170 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



pliatc of lime in each hill for manure. The crops were good 

 and entirely free from rot. The black Chenango potato has 

 always been free from rot on my grounds. 



Of fruit, I am not able to speak with satisfaction. The apple 

 trees upon my farm were many of them old and decayed when 

 I came here. In attempting to graft and restore them, several 

 were destroyed. I have set out apple, pear and peach trees, 

 but they have not answered my expectations, and probably have 

 not been treated rightly. I do not believe that the soil in this 

 vicinity is peculiarly adapted to the growth of fruit trees ; and 

 I know that more attention is requisite to their successful 

 growth, than I have been able to bestow upon them. 



I have accumulated, every year, large quantities of manure 

 from the barn cellar, the yard, and the hogsty. My custom 

 has been to cover the bottom of each with peat mud, and to 

 add, at different times, sods, loam, sand and litter. j\Iy cattle 

 are yarded at night, in the summer, and housed, l)oth day and 

 night, in the winter. In the barn they are bedded, most of the 

 time, upon sand, which serves to keep them free from lice, 

 absorbs the liquid and adds materially to the contents of the 

 cellar and the manure heap. Part of my hogs have constant 

 access to the barn cellar, and the rest are supplied with sub- 

 stances which are quickly converted into useful manure. The 

 horse-stable is directly over that part of the cellar occupied by 

 the hogs, and all the manure from it is worked over by 

 them. 



I have kept, on the average, ten milch cows, a bull, a yoke of 

 working oxen, four or five young cattle, and two horses. I have, 

 for many years, raised all my neat stock, — selecting the best 

 calves from the best progenitors. I have never experienced any 

 difficulty in raising them, and have always found that they were 

 quiet and orderly, and would thrive well in a locality with 

 which they are familiar, and where they are at home. 



I had almost forgotten to speak of the sugar cane, of which I 

 raised a small quantity. The experiment was made in accord- 

 ance with the directions of those who were familiar with the 

 cultivation of the plant. The cane grew very slowly, but finally 

 reached a height of eight or ten feet. The quantity was large 

 for the ground which it occupied. But after a fair trial, I am 



