assacillsetts society for promoting 

 agriculture:. 



OATS. 

 To tlio Trustees of lUo Mussacluisetts Society for 



tlio Promotion of Agriculture : 



The imacrsigiieil, John Smitti, of Westmin- 

 ter, it. the county of Worcester, presents himself 



a canilidulo for the Society's premium fo^ the 

 iillowiuit crop of oats, to .wit : — He found upon 

 is farm in Westminster, which was purchased 

 hout one year since, and of which he took pos- 

 ession early in April last, a plot of ground, con- 

 linifi}; one acre and twenty square rods of land, 

 1 which the occupant of the form had raised the 

 •eccding season Indian corn, and which was left 



hills, not having hci-n ploughed since the corn 

 as harvested. This plot of ground was ploughed 

 y the subscriber about the 20th April last, and 

 gain ploughed the last of April, and sowed the 

 rst of May last, with six bushels of oats harrow- 

 1. No manure was carried upon the piec^ 

 le present year. The oats were harvested about 

 5th August, and in September threshed and 

 leasured.and the amount of the crop was ninety 

 ine and three fourths bushels of oats raised upon 

 le above-named plot of ground. 



The said plot of ground is a swell of land run- 

 ing north and south, and the oats were heavier, 

 nd the straw more bright, on the side of the field 

 itching towards the west. The expense is as 

 )llows, viz : 

 'loughing twice, harrowing and sowing, . $5 



[arvesting, 3 



'hrcshing, 5 



eed, six bushels, 3 



vol.. XIV.no. 37. 



AJND GARDENER'S .lOURNAI.. 



293 



BAULEY. 

 To the Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for 



the Promotion of Agriciiltiu-e : 



The subscriber represents, — That upon a piece 

 of land containing the quantity irientioned in the 

 annexed certificate of survey, by Samuel Lee, he 

 raised two hundred and twentysix bushels of 

 Barley, and he in.ikes the following statements in 

 conformity with the conditions contained in the 

 Society's advertisement, vi/ : — 



1st. Condition of the land in the spring of 

 1835. 



Corn was raised upon it in 1S34. 



2rid. Product and general state of cultivation 

 and quality of manure used upon it in the year 

 1834. 



380 bushels of corn were raised upon the land 

 in 1834 ; and two rows of potatoes were planted 

 quite round the piece. 110 loads of clear manure 

 (not compost) were applied to the land in 1834. 



3d. No maiuire the present season. 



4th. 15 bushels upon the entire piece. 



5th. Sowed first week in May ; harvested se- 

 cond week in August ; amount of the product, 

 226 bushels ; expense of cultivation, including 

 labor of men and cattle, in ploughing, sowing, 

 ploughing in, and reaping, and getting into the 

 barn, about $15,00 ; without expense of harvest- 

 ing, $7,50. 



Dated at Barre, the twenty ninth day of Novem- 

 ber, A. D. 1835. Henry Sprague. 



Barre, JVov. 29, 1835. 

 Personally appeared Henry Sprague and Albert 

 H. Sprague, employed upon the farm of said 



to drink more than what is really con<lncivo to 

 health. It is well known, that if we refrain from 

 drinking for some ten or thirty minutes after eat- 

 ing, uuich of the sensation of thirst will pass 

 away, — the fluids of the stomach supplying most 

 of the nc'eded moisture. 'Ibis is nifire especially 

 so if the mastication has been slow and complete. 

 Cattle, immediately afler swallowing their half 

 m.isticated portion of dry fodder, must doubtless 

 have a strong thirst, leading them to drink more 

 than is necessary. If they are watered before 

 eating they will drink no more than the general 

 state of the system requires. It is the practice 

 with many farmers to water in the evening before 

 and in the morning after foddering. This brings 

 two dry meals to succeed each other. 'Ibis prac- 

 tice cannot be correct. It seems to me, therefore, 

 that when stock are fed on dry fodder, aiid watered 

 twice a day, convenience and reason unitedly 

 demand that watering should be done the first 

 thing in the morning, and at the time of foddering 

 in the evening. And yet this is not the practice 

 among mankind. We all drink during and im- 

 mediately after eating. I wish the scientific, and 

 those who have experience, would favor the public 

 with information on this subject. S. F. 



Feb. 1836. 



Use of Tea and Coffee. — The above subject 

 suggests a doubt concerning the propriety of using 

 these drinks. If the nutriment of our food de- 

 pends much on the saliva being well united with 

 it, and on its being conveyed to the stomach in 

 this condition, it would seem as though the fre- 

 quent sipping of these drinks rendered the saliva 

 of comparatively no use. How contrary to nature 



Total, . . . . $16 

 The product and general state of cultivation, 

 nd quantity of manure used upon the above 

 arned piece of land the preceding year, cannot 

 e particularly given by the subscriber, as be only 

 ame into possession of the farm the last spring. 

 le has no doubt, however, but that the quantity 

 f manure used and the state of cultivation the 

 ireceding year, were of the ordinary quantity and 

 ind. He has already stated that no manure was 

 sed the present season on the above piece of 

 ,ind. John Smith. j 



Westminster, JVov. 14, 1835. 



i, William Hadley, of Westminster, do hereby 

 ertify that I witnessed the measurement of the 

 •ats which were raised on the above-named one 

 .ere and twenty rods of land, and the whole crop 

 bat I witnessed amounted to ninetyeight bushels 

 ind three pecks of oats, and I was told by a 

 leighbor that he had previously taken out of the 

 iame lot of oats one bushel. Wm. Hadley. 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts ; Worcester, ss. 

 ■Vol'. 14, 1835. Then the above-named John 

 Smith and William Hartley personally appeared, 

 ind made oath that the preceding statements by 

 hem severally submitted were true. 



Before me, Ebenezer Torrey, J. P. 



This certifies that I, P. F. Cowdin being sworn 

 Surveyor of the town of Fitchburg, and county of 

 Worcester, have this day measured a piece of 

 ground for John Smith, of Westminster, in said 

 ;ounty, being the same tjn which Oats grew the 

 present season and find it to contain one acre and 

 twenty rods and no more. P. F. Cowdin. 



Westminster, Oct. 21, 1835. 



Henry, and made oath to the truth of the within Joes it appear for a young lady to take into the 



Nath'l Houghton, J. P. 



Barre, JVov. 27, 1835. 

 I hereby certify, that at the request of Capt. 

 Henry Sjirague, of Barre, I measured his field, 

 on which he raised Barley the present year, and 

 found said field to contain four acres and seventy 

 four square rods, accurately measured by me. 

 Samuel Lee, Surveyor. 



(For the New England Farmer.) 

 RVRAl. AFFAIRS. 



Butter in Winter. — There is much general 

 complaint in reference to the difficulty of churn- 

 ing in winter, and also to the quality of the butter. 

 Moderate winter weather is unfavorable to butter 

 making ; the cream being so long in rising that 

 the butter acquires a bitter taste. The method 

 pursued in my family is, to warm the basin into 

 which the milk is strained, and then immediately 

 set it where it will freeze moderately hard as soon 

 as possible. The act of congelation causes all the 

 cream to rise ; which is, in a tin basin, oiten near 

 three fourths of an inch thick. With one of 

 Spain's churns, (sold by H. Huxley & Co. New 

 York,) butter is generally obtained in ten to twenty 

 five minutes. By feeding the cows partly on tur- 

 nips, the butter is as yellow, and possesses a flavor 

 noways inferior to that made in sumfner. 



Feb. 1836. S. F. 



Watering Live Stock before Foddering. — 

 I would wish to inquire, Mr Editor, through the 

 New Fingland Farmer, if watering horses and 

 cattle, before giving them fodder is more condu- 

 cive to health than afterwards. While, and imme- 

 diately after, eating, many people feel a disposition 



stomach two or three cups of these liquids with 

 only two or three ounces of bread ! How rational 

 to expect numerous pains and diseases as the con- 

 sequence ! When we think of the quantities of 

 beer, cider, wine, spirituous liquors, tea and coffee, 

 that are taken into the stomachs of civilized 

 people, we should conclude that the tendency of 

 civilization was to convert mankind into drinking 

 animals. • S. F. 



Feb. 1836. 



Cutting Clover Hay green, — On the 22d and 

 23d of June last, I began cutting clover. It was 

 very green ; and although it cured slow, owing to 

 the coolness of the weather, I carted some of it 

 into the barn the same day, and the rest the two 

 succeeding days. It was thrown lightly on the 

 mow and nwderately salted. In about ten days 

 it had become considerably heated, and some of 

 it turned blackish. In this state it w.as removed 

 to another mow, and suft'cred for a while to lie 

 without pi:essing down. Other hay was afterwards 

 mowed on it. Having occasion, within a few 

 days, to remove this clover hay, I was surprised 

 to find it in excellent order, having a bright color. 

 Horses and cows e.it it well. When removed 

 from the first mow it was smoky and dusty. But 

 now no signs of either. S. F. 



Feb. 18, 1836. 



Rice Flour. — Among the many uses of rice i* 

 that for washing hands. It is of a gritty nature, 

 between fine sand and Indian meal ; answering a. 

 most excellent purpose to cleanse and soften the 



skin. S. F. 



Peter the Great, though an energetic public n 

 former, was himself a drunbmrd and a murdc fer. 



