300 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository. 



WHEAT. 

 Byjiekl, September 1st, 1823. 



TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



This may certify, that I the subscriber, of the 

 town of Newbury, was employed by Mr. Ken- 

 iamin Savory of Newbury, parish of Byheld lo 

 thresh out a quantity of wheat raised by said 

 Savory and clean and measure the same. 1 was 

 assisted in the work by Rufus Pray, and after 

 cleaning the wheat by passing it throtigh the 

 winnowing mill it measured £%, bu^he's of 

 clean wheat, over and beside one half bushel of 

 the wheat unhulled or the tailings, so called.— 

 The above wheat was all that was raised by said 

 Savory the present year, was red spring wheat 

 and as 1 was informed was the Oilman wheat.— 

 I have also attended and saw one bushel of the 

 ab.ove wheat measured and carefully weighed, 

 and the weight was fifty-seven pounds and a 

 quarter. DAVID CLIFFORD. 



Byfidd, Sept. 1, 1823. 



I the subscriber assisted Mr. David Clifford 

 in threshing, cleaning and measuring the wheat 

 raised by Mr. Benjamin Savory in Newbury, 

 parish of Byfield, county of Essex, and it mea- 

 sured when well cleaned, fifty bushels, beside 

 one half bushel of the tailing, so called. I al- 

 so saw one bushel of the above wheat measur- 

 ed and it weighed fifty-seven pounds and one 

 quarter. I also certify that I have worked with 

 said Savory tor the year past, assisted in pre- 

 paring the ground and sowing the wheat and 

 the above is all that was raised on the farm the 

 present season and was in one lot or patch. 

 ^ RUFUS PRAY. 



Essex, ss. Koveniber 17l/i, 1823. 



Personally appeared David Clifford and Ru- 

 fus Pray, and made solemn oath to the forego- 

 ing statement which they have each of them 

 subscribed respecting the wheat raised by Mr. 

 Benjamin Savory of Byfield parish, town oi 

 Newbury. 



I would also state that the above named per- 

 sons, I have known for a number of years. 1 

 think them steady, well behaved men and enti- 

 tled to credit it. 



DANIEL HALE, Jiisftce Peace. 



November 11 th, 1823. 



This day surveyed for Mr. Benjamin Savory, 

 the land where the aforementioned wheat grew 

 which contained one acre and one hundred and 

 forty-six rods. JOHN NORTHEND. 



Essex ss. N'ovember llth, 1823. 



Personally appeared the above named John 

 Northend, and made solemn oath to the state- 

 ment above made by him, respecting the mea- 

 surement of the land on which Mr. Savory s 

 wheat grew, before me. 



DANIEL HALE, Justice Peace. 



Essex ss. A'oveinher \Sth, 1823. 



Personally appeared, Benjamin Savory, above 

 named, and made solemn oath, that his state- 

 ment, respecting ploughing the ground, sowing 

 and raising the above mentioned wheat, is a 

 correct statement, before me. 



DANIEL HALE, Justice Peace. 



From the Bellows Falls Intelligencer. 



Byfield, Aovembcr 9th, 1823. 

 1 the subscriber of Newbury, county of Es- 

 «ex and-parish of Byfield, do hereby certify that 

 1 sowed a piece of wheat in April last, and the 

 frround was cultivated the year previous in man- 

 ner following, viz. : it was broke up in the fall 

 of 1821 ; in the spring of 1822, it was plough- 

 ed, well harrowed and planted with potatoes 

 and a large shovel full uf manure put in each 

 hill, it yielded a good crop, and in the fall of 

 ll]22, after the crop was taken off it was 

 ploughed twice, then harrowed fine and laid in 

 high ridges through the winter, in the spring of 

 1 S23, before the frost was entirely out, the , 

 ridges were split by ploughing, then cross] 

 plo°ughed very deep, quite to the plough beam, I 

 uud well harrowed, alter which thirty cart 

 loads of good stable and hog manure was spread 

 on the ground and ploughed in deep, it was then 

 well harrowed and four bushels and three quar- 

 ters of well washed wheat which had been 

 soaked four days in strong pickle, sowed broad 

 cast, plo\i§hed in with a small seed plough, 

 bush harrowed and rolled with a heavy land 

 roller, it came up well, and grew well through 

 the season, and hardlj a single blade blighted, 

 smutty or rusty could be found in the piece, 

 when threshed and cleaned it measured fifty 

 bushels of weH cleaned sound wheat, and there 

 remained one heaped half bushel of wheat not 

 hulled, the tailings, so called, it weighed fifty- 

 seven and one quarter pounds per bushel, and 

 a sample accompanies the certificates, the soil 

 was a deep yellow loam on a hard pan mixed 

 with clay BENJ. SAVORY. 



It is a very obvious fact, that our agriculture 

 is in a languishing state, and that the husband- 

 man by no means receives the due reward of 

 his labours. 



The raising of beef and pork was formerly a 

 very profitable employment for the farmers of 

 New-England ; but a change of times calls for a 

 change of pursuits. There is no longer a suffi- 

 cient demand either at home or abroad, for our 

 staple praducts; and they are, of course, sold at 

 prices altogether inadequate to the expense of 



raising them. ,. , r j i 



We export large quantities oi beet and pork, 

 and import large quantities of wool. Two mil- 

 lions of pounds were imported last year, in the 

 raw material, besides what was manufactured. 

 Now, would it not be much better for us to raise 

 our wool, and save the trouble, expense, and 

 risk of two transportations? 



A calculation which any farmer can inake will 

 I set this business in its true light. If you sell 

 your neat stock at two years old, they produce 

 you about ten dollars per head. Now, suppose 

 you have fifteen head given you in the fall after 

 they are a year old, when they may be consi- 

 dered as half raised for market. To keep them 

 through the winter, you will need at least ten 

 tons of hay ; and to fat them in the summer, you 

 will need between thirty and forty acres of good 

 pasture. In the fall you send them to Boston 

 market, and get ten dollars per head, or $\bO 

 for the whole. Now your ten tons of hay will 

 winter one hundred Merino sheep, and thirty 

 or forty acres of pasture will keep them through 

 the summer. They will yield you about three 

 pounds of wool per head, which, estimated at 

 fifty cents per pound, will produce $150 for the 



.,.iole flock ; and the increase of the flock wiil 

 Et least amount to fifty dollars more ; so that 

 l^e actual produce of your flock will be $200; 

 thit is. fifty dollars more than your beet would 

 feph, if your cattle were given you half raised. 

 The price of wool cannot be said to be fixed 

 todhigh, when it is known that some of the best 

 lots of the last crop actually sold lor seventy- 

 fiv^cents per pound. 



Ildo not make these statements to induce 

 every body to forsake the raising ot neat stock, 

 and rush heedlessly into the raising of sheep. 

 Such changes, I know, ought to be made with 

 ci»ition;but 1 think the good of the country, 

 e\lidently require ' less beef and more wool.' 

 pur manufactories are multiplying; the in- 

 crease of manufactories will increase the home 

 delnand for our beef and pork, butter and cheese, 

 o-rtin and other produce— the raising of grain 

 will be profitable for those who have farms 

 suked to it, and have a plenty of help. Those 

 who have grazing farms, will doubtless find a 

 dai-y profitable ; and as the attention of the 

 country is turned more to sheep, the profits of 

 the dairy will increase. But those who have 

 larre farms and little help, will find the greatest 

 profit in sheep ; for the produce of the flock is 

 o-athered with very little expense. 

 " A FARMER. 



From the American Farmer. 

 LUCERNE, 



ITS VALUE AND MODE OF CULTURE. 



r We have long been pursuaded, that the public are not' 

 generally sensible of the great value of Lucerne, in 

 comparison with other grasses, for green food, espe- 

 cBlly in hot and dry seasons, and we are the rnorf 

 "•ratified in the opportunity of copying the follow- 

 ing communication, to the Philadelphia Agricultura' 

 Society, founded, as it purports to be, on the c:rpe- 

 rience of ten years. The seed may, we perceive, 

 be now had, of Mr. Robert Sinclair, at 50 cents pel 

 pound.]— £rf. .^m. Farmer. 



TO THE IHILADELPHIA SOCIETV FOR THE PROMO- 

 TION OF AGRICULTURE. 



Perth Amboy, 10th Jtdy, 1823. 



Having been for ten or twelve years past in 

 the successful practice of cultivating lucerne, I 

 think it may beneficially promote the interest 

 of Agriculture, to offer you a few remarks oa 

 that subject. 



This article, (frequently denominated French 

 Clover,) I have found by experience, to be not 

 only the most convenient, but also the most pro- 

 fitable of all grasses. It vegetates quicker in 

 the spring than any other grass, it resists the 

 effect of droughts, it may be cut four or five 

 times during the season, and it will ertdure from- 

 10 to 12ye;irs without renewing. Of all other 

 grasses it is the most profitable for soiling. I 

 am fully of opinion, that one acre properly got 

 in would be more than sufficient to maintain at 

 least 6 head of cattle from the first of May, un- 

 til the frosts set in, for before it can be cut i 

 down in this way, the first part of it again < 

 will be ready for the scythe. English writers 

 have recommended the drill system for this 

 o-rass, but in this climate 1 have found this plan 

 not to answer. 



The proper mode is to put the land in good 

 order; to sow it broad cast, and to get the seed 

 in during the month of April, or the early part 

 of May. Fall sowing will not answer, as when 

 sowed so late, it, like clover, is found not to re- 



