the hog yard — 

 During the sunnner montiis I put in meadow hay, 

 top soil, and other material.-. The rain keeps it 

 Budicicntly moist; and I always think it expedient , 

 to put no more materials for manure into the yard | 

 at a time, than the hogs will bo likely to turn over | 

 and thoroughly impregnate with fertilizing prop- 

 erties. The nianiu'e procured by these means 

 I take out ouly in the spring, and use it fur plant- 

 ing. 



During the months of June and July my cows 

 lie at night in the barn yard, u))on the droppings 

 from the cattle during the winter, and the refuse of 

 their fodder, meadow mud, lop soil, and w hatev- 

 cr material is found uj)on the farm suitable for the 

 purpose. The yard descends from the barn, and 

 at the lower side of it is a basin, into which, about 

 the first of August, all the manure in the yard is 

 collected — there it remains till Novcmbei', when 

 it is spread from the curt on the grass lan<l, for a 

 top dressing. From the first of August to the 

 first of June (ten monihs in the year) my cattle 

 aru kept in the barn during the night. I'nder 

 them i^ a ci liar, ring in 1^20, having a plunk 

 floor laid in clay, which prevents the urine from 

 soaking into the ground. The nuuiurc from them 

 is daily put into this cellar, and nearly all the 

 urine is retained among it. In August, I usually 

 put triy store pigs in upon this manure, and throw 

 in from week to wix'k mud, soil, S^c. This 1 

 continue to do till about the first of November. — 

 About the last of this month I remove the pigs, 



2000 lbs. 



Calves from the cows sold for $47 00 



Increase in value of one yoke of 



o.xen (beef) 30 00 



and take the manure from the cellar, spreading I'ork 

 sometimes a part of it upon low grass land, -but 

 the most of it I use for planting. This is put in 

 as compact heai>8 as can conveniently be formed, 



in the fields near the ground 1 intend to plant the j Increase of a yoke of young cattle 10 00 

 ensuing year. Tliis manure is very strong. After Besides these the farm has yielded peas, b< 

 the cellar is cleared 1 cover the bottom of it with Lpd vegetables, of all kinds, sufficient for a. 

 top soil six or eight inches deep — close the cellar large family 



— and put into it all the droppings of the cattle L_ ... ^, . r- ,i /• . i- ». • ■, 

 ' I r r> Tl is i ! <i"'"''".y o/'"*'"' /'■O'" the first of .\ovember, 1 



while in the barn during the winter. 



to the first ofXoiember, 1828 

 Myself the whole year — one son, llj m 

 — one son, 17 years old, 9 months ; one 



whole year 



my oldest son 

 my other son 

 hired man 



The whole number 

 Deduct 



taken out in the spring and the most of it put 



upon those heaps in the fields which were placed 



there in the fall. The manure from the hog 



yard is jiut upon tliis, and then the heaps are •"»"' ^ months. I have paid about 25 dollar 



thrown over, and the three dilTerent kinds mixed ;,'»'J0'' ^v the day ; but have received for 



in this state I put the manure into the hills under | ''"'"" '"•'om I'ome 12 dollars. Besides the lab. 



mv corn Some yeuiuapart of the manure taken i'''^ '"'■">. ^e have manufactured 18,000 pai 



from the barn cellar in the spring is spread upon |sli"cs. This, as estimated by Messrs Eben 



the ground which I sow. When 1 plant land '"•■»"'. J"", and Samuel Preston, would require 



newly binkcn up I put all the nianiire in the hill ["".vs labor. 



—when old gioiind, I spread a i)art of it and | '^'l"|*''nS myself to have worked the 



plough it in — thinking that thus I get as good a 



crop of corn, and better crojis from the lan(^the 



following yciws. 



By the means I have provided during the last 

 ten years for making manure, I think that what I 

 now obtain is better (quantity and quality both 

 considered) than it formerly was by more than 50 

 per cent. 



The greatest improvement has been that of 

 keejiing the cows in the barn during the months 

 of August, September, and October, and letting 

 the pigs into the cellar upon their dropi>ings. The 

 manure I now make during those months is, I 

 think, better by 100 per cent, than what I former- 

 ly made during the same months. 



During the last eight or ten years I have 

 ploughed up seven or eight acres of rough rocky 

 pasture land, which was mostly covered with 

 bushes. The land is of a very good quality and 

 has yielded good crops of jiotatoes and grass. 



By pasturing about as many acres of my for- 

 mer fielding I find that my dairy is much improv- 

 ed. I have about one acre of low land, which 



eight or nine years since was in the pasture and 



the cattle running over it and displacing the soft 



soil, rendered it very uneven and almost unpro- 

 I diielive. But by ditching this, idoughing as nuich 

 i of it as is hard eiioush to admit of ploughing, by 

 I manuring and levelling the whole it has for the 



last five or six years produced as large a crop of 



good hay as any other piece of land of the same 



size on the farm. 



The jiroducts of my farm this year were as 



follows : — 



English hiiy 



Oats fi)r fodder 



Barley for fodder 



Meadow hay 



Second crop 



Indian corn 



Potatoes 



Tuniips 



Quinces 



NVinier pears 



Winter a|>plcs 



( 'ider 



French turnips 



Butter 



.New milk cheese 



.New anil skimmed milk chocso 



Skimmed milk cheese 



Milk sold 



V(i 



W 



i^ 



'-0(1 



312 

 300 

 200 

 120 



938 

 520 



418 

 left for labor on the farm ; and so much mo 

 could be procured for thirteen dollars. 



The undersigned, from their knowledge of i 

 nfacturing shoes, certify, that in their opinion 

 cutting, dealing out the stock, receivuig the s 

 and settling with the workmen ; together 

 the dressing, packing, and shipping of 18,000 

 of shoes, to wit, of 12,000 pair of men's bro; 

 3,500 pair men's thick shoes, and 2,500 i>a 

 •women's and misses, shoes — would, with th« 

 dition of 25 days allowed for teaming, be ecp 

 the labor of one man for 520 davs. 



EBENPITXAM, . 



SAMUEL PREST( 

 Danvers, Dec. 26, 1828. 



A more particular account of the proceeds q, 



Dairi/. 

 In March and April we made 

 Mav 2 



:iels 



25 tons 

 U " 

 1 " 



8 '• 

 U " 



135 bus 

 350 

 125 

 3 " 

 3 

 10 barrels 

 4-1 " 

 3 bnsh.'ls 

 1109 lbs. 

 42 " 

 186 " 

 79 " 

 75 gallons 



16 

 23 

 30 



June G 

 13 

 20 



Julv 4 

 11 

 18 



57 lbs. of B 



15 



19 



24 



30 



28 1-2 



173 



200 



132 



During this month we m.idc 42 lbs. of Chi 

 which sold at 9 cts ]>er lb. $ 



.Mso, ISO lbs. at 7 cts 1 



Also, 79 lbs. 01 4 cts 



Aug. 1 

 S 



SI; 

 35 lbs. of Bi 

 30 



