THE GENESEE FARMER 



171 



the last harvest an average of -42 bushels per acre, 

 which crop he had receutl}' sold at $2 a bushel; giv- 

 ing him St>4: per acre for the wheat of a single season. 

 Allowing $14 to cover every expense, and keep the 

 soil good, with the aid of the straw and the growth 

 of clover after harvest, and the net income per acre 

 is $70, or 7 per cent on a valuation of one thousand 

 dollars per acre! The six Xew England States put 

 together do not grow over two-thirds as much wheat 

 as one county in the Genesee Valley. 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE ESSEX COUNTY 

 (MASS.) AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR 1853. 



Essex County contains some of the most intelli- 

 gent and skillful farmers in the United States ; and we 

 always look to the annual Report of the doings of 

 its old and flourishing Agricultural Society with full 

 confidence that we shall find something both inter- 

 esting and instructive. We are indebted to the Hon. 

 JoHx W. Proctor for a copy for 1853 ; to whom, 

 with Messrs. Newel and Dodge, (the President and 

 Secretary of the Society,) Massachusetts is largely 

 indebted for her agricultural advancement. This 

 County Society expended last year $^82 in premiums 

 — a larger sum we believe than any other County 

 Society paid out in agricultural premiums. It has a 

 good library, open to all its members, and productive 

 funds to the amount of $9,336. Such an institution 

 is as useful to the public, as it is creditable to the 

 farmers of old Essex. Let the owners of the soil in 

 every county in the Union do likewise. 



Farmers in Massachusetts have to contend with a 

 generally barren soil, often overlaid with rocks and 

 stone, sometimes inundated Ijy swamps or springs, 

 and occasionally the land is a mass of compact 

 intractable clay. With all these evils Mr. Crosby 

 had to contend ; and with what cheerfulness and suc- 

 cess he apphed his energies to the task, the reader 

 may judge: 



Josiah Crosby's Statement. — " In calling your 

 attention to my farm, I feel some reluctance in conse- 

 quence of the veiy prevalent idea among farmers, that 

 none but lai-ge and decidedly model farms should be 

 considered worthy of a premium. But notwithstand- 

 ing this opinion, experience and observation have 

 taught me that small farms declare the largest relative 

 dividends, and in corroboration of this statement, I 

 could, if my limits would permit, cite many instances 

 of farms in this county, containing ten or twelve 

 acres, that are made to produce annually a larger net 

 mcome than others containing one hundred acres. 



"In conformity with these views, I have ventured 

 to offer my humble farm for a premium, destitute as 

 it is of all such pleasing associations as 'paternal 

 acres,' 'ancestral oaks,' or 'venerable mansions,' 

 handed down from former generations ; and I present 

 my claim only upon the ground that he is a benefactor 

 who makes two blades of gi-ass to grow, where but 

 one grew before. I will endeavor briefly to convince 

 you that this much I have done. 



" I purchased my farm in the spring of 1841 ; it 

 then contained about thirty acres, one half of which 

 was completely covered with bushes. My first move 

 was to commence an open warfare upon these * cuin- 



berers of the ground.' For awhile they resisted 

 manfully, and seemed to bid defiance to our attacks ; 

 but after a hard-fought battle, we found oureelves at 

 last in full possession of the field. This field is now 

 the best part of my farm, and is capable of producing 

 two tons of English hay to the acre ; but at the time 

 I commenced work upon it, it would not have afibrded 

 subsistence for a solitary cow. 



" The other half of the farm at the time of my 

 purchase, was a strong and rich, but cold soil, and for 

 want of sufficient draining and manuring, it produced 

 but scanty crops. It has been partially drained and 

 had a hberal supply of manure. It is now in a good 

 state of cultivation and produces large crops, but is 

 yet susceptible of great improvement. 



" I have made several additions to my first purchase, 

 and the farm now contains about sixty acres, all of 

 which (with the exception of sixteen acres of wood- 

 land) is in a high state of fertility, and with a little 

 additional di*aining and manuring, will compare favor- 

 ably with any similar number of acres in the county. 



"I have built a barn and cellar 56 by 38 feet, M'ith 

 sheds, carriage-house, piggery, poultry yards, &c., at- 

 tached, which have cost about $1,700 ; I have entirely 

 remodeled and repaired my dwelhng-house, at an ex- 

 pense of about $2,500; I have built a small gTcen- 

 house, with a cellar and well, for raising foreign varie- 

 ties of grapes, which has cost about $160 ; I have 

 made 200 rods of substantial stone wall, and have dug 

 350 rods of drains; I have set out about 300 fruit 

 trees, comprising the choicest varieties of apples, 

 pears, peaches, plums, cherries and apricots; I have 

 hauled at least 500 loads of sand a distance of a mile 

 and a quarter, which has been spread upon the laud, 

 and is now thoroughly incorporated with the soil, and 

 has changed the character of it, preventing it from 

 baking or cracking during severe drouths, and caus- 

 ing the crops to start much earlier in the spring; 1 

 have paid out in cash for manures about $500, and 

 have made various other minor improvements on the 

 farm. 



" But, as I have before stated, I do not enter my 

 farm for a premium on account of its magnitude, or 

 as being a model farm on a small scale; neither do I 

 claim any superior mode of cultivation, but simply on 

 the ground that I have taken it in a miserably dilap- 

 idated and worn-out condition, and have put it in such 

 a state that it mil compare favorably with a majority 

 of the farms in our county. 



" The following statement will show the compara- 

 tive condition of the farm when purchased, and as it 

 now is: 



Produce of Elm Vale Farm in 1841, say about five tons of 

 hay, worth $75 00 



Produce of the tame for the year 1853. 



25 tons English hay, at $20, $500 00 



3 " Squashes, at $40, 120 00 



25 bushels Onions, at 60 cents, 15 00 



350 " Potatoes, at $10, 360 00 



2500 heads Cabbages, at 60 cents, 15 00 



60 bushels Oats, at 60 cents, 36 00 



40 bushels Corn, at $1, 40 00 



25 barrels Apples, at $3 75 00 



Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Melons, Green Corn and Peas, 36 00 



Cherries, Pears, Peaches, Quinces, &c .• 26 00 



Pork fatted mostly upon milk and refuse potatoes, and 



apples, 90 06 



Celyes 18 00 



1 $1,464 00 



