186 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



i ce, and farming on a pretty extensive scale it is best 

 for the cultivator to destroy weeds when he can most 

 easily efTi'Ct their destruction. If they are made pro- 

 tectors of the ground against the rays of the sun, they 

 arc apt to monopolize tlie soil to the exclusion of more 

 valuable vegetation. Still we agree with the writer 

 that the soil should never in the summer season, be 

 destitute of a vegetable covering. The action of the 

 sun on the surface of the soil in warm weather disen- 

 gages and dissipates the volatile and gaseous products 

 which constitute its fertility. This is in a great mea- 

 sure prevented by keeping the ground constantly cover- 

 ed during summer with a vegetable carpel. It is bet- 

 ter that this carpet should be composed ef vegetables 

 of little value th.in to suffer the earth to remain without 

 covering of any kind. But at all events, weeds should 

 all be cut down or dug up before their seeds have be- 

 come ripe, and if their races should become extinct, it 

 will be easy to find substitutes to shade the soil — such 

 as spinage, lettuce cabbage plants, &c. the seeds of 

 wliich cost but little, and their produce is more valua- 

 ble either for shading the soil, or furnishing food for 

 man or beast. 



From the Concord Gazette. 



The TruUees of the Society of Middlesex 

 Husbandmen and Manufacturers, report for liie 

 information of the Society, that at their annual 

 meeting at Concord, Dec. 31, 1823, they 

 awarded to Col. Joseph Valentine of Hopkin- 

 ton, the premium of j^lO for having raised 

 the greatest quantity of Indian Corn on one 

 acre of Land, being 127 bushels and 3 pecks. 

 --Col. Valentine gives the following account 

 of the mode of cultivation adopted by him, viz : 



The quality of the soil is a deep yellow loam, 

 situated on a western declivity and naturally 

 moist. The land has been improved for mew- 

 ing six years last past, and until the last year 

 it has yielded very heavy crops. In Jul^', 

 1822, the crop of hay falling belOw the produce 

 of former years, 1 thought it expedient to 

 stir the ground. In August following the 

 ground was broken up, and in November it 

 was harrowed and cross ploughed. In the 

 spring of 1823, it was again ploughed and har- 

 rowed, and twenty loads of green barn manure, 

 spread equally over it and ploughed in. It was 

 ihcn furrowed in rows about three t'eet and a 

 half apart, with a large horse plough, the' 

 plough going twice in each row to make a deep 

 channel for the compost manure, and also to 

 leave the seed when planted lower than the 

 general surface of the ground. The rows 

 thus prepared, were tilled with twenty loads of 

 barn, hog-yard, and night manure, well mixed 

 and pulverized with Smithlield lime: the ma- 

 nure was then levelled, and the kernels of seed 

 placed about ten inches apart width-wise, and 

 four inches lengthwise ia the rows and lightly 

 covered with tine mould. The seed was the 

 yellow twelve rowed corn, which was soaked 

 in a strong salt-petre brine, twenty four hours 

 and then sipread, sprinkled with quick lime and 

 raked over until completely coated with lime. 

 It was |)louglied twice and hoed three times. 

 At the last hoeing, the first of .luly the sucker* 

 were pulled out, and in the fore part of August, 

 the suckers weie again pulled away and the 

 fiilse stalks cut up. In hoeing the corn I was 

 particularly careful to loosen the soil and re- 

 move the weeds without raising the earth about 



the stalks as I had usually done. The stalks 

 would average from nine to ten feet high, and 

 were cut the first week in September. The 

 first week in October, the corn was harvested, 

 and carefully measured in baskets by two men 

 who had assisled in cultivating the crop. I direct- 

 ed the same men to lake each of them a basket 

 and fill it with ears in the same manner, as 

 when they measured the whole, and to shell 

 and measure the quantity of shelled corn obtain- 

 ed from each basket of ears ; the amount of 

 shelled corn from each basket of ears was the 

 same, viz. nineteen quarts, and when turned to- 

 gether and measured, the result was one bush, six 

 quarts and a fraction over, from the two baskets. 

 — By computing the pro<luce of the whole 

 acre from the quantity of ears as measured in 

 the basket, and the amoimt of shelled contained 

 in a basket of ears, the result is one hundred 

 and twenty seven bushels and twenty one quarts 

 of shelled corn. The field in which the above 

 acre was meiusured contains three acres, one 

 half of ivhich was planted with seed prepared 

 as above described ; the other half was planted 

 with seed in its natural state. The corn in ev- 

 ery part of the field came up well, and as all 

 the ground was cultivated and manured alike, 

 there could be no difi'orence in the quality of 

 the soil to invite or repel insects and vermin. 

 But that part which was planted with seed in 

 its natural state, at least one sixth part of the 

 blades were eaten off and destroyed by worms ; 

 while in the part planted with seed soaked in 

 brine and coated with lime, not a blade was dis- 

 covered that had been attacked by them. This 

 is the first experiment I ever made to prove 

 the utility of securing corn against the ravages 

 of worms, by any process applied to the seed. 

 Perhaps the mode above described and pursued 

 by me will not always be attended with the 

 like success. It may however be the means of 

 exciting the attention of others who have more 

 leisure and ability than myself to discover and 

 apply a certain remedy for so great a nuisance 

 to the farmer. 



EXPENCES OF CULTIVATION. 



Four Ploughings, - - $5, 00 



Harrowing - - - - 1, 00 

 Manure, 40 loads - - 30, 00 



Furrowing .... 75 



Seed 50 



Planting - - - - 4, 60 



Ploughing and hoeing - 7, 50 



Cutting stalks - - - 3, 00 

 Harvesting - - - - 4, 00 



$55, 75 

 The value of the stalks and fodder I consider 

 equal to a ton and a half of English hay. 



That they also awarded to Col. Valentine the 

 premium of^ ^10 for having raised 37 bushels 

 and one peck of wheat on one acre of land by 

 the following mode of culture. 



In the sjiring of 1822, it was ploughed and 

 planted with Indian corn, forty loads of manure 

 were spread and laid upon it, and the crop pro- 

 duced was one hundred and sixteen bushels and 

 twenty-eight quarts of corn, well dried and fit 

 for use. In the spring of 1823, as soon as the 

 ground was fit for ploughing, 1 had it [)loughed 

 and harrowed twice ; three bushels of Oilman 

 Wheat were sowed on one acre and a few rods, 

 and ploughed in. I then sowed twelve pounds 

 of clover, and half a bushel of herds grass seed, 

 spread one hogshead of slacked lime upon it, 



and harrowed it with an iron harrow. Tl 

 wheat before sowing was washed clean in cle: 

 water, then soaked forty-eight hours in stroi 

 lime water, then laid on a dry floor and slackc 

 lime sprinkled ujion it and frequently stiri'« 

 until it was covered with lime. In the mont 

 of July, the land on which the three bushels 1 

 wheat was sowed, was measured and found I 

 contain one acre and a few rods over ; th 

 number of rods exceeding an acre was stake 

 ofT, and the wheat growing, reaped and thresi 

 ed by itself, and the produce was between on 

 and two bushels. The acre was reaped an 

 bound \vith long rye straw, and found to be seve 

 hundred and sixty-two bundles, makint" tifl 

 shock, and twelve sheaves ; which when thre.sl 

 ed, winnowed, and measured, produced thirli 

 seven bushels and one peck. The quality ( 

 the grain was excellent, and weighed six! 

 pounds to the bushel, not a kernel of smut « 

 burnt grain was discovered among the whole. 

 Per order of Trustees, 



N. BROOKS, Rec. Sec. 



Reports of the several Committees of the JVorcesti 



Jigricullural Society. 



REPORT No. VI. 



Committee 011 all other Manufactured Articles. 



Stephen P. Gardiner, of Bolton, Chairman ; Saraui 



Mixter, of >'ew-liraintrce ; Benjamin Read, of Ten 



plitnn; Royal Keith, of Grafton ; Seth Davenpor 



ofMcndon. 



The Committee appointed by the Trustet 

 of the Worcester Agricultural Society, to exan 

 ine all Manufactured .\rticles besides Cottoi 

 Wool, Flax and Silk, have attended to the dul 

 assigned Ihem. A great number of excellei 

 lots of Butter and Cheese ivas offered for exat 

 inatiun, too many to particularize, and perha| 

 unnecessary to mention, all the owners' nam 

 in this Report. It is but justice to say, exce 

 two or three lots, it was all of a superior qua j 

 ty ; and it was with some difliculty that tl i. 

 Committee could satisfy themselves who we 

 entitled to premiums. Other articles whii 

 came under our notice, did not equal the expe 

 tations of the Committee. They however r 

 commend the following premiums. 



To Levi Goodale of West-Boylston, for tl 

 best Butler, $1. 



To Ebenezer Dunbar, of Leicester, for n^ 

 best, %b. 



About 15 lbs. of superior Butter, in ca 

 for neatness and flavor was not exceeded by ai 

 and if the funds of the Society will justify it, 

 Committee recommend to Ebenezer Moi 

 of Worcester, the owner, a premium of 

 William Tufts, of New-Braintree, for the 

 Cheese, glO; to Elisha Matthews, of Ni 

 Braintree for the next best, §5; to Chel 

 Patch, ot' Leicester, for a set of Machine Cai 

 jJ20 : to William Slocumb, of NorlhboroiighJ 

 the best dressed Call-Skins, glO ; to Phin 

 Davis, of NDrthborough, for Sole-Leathe 

 premium, b ; to Joseph Griggs &, Co. of 

 bury, for Morocco, 2d premium, ^3; to Si 

 Hathaway, jr. of Sutton, for the best Ox-Y 

 ^6 ; to Andrew Buxton, for the next best doj 



N. B. Mr. Davis, for Sole-Leather, and 

 Griggs, for Morocco Skins, had no competi 

 Their articles, though good and well mani^i 

 tured, were not extraordinary ; and in the o^ 

 ion of the Committee were not entitled toj», 

 first premium. A great variety of articles 



