VOL. XTI. NO. 31. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



243 



le piirposp, placeil between llie end of the beam 

 itl the cli.iin liy wliich the plow is drawn. Ac- 

 lal observation shows that some plows' will do the 

 ime work with about hall" the power required by 

 hers. Suppose this to be so, then one pair of 

 ittle on a plow of best construction, will elFect 

 I much as two pair on a plow of bad construc- 

 )n ; and at the same time will probably leave the 

 ound in better condition for cultivation. 

 Take into view, also, that the plowman himself 

 n manage tlio tenjn of one pair of cattle without 

 driver, and that a driver will always bo needed 

 ith two pair of cattle, and it is not extravai;ant to 

 y that in the ordinary plowing of our fields, one 

 If the labor may be saved by a proper attention 

 the structure of the plow and the discipline of 

 e cattle. 



Let any of our farmers who liave not been at- 

 itivo to these improvements heretofore, apply 

 ■se principles on their own farms, and we will 

 aranty that they will save more than the whole 

 lount of all their taxes, (excepting the grocer's 

 £ for that which is not bread,} in the first year of 

 ;ir application. 



In the selection of plows from the numerous ap- 

 )ved patterns before the public, it will not do to 

 y entirely upon certifiratcs. If you do, like to 

 medicines in use. perfection will be found in 

 ■ry shop. Some plows may be admirably adapt- 

 to turn a proper furrow where the land is level 

 i free of stones and other obstructions, that 

 uld not answer at all in rough and hard soil. 

 lers are specially designed to set the furrows on 

 e, turning it but half over. Which of these 

 best, will depend upon the character of the 

 1, and the use for which it is intended. 

 The Scotch farmers, who are not a whit behind 

 n the shrewdest Yankees in their agricultural 

 )rovements, prefer the plow that cuts a narrow 

 row and sets 't on edge. The cast iron plows 

 t were introduced a few years since from the 

 ler part of the State of New York, broke the 

 und in pieces and left the furrow in a most ir- 

 ular condition ; performing the double operation 

 1 plow and harrow. 



The peculiarities of the plows now moat popular 

 , that they cut wide furrows and lay them flat, 

 iing the surfaca when passed over with a roller, 

 est as smooth as before it was turned. Among 

 valuable plows that have been offered to the 

 die within a few years, those constructed by Mr 

 e, of Danvers, are entitled to a respectful no- 

 ■. Rarely, if ever, have we seen better work 

 a these plows turned out when directed by the 

 Iful hand of Mr Tapley. 



f our recollection is right, the mould board and 

 er upon these plo.vs were particularly adapted 

 he purpose. We have the testimony of iMr 

 man, whose authority in matters connected with 

 iculture, is second to that of no man among us, 

 at the best working plow he ever saw was made 

 Mr PIko, of Danvers." It is to be hoped that 

 lan who succeeded so well in his first attempt in 

 construction of this useful implement, will per- 

 ere in this applifation of his labor. 

 f we would r"£lize he full benefits to be de- 

 ■d from our plowing matches, perhaps it would 

 well to follow them with the offer of suitable 

 miums for the cultiv-tion of the field plowed. 

 ■ the distinTiiisliing characteristics of each land 

 wed, be distinctly stated in the report of the 

 imittee. Let the ciltivation be similar on all, 

 . the quantities^ of produce be noted on each. 



Then would the rcsidt show which work was best. 

 That plowing must bo best which has a tendency 

 to produce the best crops, whatever the form of the 

 furrow or the beauty of its appearance. 



Respectfully submitted for the Committee. 



J. W. PROCTOR. 



Andovtr, Sept. 28, 1842. 



WINTER PLOWING. 

 Farmers! the greatest enemy with whom you 

 have to contend in your pursuit, now lies in am- 

 bush in the soil, more numerous than the army of 

 Xer.xes, ready to rise up in numerous shapes quick 

 as the winter's frost will let them, and thick as 

 Rhoderic Dhu's men behind every bush. Their 

 attacks are made by night and by day ; some 

 by open warfare, while others choose the lurking 

 Indian mode, and immediately retreat to their 

 camps. Like the coney they are all a feeble folk, 

 and easily conquered, if, as the Romans used to 

 say, you carry the war into Africa ; or, to drop the 

 style mititaire, if you neglected to plow your 

 planting grounds in the fall, improve the time to 

 break them up during the winter, if the frost will 

 admit. It will do much towards destroying the 

 numerous insects which are so injurious to summer 

 crops, particularly corn and potatoes. In addition, 

 you derive also great benefit from the operation of 

 the frost and the atmosphere in pulverizing and en- 

 riching the soil. Your teams are now strong and 

 vigorous. Plow deep. — Comi. Far. Gaz. 



was performed in two hours. The carrots wero 

 hoed twice, which took 2 1-2 days each time, and 

 2 in thinning ; 4 days harvesting, and 1 for a horse 

 to bring in and deliver to purchasers. Sold 143 

 bushels at one shilling a bushel, all weighed by 

 hay scales; and put 43 bushels in my cellar; mak- 

 ing ISC bushels, e(iual to 734 bushels an acre. 

 The onions were very light ; the seed being old, 

 but a small part cams up; had only 20 bushels. 

 But from the same piece of ground, I took a liorae- 

 cart with side boards, full of winter squashes. Sold 



438 lbs. of the squashes fur one cent a pound 



the remainder were used in my family and fed 

 out. The onions and squashes paid for the manure 

 and all the labor before the carrots were planted. 

 The manure was purchased at .50 cts. a horse load, 

 and paid 12 l-Scts. per bushel for ashes— both mak- 

 ing $7 50 cost of manure. 



The carrot crop will stand thus: 

 166 bushels, at Is. $31 00 



E.xpense — 1-2 lb. seed at 75 cts. $0 37^ 

 Planting, 25" 

 7 days hoeing and thin- 

 ning, at 75 cts. 5 25 

 4 days harvesting at do. 3 CO 

 1 do. horse to carry in 

 crop, 75 

 Whole expense of cultivation, $9 62 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



CARROT CROP. 

 Mr Editor — I am induced to give an account 

 of my carrot crop, from having seen in your paper 



of the 11th instant, a statement of tno crops of the 

 same kind, presented to the Worcester County Ag- 

 ricultural Society for premiums. The products 

 are nearly equal — both say nearly fiOO bushels to 

 the acre. Mr Taft Foster (one of the applicants,) 

 calls the land on which he raised 143 bushels, 40 

 square rods ; but by his dimensions, I make 48 3-4 

 rods, which will reduce the yield to a fraction less 

 than 470 bushels to the acre. Mr Foster says that 

 he has endeavored to obtain the largest crop on the 

 smallest piece of land, with the least expense in 

 manure, labor or cultivation, which could with rea- 

 sonable economy be accomplished." But his crop, 

 with a large expense of labor and manure falls 

 short of mine. Besides, he selected an old garden, 

 highly manured the preceding year, and also pre- 

 vious to planting. Mine was a piece of sward 

 land, remote from any building, and without any 

 manure for two years previous. 



The land on which my carrots grew, is a little 

 eminence on a marsh, and at high water becomes 

 an island. It was measured a few years since, by 

 a surveyor, and contained just a quarter of an acre : 

 and if any thing, it is growing less every year. 

 The soil is a sandy loam, resting on a yellow sub- 

 soil. It was mowed the preceding years, and had 

 no mannre. The fore part of last April it was 

 plowed, and 10 one-horse loads of hog-pen manure 

 spread and harrowed lengthwise the furrow, and 

 then 20 bushels unleoched ashes put on and raked 

 in. On the 14th of April it was planted with on- 

 ion seed — rows 24 inches apart, for the purpose of 

 putting carrots between, after the onions had been 

 hoed once. May 28tli, planted half a pound of 

 Orange carrot seed, with Willis's seed sower, which 



Net profit on 1-4 of an acre, .$21 37 



Equal to .$85 50 an acre. But instead of selling 

 my carrots at one shilling a bushel, had I charged 

 them to my stock at $10 a ton, as Mr Foster did, 

 the result would have been nearly double. 



One thing I think is worth mentioning in har- 

 vesting the carrots. I hired a man by the name of 

 A. W. Congdon, and set him to digging the roots 

 with an iron shovel, and alter he had finiclisd and 

 thrown them into heaps ready for topping, the time 

 employed did not exceed 12 hours, which made an 

 average of 15 1-2 bushels an hour, or less than 4 

 minutes to every bushel. He had no help, and 

 said that ho had never dug any before. No request 

 was made for extra exertion, and indeed I had no 

 right to, as his wages were only 50 cents a day. 



I do not approve of sward land for carrots; they 

 grow large at top, but the roots are short; when 

 they come in contact with the sward, it prevents 

 their shooting down, but it requires less time in 

 hoeing than old ground, as there are not so many 

 weeds to contend with. 



The tops were thrown into heaps and covered 

 with soil, to remain till spring, when they are to be 

 spread over the same ground and plowed in for 

 another crop of carrots. I was prompted to this 

 method from having seen it stated in your paper, 

 not long since, that if the tops of roots are left on 

 the ground where they grow, that the same kind 

 of crop might be continued from year to year with- 

 out a resort to rotation. I intend to try the experi- 

 ment and give you the result. C. 



ff'ickford, R. I., Jan. 25, 1843. 



(XJ^We are happy to receive statements like the 

 above, showing the actual products from definite 

 quantities of land. In this case the crop was pro- 

 fitable. We, however, should have charged the 

 carrots with their proportion of the expense of the 

 manure. This would not vary the profit on the 

 land, but would have shifted some of it from thp 

 carrots to the onions and squashes. Wc should be 

 please<l to hear from our correspondent often. — Ed. 

 N. E. P. 



