vol.. XI I. NO. 34. 



A N D , G A R D E N i: II ' S .) O U R N A L . 



267 



PtvaiOUTH CO. AGRICUI.TURAI- SOCIETY 



CO.MMITTEKS. 



On Improvements — Morrill Allen, Josluin,F,(lily, 

 Jesse Perkins. 



On Produce — Nathan Mitchell, Samuel A. Fni- 

 zer. Pardon Keith. 



On Jf'orking Oj-fii— Pascal Bassett, Wal.lo 

 Haywaril, Peter Salinond. 



On Mamifitclnres—Movtou Eddy, Eleazcr Har- 

 low, Zenas Keith, Jr. 



On Fancy Articles — Bartholomew Brown, Ben- 

 jamin B. Howard, William S. Eddy. 



On Stock — David Oldham, Solomon Howard, 

 John Tildcn, Jr. 



On Ploughing — George W. ^^■ood, Edwaid F. 

 Jacobs, Paul Hathaway. 



On Butter, Cheese, Inventions, Sfc. — Holmes 

 Sprasrue, Horace Collamore, Joshua Bates. 



Committee of Arrangements — Abram Washburn, 

 Abram Washburn, 2d, Dion Bryant. 



A list of the Ofliccrs we published some time 

 ago. 



Report of Committee on Improvements, ifc. 



Claims were entered for the premiums offered 

 for converting fresh meadow or swampy laud to 

 English mowing, by Capt. Thomas Reed, of 

 Abington, Waldo Hayvvard, of E. Bridgewater, 

 and Dr Anthony Collamore, of Pembroke. 



Only one claim was presented for the premiums 

 offered ou account of mulberry trees, and that by 

 Benj. Hobart, Esq. of Abington, to whom was 

 awarded the first premium of $25. Mr H. has 

 878 trees over four years old, which liave been 

 transplanted and arranged in a convenient manner 

 for feeding the silk worm, besides a large number 

 of younger trees. 



Claims were presented for the premiums offer- 

 ed for making the greatest number of rods of stone 

 wall, by Benj. Hobart, Esq. of Abington, Rev. 

 Morrill Allen, and Robert Barker, of Pembroke. 

 As the greatest part of Mr Hobart's wall was built 

 previous to the offer of the premium, his claim 

 was not admitted. ftFr H. accompanied his claim 

 with a particular account of the improvements he 

 had made on his farm within the last ten years. 

 Bv his statement it appears that the product has 

 increased four fold. The committee were much 

 pleased to see the extensive and permanent im- 

 provements he had made, and the neat appearance 

 of his whole farm, and would recommend to all 

 those who are not satisfied with the barren soil of 

 Plymouth county, to look at Mr Hobart's farm 

 before they go to the far west to seek a more pro- 

 ductive soil. 



Mr Allen having made 314i rods of wall the 

 past year, is entitled to the first premium ; Mr 

 Barker having made 267 rods, is entitled to the 2d. 



Claims were entered for the premiums offered 

 for making compost manure by Rev. Morrill 

 Allen, of Pembroke, Ezra Weston, Esq. of Dux- 

 bury, Capt. Salmon Howard, and Ebenezer Cope- 

 land of W. Bridgewater, Paul Hathaway, and 

 George W. Wood, of Middleborough, and Benj. 

 Hobart, of Abington. The number of loads made 

 by each (40 cubic feet being considered a load,) 

 were as follows, viz. Mr Allen 778, Mr Weston 

 685, Air Howard 570, Mr Copeland 521, Mr Wood 

 418. Mr Hobart 340, Mr Hathaway 193. Had the 

 quality of Mr Allen's manure been equal to that 

 of Mr Weston's he would have been entitled to 

 the first premium, but as it was not considered so 



by the Committee, they awarded the premiums as 

 published hist week. 



Ihrce claims were entered for the premiums 

 cillered for the best cultivated farm. But as nei- 

 ther of the claimants complied with the terms of 

 the offer in presenting their claims, they were all 

 rcjectiMl by the conunittee. 



In the hope of exciting a spirit o( emulation on 

 a subject intimately connected with the agricultu- 

 ral interest and general accommodation, the 'I'rus- 

 tces in 1825, offered a premium of $50 to the 

 town ill the county of Plymouth through which 

 the roads should be put in the best condition, and 

 most extensively bordered with usefid and orna- 

 mental trees in October 1835. The Selectmen 

 of the town of Scitiiate having duly entered a 

 claim in behalf of the inhabitants of said town, 

 the Chairman of the Committee on the 6th and 7th 

 of October last, examined the principal roads run- 

 ning through said town of Seituate. The roads 

 viewed appear to have been much improved within 

 the last ten years, by widening, straightening, re- 

 moving rocks, turnpiking, &c. nearly all the 

 bridges having been new built, widened and cov- 

 ered with stone and gravel, are now of convenient 

 width, the sides well secured by substantial rail- 

 ing supported by stone posts. Yet notwithstand- 

 ing the exertions made and the extensive improve- 

 ments effected, as the inhabitants (with very few 

 exceptions) have neglected to cultivate useful and 

 ornamental trees on the borders of the roads, the 

 committee feel relieved from the responsibility of 

 comparing the condition of the roads in the town 

 of Seituate with roads in other towns in the coun- 

 ty, and consider the Society released from their 

 obligation to pay the premium. 



All which is respectfully submitted. 



Isaac Alden. 



Bridgewater, Nov. 25, 1835. 



Kennebec Farming. — From the Report of the 

 Committee of the Kennebec County Agricultural 

 Society on corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c., it 

 appears that Abraham Pray, Jr. to whom was 

 awarded the first premium on corn, raised on one 

 acre, on which he spread 56 loads of manure and 

 ploughed it in, 108 bushels and 12 quarts. Row- 

 land B. Howard who obtained the second premium 

 on 2 acres of pasture land on which were put 20 

 loads of green nwnure and ploughed in, and 20 

 loads of hog, sheep and compost manure put into 

 the hills, raised 162 bushels. Amasa Tinkham who 

 obtained the third premium, on one acre of sandy 

 joam into which he harrowed 12 loads of green 

 manure and put 12 loads in the hills, raised 78 

 bushels corn, seven bushels pea beans and one 

 load of pum|ikins. There were several other 

 competitors, who though not so successful as the 

 above, fell but little short. The result of each 

 effort afforded a strong demonstration of the ad- 

 vantage of the farmer's proportioning his planting 

 ground to his btock of manure. If Mr Tinkham 

 had spread his 24 loads of manure on two acres, 

 which we believe would not have been a less lib- 

 eral manuring than is very common with the far- 

 mers in Maine, he would not have been more un- 

 fortunate than common to have obtained no more 

 than 60 bushels of corn, with nearly twice the 

 expense of labor. 



Leavit Lothrop 334 bushels wheat on an acre; 

 Mr Hankerson 33J bushels. Moses H. Metcalf 

 raised 24 bushels rye on one acre. Joshua Wing 

 on an acre and 149 rods, raised 70 bushels barley ; 



and Bradford Sawtcllc 495 bushels on ono acre 

 Jo.slum \\'ing on one acre 00 rods, raised 62i 

 bushels of peas and oats. Abraham Pray, Jr. 

 raised 584 bushels of good oats on one ai'ro. 



Considering that the last season was hardly a 

 favorable one for any kind of crops in Maine, the 

 above results are highly creditable to the agricul- 

 tural (•ommunity in the county of Kennebec. If 

 the same spirit of agricultural ambition and enter- 

 prise, which i)orvudos that flourishing county 

 could be excited throughout the State, Maine 

 would not long be less distignuished for her agri- 

 cultural prosperity and importance, than she al- 

 ready is for the richness of her forests, and her 

 natural commercial advantages and facilities for 

 manufactures. 



Prdning Apple Trees. — It is a common 

 practise to neglect, almost totally, apple orchards 

 after they have been planted ; and in consequence 

 of this neglect, the growth becomes crooked and 

 irregular — branches incline upon the ground, 

 and become so numerous and dense as almost 

 completely to shut out the sun and air, — they 

 become stunted, and often become covered with 

 moss, and the fruit small and of inferior quality. 



Moderate and judicious pruning would contrib- 

 ute essentially to prevent this evil, and even to 

 recover trees which have not too far advanced in 

 this unthrifty state ; but where they have long 

 existed without care, and have grown old and 

 become diseased, it is cheapest to remove them at 

 once, and plant young and vigorous ones in their 

 places. Doctoring diseased old trees is never to 

 l)e recommended, except they are of some favor- 

 ite, or choice variety, 



It is not advisable to prune very freely, but to 

 commence before the trees become very large, 

 and by a frequent and moderate trimming, pre- 

 vent the growth of a thick and crowded top. The 

 operation should be so performed that the straight 

 est and most thrifty branches may remain ; and 

 their distance asunder be such as freely to admit 

 light and air. 



In pruning, branches should be cut off as close- 

 ly as possible, provided it does not occasion too 

 broad a wound. Tlie place is then sooner cov- 

 ered with a new growth of wood. In general, 

 wounds more than an inch in diameter, should 

 be protected from air and moisture. !f not, they 

 become dry and crack, and let in the rain and 

 rot, or admit insects. Tar, mixed while heated 

 with a quantity of whiting or pounded chalk suf- 

 ficient to prevent its running, is an excellent ap- 

 plication. Or nearly the same jiurpose is effec- 

 ted if brick dust, or even fine sand, be substituted 

 for whiting. 



Pruning apple trees may be advantageously 

 performed any time during winter. — Gentsee 

 Farmer. 



Economy in Fuel. — There is a prodigious 

 waste of coal, occasioned by the width of the 

 opening in the grates, by which a large portion 

 of the heat escapes up the chimney. The best 

 remedy is a register so contrive<l as to diminish 

 the drail after the fire is ignited. A simple bar 

 of iron will answer the purpose of diminishing 

 the aperture, and any one who will take the trou- 

 ble of trying the experiment, will be astonished: 

 at the tiditional heat thro>vn into the room by one 

 of extraordinary thickness. A bar of iron that 

 will cost twenty-five cents, will produce twenty 

 per cent more heat. — Boston Traveller. 



