No. 10. 



Report of the ^9s^ricu/ture of Massachusetts. 



299 



vator, whose whole manaijenienl in respect 

 to cultivation and stock is entitled to liii;h 

 coniinendation, an exact account of a crop of 

 ruta baj,"-,! and Hat turneps in 1887. 



The charges for ])re|)ariiitj, cultivatinsf, 

 gathering, and the product of 4 acres riita 

 baga and English turncps, are as follows : 



April '21 and 22 — '2 days iiiiiii and horscteniii 



first ploughing 2, $4 00 



June 5 and t>— 'i days man and horse-team, sec- 

 ond ploughing 2, 4 00 



" 6 to ;)—:J teams and :t hands, :4 days each, 

 junking days drawing on 04 loads ma- 

 nure, $1 50, l.T .'.() 



" 10—2 men spreading manure, SI, ~ 00 



" '• 1 day man and horse team har- 

 rowing, 2 00 



" " 1 day man and horse ridging, 1 50 



" " 1 day man sowing, 100 



" " IJ lbs. seed, at the price I sold 



seed.fl 1 rM 



82J 50 

 July 5 and 6 — 8 days' labor hoeing and 



thinning, $1 $^ 00 



" 12 and 13— 8 days' labor hoeing and 



thinning, 81, 8 00 



$16 00 



Oct. 16 to 18—18 days' labor charged for 

 gathering, and 3 teams each 3 



days, drawing, at 75 cents, $00 25 



Cr. Deduct for tops, $2 per acre 8 00 



$12 25 



857 75 

 The quantity gathered from Ist and 2d 



acres, 1600 bs 



3d acre lOrtO " 



4th " SlOO " 



3.5.-0 bs. 

 less than 2 cts. per bs. 

 If the interest on land were charged at 



$40 per acre 9 60 



And the manure at its value, (a compost 

 of muck and stable,) 32 00-41 60 



$W 35 

 The turneps would cost not far from 2} cts. per bs., 

 $98 45. 



He adds, " from my own ob.servation much 

 depends on having the land for the turnep 

 crop, as also alt root crops, potatoes e.xcepted, 

 mellow ; they ought to be hoed at least three 

 times, and oflener if the crop will admit of it. 

 My crop of 1836, was hoed three times in the 

 month of July, the ground was kept light un- 

 til the tops covered it." 



I annex to this the statement of a crop of 

 Ruta Baga in Great Harrington, from another 

 farmer, whose agriculture shows his industry 

 and skill. 



The amount of land was 1 acre and t20 

 rods. The amount of product, well cleaned 

 roots, was 46,495 lbs. 



The land on which they were raised was 

 green-sward, and plouglied the last days in 

 April, 1837. It had had no manure for three 

 years preceding; it then received a tliorough 

 harrowing; it remained until the first of June; 

 then harrowed it again smooth; and drew on 

 thirty loads short barn manure; principally 

 the manure of sheep, which is deemed pre- 

 ferable to any other for this root; this was 



spread and harrowed until it was thoroughly 

 incorporated with the soil; it was then with 

 a plough thrown into ridges *J4 inches apart. 

 It was then sowed on the *24th of June, which 

 was ten days after the proper season tor sow- 

 ing; when well out of the ground, they were 

 plastered at the rate of one bushel to the acre ; 

 they were then ploughed and hoed twice. In 

 cultivating them great care should be taken 

 to have them stand 24 inches apart between 

 the rows; and the plants 6 or 8 inches from 

 each other in the row.'^. 



From Lanesboro' the subjoined return was 

 obtained from a farmer whose whole estab- 

 lishment is a model of neat and exact hus- 

 bandry ; in neatness and carefulness perhaps 

 no where surpassed. 



Ploughing 32. seed \ bs. 50 cents, S3 50 



Manure, 20 cartloads, j of the cord to a load, 



.')0 cents, half to bo charged to the corn 5 00 



fletling out luanure S3 3 00 



I'lanting 3 fi-et square, $1 50; hoeing 3 times 



$7 .50. 9 00 



Hutting up and gathering $2; husking $2, 4 00 



Interest on land at $40, 2 40 



$25 90 



Product. 



Corn fonder equal to 1 ton of hay $0 00 



.50 bs. corn, '. 50 00 



Pumpkins, 2 loads, 2 00 



61 00 



Profits on corn, $35 10 



This farmer is in the practice of occasion- 

 ally planting potatoes among his corn. In 

 this case he plants his corn 3 feet 6 inches 

 apart in the rows, and a hill of potatoes be- 

 tween the hills of corn. In this way he fre- 

 quently obtains 1.50 bs. potatoes upon an acre, 

 and considers the crop of corn not much les- 

 sened oj^ account of the potatoes. The in- 

 jury to UiG corn is in this case rather a mat- 

 ter of judgment than of exact experiment; 

 and therefore tliis conclusion is in my mind 

 to be somewhat distrusted. Corn and pota- 

 toes planted in alternate rows, or one row of 

 corn and two of potatoes, have succeeded 

 well; and from t',\o acres of corn and pota- 

 toes planted thus alternately, there is little 

 doubt that more corn and more potatoes may 

 be obtained than from two acres, where the 

 corn and the potatoes are planted separately. 

 In cases of alternate planting, the corn has a 

 great advantage in its exposure to the sun 

 and air. In the case above mentioned the 

 potatoes occasioned a very small diminution 

 of the number of hills of corn on the land. — 

 Here the potatoes, which require, particu- 

 larly, coolness and moisture, obtained an ad- 

 vantage in being protected to a degree, from 

 the drought, by the leaves of the corn. In 

 all these cases, however, of mixed crops, and 

 of multiplying plants upon the land, two 

 things arc to be remembered; the first, that 

 they are always of more difficult cultivation; 



