No. 5. 



Uie Massachusetts Premmm Fari7i. 



139 



a strip of limestone, and next succeed the 

 primary rocks of the South mountain range, 

 a principal ingredient in which is hornblende, 

 in a variety of forms, from hornblende gneiss 

 to trap. These rocks frequently rise into 

 rugged and precipitous hills, and the coun- 

 try they comjK)se is from tliis circumstance 

 mostly unfit, or at least unfavourable for cul- 

 tivation. I believe that the soil where tried, 

 has generally been found poor and unproduc- 

 tive, although in some instances, owing no 

 doubt to local causes, the reverse is the case. 

 While the soil covering the adjoining: strips 

 of limestone and brescia above mentioned, 

 Is so noted for its fertility as to call forth the 

 remarks of every passer by. 



We have now passed ever one division of 

 the rocks and soils of Pennsylvania, and 

 before entering on the next, it may be well 

 to observe, that within it no such thing as a 

 soil composed wholly of sand, clay, gravel, 

 and rolled stones, brought from a great dis- 

 tance and dissimilar to the neighbouring 

 rocks, exists to any great extent. Small 

 patches may be found in tlie neiglibourhood 

 of streams, and of torrents from the nq^igh- 

 bouring hills, but they are only the excep- 

 tion to the general rule, that the soil par- 

 takes of the nature of the underlying rock. 

 The same remark will apply to the same 

 range of country, if traced into the neigh- 

 bouring States of New Jersey, Maryland 

 and Virginia. Whenever we get beyond 

 the influence of these local causes, we find 

 the soil to partake of the colour and mate- 

 rials of the underlying or neighbouring rock, 

 and changing with it. We find very fertile 

 and very poor land lying in the same vicin- 

 ity, but overlying ditierent kirnis of rock — 

 appearances perfectly unaccountable by our 

 author's theory, of the sameness and unity of 

 soils. 



I wish your readers, and particularly your 

 farming readers, to bear in mind the prmci- 

 ple I have been endeavouring to illustrate. 

 Let them verify it by their own observa- 

 tions — this will require no great amount of 

 skill or scientific knowledge, while it will 

 yield them ample stores of amusement and 

 information. S. Lewis. 



PoUsvine, October, 1844. 



The Massachusetts Premium Farm. 



In 1843, the Massachusetts State Agri 

 cultural Society awarded a premium of 

 SB2(I0 to Mr. Benjamin Poore, of West 

 Newbury, for "the best cultivated farm" 

 within the State. We condense the follow- 

 ing from Mr. Poore's account of his farm, 

 as published in the New England Farmer. 



The farm is known as the " Indian Hill 

 Farm." 



Number of acres. — Exclusive of wood- 

 land, salt marsh, &c., there are 121| acres, 

 three of which are enclosed as a garden 

 and nursery, and between six and seven 

 acres planted with forest trees. There are 

 six acros of mowing land which have not 

 been d ained, because his neighbour, through 

 whose land the drain would have to pass, 

 prefers to keep his meadow in nntural grass 

 — leaving 86 acres, which are about equally 

 divided into upland and meadow, the latter 

 all reclaimed in the most permanent man- 

 ner, and divided into fields, numbered from 

 1 to 14, which is found very convenient for 

 reference in the journal always kept on the 

 fkrm. 



Nature of the soil. — The highlands are 

 gravelly loam, resting on a clay pan, and 

 crops are seldom injured by wet or dry wea- 

 ther. Of the meadows, some portion is a 

 strong clay that would make bricks — others 

 ricli, black, alluvial soil. These were of 

 no value till drained. It was first fenced 

 to keep off the cattle, that they might not 

 get mired in going on it to feed on the 

 coarse wild grass which grew there. It is 

 now so hard that a team may be driven 

 over it without any difficulty. About six- 

 teen years ago, Mr. Poore employed a 

 Scotch farmer, wliose knowledge and expe- 

 rience in draining, proved of much advan- 

 tage. 



Depth of ploughing. — The precise depth 

 is not mentioned, and we are left a little to 

 conjecture hoto deep Mr. Poore means when 

 he says, "we always plough deep, and are 

 well satisfied deep ploughing never injured 

 our lands," 



Kinds of crops siittivated. — About 10 

 acres of Indian com and potatoes. Corn 

 produces 72 bushels per acre. Mr. Poore 

 thinks rye should be sown early, say in 

 August, or late, say in October. Two bush- 

 els of rye are sown to the acre. Corn and 

 potatoes are cultivated entirely in drills. 

 The arguments in favour of this mode are, 

 that less manual labour will produce a crop. 

 A double mould board plough is used in dig- 

 ging potatoes. Ploughing in autumn is 

 preferred — the earlier the better. The long 

 barn-yard manure is used in a green state, 

 put in the drills where the corn and pota- 

 toes are planted. When the crops are re- 

 moved in autumn, the land is thrown into 

 ridges by the double mould board plough. 

 Spring crops are oats and bnrley. Wheat 

 was formerly sown, but latter years has not 

 produced well. The manure is chiefly used 

 with the corn and potatoe crop, and not 

 much on laying the land down with small 



