80 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUl^. 



4 



WORCESTER NORTH. 



Statement of D. H. Merriam. 



Onions. — The ground selected for the onion field lies on River 

 Street, in Fitchburg, about three feet above the Nashua River, 

 and contains three acres. It has the appearance of having been, 

 at some time, overflowed by the river. It is nearly level, and 

 the soil is a sandy loam from one to three feet deep. It had 

 been in grass for eight years, since it had been ploughed, and 

 nothing put on it during that time except one hundred and 

 fifty bushels of ashes. 



In the fall of 1864, the Worcester North Agricultural Society 

 ploughed about two-thirds of the ground from six to twelve 

 inches deep, and the remainder was ploughed six inches deep, 

 and late in December I put on to one acre fourteen cords of 

 slaughter-house and common barn manure, and left it in heaps 

 of one cartload in a place, and in March, 1865, 1 put on to the 

 other two acres twenty-six cords of mixed manure, consisting of 

 horse, hog, slaughter-house and cow manure, of about equal 

 parts. In the last week in March I spread the manure over 

 the entire lot and harrowed the ground, both ways, with a culti- 

 vator harrow, which moved the ground about thrae inches deep, 

 and covered the manure. I then picked off all the stone found 

 upon the land, and removed all sods that had been disturbed by 

 the harrowing, and placed them in rows about forty feet apart, 

 and running from north to south. These rows of sods and 

 coarse manure, that was unrotted, occupied about five feet in 

 width, and in all about one-half of an acre of land. Upon these 

 rows of sods and waste manure, I raised 1,250 cabbages, 120 

 bushels of tomatoes and 600 pounds of squashes. 



I raked the ground thoroughly with wood and iron rakes, and 

 levelled the same, as nearly as could be, for the onion beds, and 

 on the 14th day of April, I sowed one acre of the ground to 

 onions, and in one week from that time, sowed one acre more, 

 and on the 25th day of April, I sowed the remainder, using in 

 all eighteen and one-half pounds of seed. I was twelve hours in 

 sowing the seed on the three acres, in rows one foot apart, with 

 one of Harrington's seed-sowers, which put the seed in about 

 one-half an inch and rolled the ground by a roller attached to 

 the same. I weeded the onions three times ; once in May, once 



