GRAIN CROPS. 63 



I claim that this variety has the following good qualities : 

 First, it is earlier than any variety with which I am acquainted, 

 and, for that reason, escapes the fly entirely ; second, it threshes 

 easily ; third, it is quite hardy ; fourth, the quality is equal if 

 not better than any other when milled, making a very white 

 and sweet flour. John B. Moore. 



CoNCOKD, Sept. 21, 1865.. 



Statement of S. Hosmer. 



Rye. — I present for inspection one bushel of winter rye, a 

 sample of 326 bushels, raised on my farm, this year, from 19 

 acres. I cut the wood and cleared 20 acres, in the winter of 

 1863-4 ; burnt the brush the 11th of August ; sowed the rye 

 the last of August and first of September ; sowed 18 bushels 

 on 20 acres. The land is uneven ; some knolls and low land. 

 About three quarters of an acre was covered with water so long, 

 in the spring, that it killed the rye. I cut up and sold 3,700 

 pounds of straw, when green, for braiding. The straw was 

 very long and stout ; it was stated by the editor of the " New 

 England Farmer" and others, who saw it, and those who har- 

 vested it, to be as handsome a field of rye as they ever saw. 



The land is a gravelly loam. I think, if we had had a plenty 



of rain at the time of sowing, we should have had a much 



larger yield. From my experience, I think early sowing is 



much the best, as the roots are larger and get stronger hold in 



the ground before the ground freezes, and forces the stalk faster 



in the spring, and the rye will be fit to cut earlier. 



Sam'l Hosmer. 

 , Acton, Sept. 15, 1865. 



MIDDLESEX NORTH. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



There were three pieces of corn entered for premiums, two 

 in Dracut and one in Chelmsford. The piece entered by Mr. 

 Sawyer was on dark, loamy interval land, back about one 

 hundred rods from the Merrimack River. The soil, naturally 

 moist, was well adapted to stand without disadvantage the long- 

 drought of the past season. This land having been ploughed iu 

 November, 1864, with Michigan double plough, nine inches deep, 



