Vol. IX.— No. 33. 



AND IIOllTICULTUllAL JOURNAL. 



261 



m of S-iO ("or his crop ot" barley, being about 48 

 usiids the aero. 



tlic Tnistei'S of tlio Miiss:iclicisell5 Ajriculmral Socitly. 



Gr.NTLEMKX — The foUowiiii; production of one 

 :re one half aiul eighteen roils of land, eulti- 

 itc<l with barley, the ii!i«t se.nson, by the snb- 

 riber. on his farm in West Briiliiewator, is offer 



turnips for the successful culture of wliich, the 

 sheep (100) were nightly folded, for two pre- 

 vious years, after the hay crop wn:-: taken off. 

 The rye stubble was turned under immediately 

 after reaping that crop. Tlic process for prepar- 

 ing the ground for the Potato crop was as follows, 

 vi/. In May 1830, fifty cart-loails, 33 bu,«li(ls 



i for the Society's premium. The soil is a dark each, of mifermenteil shee[) and other manure, 

 ch loam, pretly free from stones, and somewhat { was evenly spread on and immediately ploughed 

 iclining to moisture. A part of it, in 1829, was 1 '" 10 inches deep, furrows struck tliree feet each 



Itivated with Indian corn, having been mamircd 



the rate of about eight common cart loads to 

 e acre ; the rest was cultivated two seasons sue- 

 ssivoly previous to the past, with potatoes; 

 ceiving each year, at the rate of about 15 loads 



manure. The crop of corn was estimated at 

 ) bushels to the acre; that of potatoes, in 1829, 

 somt'tbing near 400 bushels. In April last, it 

 is twice ploughed with alight plough, and about 

 cart loads of coarse manure from the barn 

 nilows, were drawn on, spread, and harrowed 

 About the first of May it was sown with bar- 



at the rate of about three bushels to the acre, 

 d with grass seed, which also were ploughed 

 d hrurowed in. The crop was mown and got 



in .luly, and was threshed out in September 

 th tuo horses, in less than two days. It was 

 1 with a machine, and measured 78 bushels 

 d one peck of clean handsojue barley. 



Benj. B. Howard. 



RYE. 



9. To Mr Richard Adams, Jr, of Newbury, $2 



the premium on winter rye — being SSJ bush- 

 on an acre. 



of tile Blnssachiisetta Agriculturol Society. 

 jE.MTi.EME.'V — Agreeably to the directions of 



Trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 ;iety, requiring each claimant to state the quali- 

 jf the land, its previous product, &c, I submit 



following, in support of my claims for the So- 

 ;y's premium for niisiug the greatest quantity of 



on an acre the present year. The soil is a yel- 

 ■ loaiii ; the season of 1829 it was cidtivated 

 h white beans without any manure, which pro- 

 •ed aliout 25 bushels. The September follow- 

 , (after the crop was harvested) the ground was 

 uglied and five pecks of rye was sowed and 

 rowed in. The April following, there was 

 ;ad on the same about ninety busliels of leach- 

 ishes. It was reaped and threshed in July, 



the produce was 38 bushels and three pecks, 

 straw I sold, which weighed more than two 



. The labor done on the above crop was, as 

 will see, nothing e.\tra except the dressing 

 11 aslies. 



Yours respectfully, 



Richard Adajis, Jr. 

 ^Teicbwij, Xov. 1, 1830. 



POTATOES. 



To Mr Payson Williiuns, of Fitchburjr, an 

 customer from the Comity of Worcester, -920 

 his crop of potatoes — about 570 bushels to an 



iuee on AsricuUural Product?. 

 fersTLEiiE.v — As a claimant for the premium 

 red by the trustees of the Massachusetts Ag- 



Itural Society for the largest crop of Potatoes 

 ivn on the acre the present season, I will state, 



the ground on which my crop was grown, in 



way at right angles. Tweutyfive bushels of the 

 River of Plate Reds and Philadelphia Blues, were 

 used for seed ; the reds planted whole, one in a 

 hill ; tlie blues split in two pieces, which also seed- 

 eil a hill ; the planting finished the last of May. 

 The plants had two good hoeings; the last when 

 in the bud, the plants or stalks being ten inches in 

 height. The harvesting finished the last of Oc- 

 tober. The amount of the potato crop was by 

 careful measurement, six hundred and eighteen 

 liuslnds on an acre and fourteen and a half one 

 hundred and sixtieths [larts of au acre. Also had 

 on a part of the field about 1000 lbs. crook neck- 

 ed and West Inilia squashes, jilanted in every oth- 

 er hill and every other row, wliere the potato seed 

 was wholly left out. The land is probably good 

 enough to produce a much larger crop when the 

 season is congenial to the culture of the Potato. 

 The past season has been too wet and cold, even 

 for this hardy vegetable. 



Yours, &c. 



P. Williams. 



EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION. 



50 loads manure, the proportion drawn by the Po- 

 tato crop- probably not more than 50 per cent, 

 at $1 per load $25 00 



Carting the same and spreading 5 00 



Ploughing in the manure 4 00 



Labor in planting 5 00 



25 bushels of seed at 2 shillings 8 33 



Two hoeings 9 00 



Harvesting the crop, say 20 days' work, at 



4 shillings. 13 50 



gard, and one great object of the Society is to eli- 

 cit the opiinons of observing farmers for the pub- 

 lic good. Perhaps some one will ntteni|)t to show 

 the difference in labor, as to planting corn and po- 

 tatoes, by dunging in the hill or otherwise. It is 

 a question which needs to be settled. 



mm^ usij^aaiisra) a^iiasasjaa 



BOSTO.\, VVEDNEiDAY EVENING, MARCH 2,1831. 



$69 83 

 In reading Mr Williams' account of his fine 

 crop of jjotatoes, our farmers are requested to no- 

 lice that the manure was spread over the ground 

 instead of being put in the hill in the common 

 way. If using manure at broad cast will give as 

 good a crop of potatoes or corn as putting it in the 

 bill, will it not be a great saving of labor, and at 

 the same time, place the manure more equally on 

 the ground ? No process in farming seems more 

 slow and tedious than dunging out in the hill. It 

 is hoped that this statement of Mr Williams, who 

 has always appeared before this society as a very in- 

 telligent and successful farmer, will bring out some 

 remarks from practical men on this subject. It 

 will be seen that Mr Ware, of Salem, planted this 

 year, in the same way, both corn and potatoes. 

 Among our New England crops, none are so gene- 

 ral, or more important, than corn and ])Otatoes, 

 and if a more economical mode of raising them, 

 as regards labor, can be found out, it will be a 

 great public benefit. Mr Williams used a great quan- 

 tity of manure, it is true, — perhaps twice or three 

 times as much as is usual among farmers, — and his 

 land was in good condition before; but then he 

 intimates, and seemingly with reason, that, owing 

 es to the morning sun, is of a deep reddish I to its being spread and ploughed in, not more than 



tn, somewhat rocky. In 1829, an abundant ! half its strength was drawn out by the potato 

 ) of winter rye was taken from it, preceded by crop. All experiments of this kind deserve re- 



FARMER'S WORK FOR MARCH. 



Cattle should be liberally su|)|)lied with food 

 from this time till they can be turned to grass. 

 As straw and hay become drier than they were in 

 the fore part of the winter the supply should be 

 greater, and the quantity of roots which you give 

 them had better be increased than diminished. 

 Potatoes are better food for breeding ewes than 

 turnips, which it is said are apt to injine the 

 hunbs. 



Dress with stable, compost, hog-pen or such 

 other well rotted manure as you have, such grass 

 ground as you have neglected in autumn ; three 

 loads now may be equal to two then ; but it is best 

 to secure a good crop even now. Your winter 

 grain should now be dressed with plaster, if it was 

 neglected at seed time ; your mowing grounds 

 which are upon a dry soil, will pay you well for a 

 bushel or two of plaster, or a few bushels of lime 

 or leached ashes to the acie. 



Your orchards continue to claim your attention 

 — give to each tree a top dressing of your best 

 chip, stable, or compost manure ; your fruit will 

 richly repay, besides the extra profits upon your 

 grass under your trees, whether mowing or pas- 

 ture, together with the growth of your trees. 



Look to your water courses, and change their 

 direction to receive the benefit of the spring rains ; 

 the frequent changing of your water courses will 

 render your mowing even, and prevent one part 

 from becoming rank, and lodging before the other 

 part is fit to cut, and thus turn to your best profit, 

 that which if neglected wotdd become waste and 

 damage. 



Do not jiermit the carcases of dead animals, 

 such as lambs, cats, &c, to contaminate your pre- 

 mises, and poison its inhabitants. When domes- 

 ticated animals die, it is the common |)ractice to 

 let theni rot above the ground. This is sm-e to an- 

 noy the neighborhood. If the stench from the 

 animal be too distant to contaminate the air, dogs 

 are fond of carrion, and after they have gorged 

 themselves with it, become insufferable inmates to 

 the families to which they belong. The dead ani- 

 mal should be laid on a thick layer of earth, 

 and well covered with the same material. After 

 the covering has sunk in, and the earth has ab- 

 sorbed the animal matter, the compost will not be 

 more offensive than slaughter-house dung, provid- 

 ed a sufficiency of earth has been employed. 

 They shoidd be hauled to the field during winter 

 and ploughed under as soon as frost will permit. 

 The same should also be done when night soil is 

 used. 



Sir Humphry Davy, observed that 'Manures 

 from animal substances in general require no pre- 

 paration to fit them for the soil. The great ob- 

 ject of the farmer is to blend them with earthy 

 constituents in a jjroper state of division, and to 

 prevent their too rapid decomposition. 



The entire parts of the muscles of land animals 



