VOIi. \Xt. NO. 35. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



275 



[ASS. SOCIETY FOR PflOMOTION OF AG- 

 RICULTURE. 

 Report ox Farms. 

 The Committee appointed by the Trustees of 

 le Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agricul- 

 ire to award tlie premiiiins offered for tlie best 

 ultivatod farms, have attended to that duty, and 

 sk to report as follows : 



In offcrin|r these very liberal premiums, the Trus- 

 >es entertained a hope that they might ?ive a new 

 :imiiUis to improvement and more effectually awak- 

 n the attention of farmers to their true interest. 

 Vith a view of relieving the claimants for premi- 

 ms of the trouble of making out their statements 

 1 writinir, of Ihe condition of their respective 

 irms, which is by many considered an irksome 

 isk, your committee appointed a coinpetcnt agent, 

 rith instructions to call upon each applicant, and 

 5 furnish him with all needed facilities in giving 

 is answers to the questions proposed by the Trus- 

 ses. This duty has been ably and satisfactorily 

 xecuted by the very worthy and intelligent gen- 

 leman appointed for that purpose, accompanied, in 

 few cases by one of your committee. 

 The number of applicants for the Society's pre- 

 niums, has, notwithstanding, been small. Still, 

 our committee believe that the liberal offers of 

 le Society have been instrumental, in no inconsid- 

 rable degree, in bringing about an improved state 

 f husbandry ; and they take pleasure instating 

 leir increased confidence in the beneficial results 

 lat may be derived from this mode of appropria- 

 , ng so considerable a portion of the Society's 

 iinds. Public attention, we are confident, has 

 'jen in some measure aroused, and many farmers, 

 Dur committee believe, relying upon the continued 

 Ters of the Society's premiums, are now striving 

 - put their farms in a condition that will not only 

 lable them hereafter to become successful compe- 

 tors for these premiums, but calculated to give 

 em a higher stand in the scale of usefulness 

 nong those by whom their good examples may be 

 ilnessed. 



Our progress in agricultural improvement, com- 

 ired with that of some other countries, has hith- 

 to been slow. Wealth has cautiously yielded 

 ■r treasures for its encouragement, and the efforts 

 science, which have been so generously tender- 

 by the scientific friends of agriculture, have 

 :herto been too generally viewed with a distrust- 

 l eye. The opulent and enlightened advocates 

 ■ agricultural improvement are, however, now 

 ginning to perceive that the business of farming 

 brds not only a safe, but profitable investment of 

 ■ pital, and Ihat the profession of the farmer is as 

 icli benefited by the light of science as any oth- 

 . profession. 



It was not till after the middle of the last centu- 



) Unit English capitalists discovered that capital 



: uiied in the improvement of their estates made 



I ample returns of profit as that invested in stocks 



i merchandise. From that time the light of sci- 



«:e and the patronage of the wealthy have united 



i furnishing the means of increased production, 



I J 'jie labors of the husbandman have beenclieer- 



tiie smiles of an enlightened and approving 



:, till the profession of agriculture has be- 



..j ihe broadest avenue to wealth and distinc- 



I [1. 



In England, improvements in agriculture are to 

 1 attributed mainly to liberal outlays by the rich 

 d'ners of extensive landed estates. Finding that 



their tenants could produce from their worn-out 

 and impovcMishcd lands but little more than enough 

 to furnish thomsclves with a miseriible, scanty sub- 

 sistence, the landlord was induced to resort to va- 

 rious schemes and to invest large sums of money 

 in the improvement of his estate. By these means 

 he has greatly benefited the condition of his ten- 

 ants, and at the same time received an ample re- 

 munerotion for his outlay. 



In this country, lands are more equally distribu- 

 ted and lield by a different tenure. The farmer 

 here is generally the owner of the acres which he 

 occupies, with no capital upon which he can draw 

 for improvement, but his own bone and muscle, — 

 no means to help him on, but his own personal en- 

 ergies. His efforts must principally bo made to 

 contribute to the relief of his immediate necessities. 

 His progress in improvement must, therefore, ne- 

 cessarily be at a moderate pace. It is to men of 

 wealth, who can be satisfied with future and more 

 distant results, that we must in a great measure 

 look for rapid advances in this great and impor- 

 tant work. 



In awarding the Society's premiums, yonr com- 

 mittea have, however, paid due regard to economy 

 of expenditure in the management of their farms, 

 by the respective applicants. They are not, how- 

 ever, of the opinion that the production of the 

 greatest crop at the least expense, will, in all ca- 

 ses, afford a correct test of the farmer's merit, as 

 this might result in rewarding the owner of a soil 

 naturally rich, that required but small outlay in 

 labor and manure to render it productive, to the 

 exclusion of his neighbor, who, though he may 

 have expended more and obtained a lighter crop 

 upon his less fertile grounds, has nevertheless by 

 enterprise and skill in managing and fertilizing his 

 fields, given a lesson to the public of much more 

 value than is afforded by tlie economy of his more 

 fortunate neighbor. Your committee have endeav- 

 ored to select such of the applicants for considera- 

 tion and notice, as, under all the circumstances, 

 have done most to advance the interests of agri- 

 culture, and, at the same time, have kept within 

 the bounds of reasonable economy. 



The farm of Mr Morgan, of Palmer, exhibits an 

 instance of energetic and successful culture, which 

 can hardly find a parallel. Within the short space 

 of three years, with no extravagant outlay of mon- 

 ey, he, has, in a great measure by his skill, indus- 

 try and perseverance, so improved an impoverished 

 and worn out farm, as to increase its produce more 

 than four fold. In the language of the intelligent 

 agent who carefully inspected this farm, "the 

 changes which have been effected on this reduced 

 and rough farm, in three years, are truly astonish- 

 ing, and far exceed any thing ordinarily witnessed 

 in improvements." Any one, on reading the ac- 

 count of the produce of this farm, given by Mr 

 Morgan, and fully corroborated by the agent, must 

 be convinced that capital may be so invested in ag- 

 ricultural improvements as nut only to yield a cer- 

 tain, but very liberal profit. 



Mr Morgan's method of renovating his '' bound 

 down" grass grounds, is worthy of notice by all 

 farmers. The process of simply scarifying the 

 surface of old exhausted grass fields, has long been 

 known and practiced ; but the addition of a dress- 

 ing of compost, prepared in the manner prescribed 

 by him, with a liberal sowing of grass seed, are 

 improvements upon the old process, which the com- 

 mittee know, from practical results, to be attended 

 with all the benefit ascribed to them by Mr Mor- 



gan. 



The advantage of stirring the roots of the 

 gros.s in our bottnd out fields, is manifest from the 

 fact that a grass field simply turned over with the 

 plow, in very narrow furrow slices, in the fall of 

 the year, a:id smoothed down with (he harrow and 

 roller, will, witliout the aid of manure or grass 

 seed, more than double the crop of hay. The 

 grass springs up from between the furrow-slices 

 with renewed vigor, and at the season of mowing, 

 will nearly have covered the ground with a crop 

 that amply repays the labor of plowing, while this 

 process of turning over, is attended with a very 

 considerable improvement of the soil. 



The condition of his manure when applied, and 

 the manner of applying it by Mr Morgan, we have 

 no doubt will be approved by all judicious and 

 skillful farmers. All manures should be applied 

 in such state and in such manner as to afi'ord the 

 greatest quantity of nourishment to the growing 

 crops, and, at the same time, be the least liable to 

 waste, from atmospheric influences. Animal ma- 

 nures and all animal substances applied to the sur- 

 face in a green or undecayed state, suffer very 

 considerable loss of their enriching properties. If 

 plowed in deep, it is not in a condition to furnish 

 immediate nourishment to the grain or grass crops, 

 either the roots will not reach it, or, if they do, it 

 will not be in a fit state to be taken up by them. 

 The objections to placing manure upon the surface 

 are obviated, by first placing it in contact witli 

 some substance, that will take up and retain ita 

 enriching matters, until they may be wanted by 

 the growing crop. This may be effected in the 

 compost heap. 



Mr Morgan has not given us his method, nor 

 the time allowed by him, for making his compost. 

 On this subject we will take the liberty of suggest- 

 ino- to him, and all farmers, the expediency of al- 

 ways keeping a year's stock of stable manure on 

 hand for the new year's use. This will give am- 

 ple time to form his compost, and if properly mixed 

 with peat or swamp muck, or any vegetable mould, 

 two loads to one of stable manure, and occasion- 

 ally overhauled during the summer preceding ita 

 use, it may then be applied to the surface of his 

 fields, and if mixed with the top soil with the har- 

 row, or lightly covered with the plow, there will be 

 no risk of losing any of its valuable properties. 



The mode of plowing and culliviting green- 

 sward, adopted by Mr Morgan, is now generally 

 approved by our best farmers. Some fifteen years 

 ago, your committee gave the first practical demon- 

 stration of the vast importance of this system of 

 culture in a country where the lands were fast ap- 

 proaching to steriity by an injudicious use of the 

 plow. They have since endeavored, at all suitable 

 times, to impress upon farmers, by precept as well 

 as example, its great importance in renovating 

 their worn out fields; and they are gratified in 

 finding it to be of so generally acknowledged 

 utility.* 



The course pursued by Mr Morgan in reclaim- 

 ing his low meadow grounds, the committee do 

 not entirely approve. They are aware that some 

 farmers still hold to the practice of covering their 

 meadows with a coat of gravel for the purpose of 

 killing the wild grasses and giving firmness to tlie 

 surface. There can be no doubt that by putting 

 on a sufficient quantity of manure to enrich this 

 covering of unproductive material, these low mead- 

 ows may be made to produce larjje crops of grass 



•See N. E. Farmer, vol. ia. p. 266. 



