140 



The Massachusetts Pretnium Farm. 



Vol. IX. 



grains and grass, as it tends to produce too 

 rank a growth of straw. If lop dreskinffs 

 are used, compost is preferred. The fields 

 are cultivated as near as possible in rotation. 

 Made last year 363 loads, 30 cubic feet to 

 the load, of compost manure. 



Number of acres mowed for hay. — Mr. 

 Poore mows 86 acres, commencing early in 

 the season, as the horses are kept'iip all the 

 year, and the oxen at least three quarters of 

 the year — therefore a portion of the grass 

 is used for soiling. Estimating the hay on 

 hand first of August, at 500 cubic feet to 

 the ton, at which rate it is often sold, there 

 was on hand 157 tons. 



Flooding grass land s^^— Twenty acres of 

 Timothy meadow were^ flowed in the winter 

 of 1842-3. The result was an injury to 

 the grass. The water, it is supposed, laid 

 on too long. The experiment will be re- 

 peated — letting the water remain on only 

 two or three days at a time. 



Oats and harlctj. — The Scotch two rowed 

 barley, and the Scotch potatoe oat are pre- 

 ferred. Three bushels of oats, and three to 

 three and a half of barley, are sown per 

 acre. 



Laying down meadow lands to grass. — 

 After the hay crop is taken off the land is 

 ploughed, laying the furrows fiat, and rye 

 and grass seed sown, with a liberal top- 

 dressing, and then rolled. A bushel, and in 

 some cases, a bushel and a half of grass 

 Keed — kind not mentioned-^is sown per "acre. 



Saving and making manure. — Manure 

 is saved in every way that it can be ob- 

 tained. Compost is made from the parings 

 of the ditches, leaves, meadow-muck, &c. 

 In addition to the ordinaYy means of savin"- 

 the manure of the stock, a cistern for saving 

 the urine has been constructed, and is thus 

 described. "It is 13 feet in diameter and 

 15 feet deep, constructed of stone and ce- 

 ment; into this run the stale from the 

 stable, ox house, cow house, and all the 

 liquid from the cow yard, the suds and wash 

 from the dwelling; over are the water 

 closets of the dwelling, two in the base- 

 ment, two on tlie ground floor, and two in 

 the chamber; these are connected by co- 

 vered passages to the dwelling; in the 

 second story is a place for putting down 

 loam or any material wished for compost, 

 which we do weekly; back of the building 

 and under the bar^ement, is a convenienl 

 place to throw out the compost, which we 

 do semi-annually. There is notliing offen- 

 sive in the smell, and we think too high an 

 estimate cannot be placed upon this appen- 

 dage to the farm." 



Live slock. — The stock kept on the farm, 

 are six oxen, ten cows, and from four to six 



horses. The cattle arc Durhams, " which," 

 says Mr. Poore, "for our farm we think 

 have no equal." The calves are shipped 

 south and west when six months old, except 

 such as, are necessary to keep the stock 

 good. The cahes are generally put to 

 drink as soon as dropped. Sometimes, when 

 a very fine one is dropped out of season, it 

 is allowed to run with the cow. Mr. Poore 

 considers this an expensive mode of rearing 

 calves, but says the prices he has often ob- 

 tained, fully justify it. 



No cheese is made of late years — the 

 milk being sold, except what is wanted for 

 family butter at the house. 



Sivinc-^From six to fifteen, at different 

 seasons, are kept. They are mainly sup- 

 ported by wash from the "house and unsale- 

 able vegetables. The manure of the horses 

 and cattle in summer, is thrown into their 

 yards, and they are kept well supplied with 

 turf-parings, sods, young weeds, &c., which 

 are often removed to the compost heap, and 

 a fresh supply given in return. 



Orchards, cf-c. — There are 347 apple 

 trees, from which there were formerly made 

 75 barrels of cider. Recently the trees 

 have been headed down. Of pear, peach, 

 plum, apricot, and cherry-trees, there are 

 1,200 planted out at different times within 

 the last ten years. 



Labourers. — There are three departments. 

 The farmer and three assistants, and two 

 boys — the gardener and one assistant, and 

 the machinist's department, which is com- 

 posed of one blacksmith, one stone mason 

 and wall builder, one wheel-wright and car- 

 penter. They all keep separaFe accounts, 

 and when one exchanges time it is repaid 

 the same as if with a neighbour. Since 

 1826, Mr. Poore has had a Scotchman as 

 foreman, and with the exception of one 

 Dutchman and one Welchman, the labour- 

 ers have all been Scotch, English, or Irish. 

 Foreigners cannot do as much work in one 

 day, as the Americans, but they do more 

 work in one month, and infinitely more in a 

 year. They are not afraid of wet or cold, 

 and having been raised to labour, are con- 

 lent to labour. The foreman being a for- 

 eigner, can manage them better. They 

 also prefer him, as they can work as they 

 have been accustomed. Mr. Poore says, 

 "having made a rule that when they were 

 deserving, to provide better situations for 

 them after they had become accustomed to 

 the climate and manner of farming here, I 

 can at any time, from the neighbourhoods 

 of those who have faitlifully served me, sup- 

 ply myself, at sixty days notice, with any 

 number of farmers or mechanics, at the old 

 country wages, which do not exceed upon 



