276 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



March 16, 1831. 



REPORTS 



ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY IN 1830 



Continued from page 269. 

 ERASTCS ware's STATEMENT. 

 TotheComniilleoof llio Essex AgriciiUural Socieiy on Farms. 

 Ge.ntlemen — The farm known by the name 

 of the Pick man farm, of which the subscrib- 

 er is at present, and has been tenai't for nearly 

 eleven years, is situated in tJie soullioasterly part 

 of Salem, and contains four hundred and twenty-' 

 eight acres, of pasturage, tillage, and mowing-. 

 The pasturage includes about three hnndved acres 

 much broken, of every description from wet pond 

 holes to barren rocks. No attempts have been 

 made to ijnprove this pasture other than clearing 

 the bushes and draining some low parts, as there 

 is no prospect of a remuneration for such labor. 

 The amount of land under tillage, the present 

 year, has been about twentyone acres, and the 

 amount of upland or English mowijig, is sixty- 

 three acres. Of the tillage and mowing lands, a 

 considerable part consists of thin gravelly soil, of 

 better than a medium rpiality, and favorable to 

 most grain crops: and another part consists of 

 a clayey soil, resting on a clay pan, retentive of 

 moisture and yielding good crops of grass and 

 potatoes under liberal manuring and cultivation. 

 The farm is well watered. Much of the mowing 

 and tillage, in the spring of the year, would na- 

 turally be overflowed ;so that much labor has been 

 necessary to prepare and lay it down to grass in 

 beds, that the water may be carried offin drains. 

 Some of the most pro.luctive grass land on the 

 place has Vieen in this way reclai.ned from an un- 

 . profitable marsh or swamp, and made to yield 

 very large crops of English grass. Wo have no 

 land on tlie place which is irrigated by any artifi- 

 cial process. There is of wet meadow land not 

 more than five acres, which is never tilled, but 

 drained and yields good stock hay. We have of 

 salt marsh thirtynine acres, generally yielding 

 good crops of black grass. This is ditched, from 

 which well known advantages arise ; but no other 

 labor is expended, other than taking the crop. 

 Of the cultivated land the present year, — 



Five and a half acres were sown with Barley, — ■ 

 About seven acres were sown with Indian corn, 

 Four and three fourths acres with Potatoes, 

 One acre with Mangel Wurtzel, — 

 One third of an acre with Onions, — 

 And one half of an acre with crook-necked 

 winter Squashes. 



S!nall parcels were cultivated with garden veg- 

 etables for the family, and su])ply for the retail mar- 

 ket, the ))ro(luce of which 1 cannot conveniently 

 account for. 



Many ofthe mangel wurtzel plants were destroy- 

 ed by worms, and their places supplied by rutabaga. 

 The manure used on the place, has bemi prin- 

 cipally made by the stock ke))t on it. I have 

 carted into my barn yard bog mini, damaged hay, 

 and obtained from the neighboring beaches, sea 

 wreck and eel-grass, which I put in my hog styes, 

 — Kelp, rock weed, &c. which I put directly on 

 the grass land. For small grain crops no itianure 

 is applied liy me, on the year of their being sown, 

 unless the land is very wet and cold. 



My Barley was raised on ground, on which 

 the preceding year I had a very good crop of 

 Chenango potatoes, which I manured with coarse 



manure spread and ploughed under the sward, j 

 My Indian corn this year, contrary to my usual 

 practice, was raised on land which was planted 

 the preceding year with Indian corn — spreading! 

 and ploughing under coarse manure both years. 

 But the sward being .so completely bound with j 

 twitchgrass 1 could not subdue it in one year. 1 have 

 found a crop which shades the ground most per- 

 fectly is the most effectual in destroying the twitch- 

 grass — and this was an inducement to plant corn : 

 a second time, in drill rows, anil 1 have thereby 

 effected my object in destroying that pernicious 

 root. My corn was' raised on a gravelly soil, as 

 before described. In the former part of the 

 season it appeared small, but it afterwards grew 

 wilh great promise until a severe gale in August 

 blew it down, so that it was necessary to cut it up 

 green, and shock it in the field till it was dry. The 

 crop was much injured, but I was satisfied fliat 

 cutting it up green was my best way. 



My potatoes, except a few raised on the bor- 

 ders of some of the fields, were raised on ground 

 newly broken up, and the manure, at the rate of 

 eight or nine cords per acre, taken from the barn 

 yard, cO:nposed of litter and the deposits of the 

 cattle, was spread and ploughed under the sod. 

 The soil, on which the potatoes grew, was moist 

 anil clayey. The potatoes were ploughed, and 

 hoed twice, and harrowed once between the rows, 

 — the seed, of the Chenango kind, of excellent 

 quality. 



The corn was hoed three times, but not hilled 

 as has been customary ; and upon a comparison 

 of that not hilled, with a small piece, which was 

 in some degree hilled, after a severe gale, I am 

 satisfied that no advantage is gained by hilling 

 as was formerly practised. My opinion is that ■ 

 there is no benefit derived by hilling corn, — and 

 corn raised on aflat surface, when the weeds are 

 destroyed and the ground kept loose, is by no 

 means so likely to sufler by the drought, or to 

 have its roots impeded in the search after their 

 pro|)er nutrimeiu, as where the ground is drawn 

 up round the stalk in a high and steep hill. 



The manure applied to my other crops was of 

 the best kind I could procure, and applied nearly 

 as can be ascertained at the rate of about ten 

 cords to ihe acre; for crops of potatoes and In- 

 dian corn, my experience leads me to apply my 

 manure spread green and fresh, believing that by 

 so doing its strength is best preserved and mucli 

 labor saved. 



For smaller crops, and tap rooted plants, I pre- 

 fer manure that is fine and well rotted. 



The amount of crops raised this season on the 

 farm is as follows — 



and supply for retail in ihe market, since the fi 

 of .August wilh some tiMiit vvliich has been tak 

 while growing and ripening, so that I cannot gi 

 an accurate account of the amount. 



The severe gale in August vejy much injur 

 the cro|)s of corn ; shook from the trees, ni 

 hundred bushels of unripe apples, which we 

 partly mamiraetured to very little advantage ini 

 cider, and lessened much the expected profits 

 the orchard. 



Ofibe above crops, ihe grain, vegetables, til 

 fruit are of nearly correct ineasurement ; il 

 amount of hay is given by as accurate e 

 mate, in each load, ascoidd be made by an exa 

 rienced and disinleiested individual. 



The hay on the farm is generally a mixture 

 herds-grass and red-top, with some clover 

 amount of seed used in laying down land 

 grass is a peck and half of herds-grass and tl 

 pecks of red-top to an acre. There is usu 

 enough of clover seed in the manure, and it ci 

 not be sowed to advantage in rich moist lam 

 When I sow grass seed in the spring Isowbaili 

 with the grass seed. I have been very successfi 

 in laying down land to grass in the fall, after tal 

 ingacrop of potatoes, in which case nothing hi 

 grass seed is sown. 



The number of bearing trees on the farm 

 as follows: — Of Apple trees (almost all engrafte 

 and many wilh very choice fruit) mostly youii 

 703 — Pear trees, 65 — Cherry trees cultivated, 5i 

 In addition, 1 have a nursery containing 30(1 

 trees — most of which have been engrafted orbm 

 (led. Of the ai)ple-trees, some of them are in oi 

 chards, of which the ground about the rools is cu 

 tivated, and occasionally manured, when the coi 

 diliou of the tree requires it ; others are plantr ' 

 by stone walls ; and all of them are annnally pnii 

 ed. In the choice of kinds of apples, rcgar 

 should be had to the use they are wanted for. ] f 

 for tiie market or your own table, I vvouhl recoai r 

 mend the Ribslone Pippin, Spilzenbefg; S/iice Peat ' 

 main, jVonpareil. For elegant and deliglnfnl ear ' 

 ly winter apples, in ealiiig in Ociober and No 

 vember, the Pickman P())pin (a name that w 

 have adopted not being able to trace its origin be 

 yond lliis farm) will compare well with any othei 

 ajiple vviihin my knowledge. The trees are ofi 

 thrifiy growth, and handsome form. We consi- 

 der this one of our most jirofitable apples for culti j 

 vation. The Mamniolh Pippin is valuable for id (^ 

 superior size only. L 



There are two Barns on the place, one 100 L' 

 feet in length and 35 feet in breadth, the oJier r* |i 

 cently built, 114 feet in length and 42 in width, n 

 In the laller the milch cows are commonly kept |. 

 It has a cellar under the whole, the main part of | 

 which is for manure and receives all ihe deposiS > 

 of the cattle. — A portion of this cellar is enclosed {j 



for the storing of fruit and vegetables The .ham || 



has a floor through ihe whole length. The cat- jj 

 lie are |)rincipally placed on one sl<lc, and the \\ 

 hay comes to the floor on the other. The centre '% 

 Over the floor from scaftbid height is at last filled » 

 to the ridge. The barns are ikot large enough fof n 

 storing all the hay, and considerable quantities aW ji 

 necessarily kept in stacks out of doors. 



The live stock kept on ihe place are as follows: 

 — O.'ccn, 6 — Cows, 50— Heifers, 5— Bull 1— 

 Horses, 3 — Fauing swine, 9 — The weight of | 

 pork fatted is not yet ascertained, as the hofi I 

 liave not been killed — but the average weight pf | 

 my swine, last year, was about 300 lbs. eact»— 



