188 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



did not come up well, and the next March I sowed clover, which 

 came up well, but not in season for a crop that year. The 

 other half acre being very rough, was not planted till this year. 



The trees numbered 104, of which I have lost only one, and 

 that by the borers. They are very plenty here and require 

 much attention. Potash is recommended by some to kill them, 

 but whether its constant use benefits the trees, I think is a 

 question. I have used strong soap suds to keep the bark smooth 

 and free from moss, until this year, when I washed them once 

 in ley aboat the 20th of June. I keep the weeds and grass 

 clear two or three feet around the roots, and the bark scraped 

 smooth. The borers are then easily discovered during the 

 months of August and September, and taken out with a sharp- 

 pointed knife, without injuring the trees. At this season of the 

 year they have not made much progress and are found near the 

 bark. If they are allowed to make their way far into the wood, 

 a small wire may be used to destroy tliem. 



As to my cultivation and crops, the manure was spread every 

 year at the rate of 15 loads to the acre, and I think I can safely 

 estimate the corn at 50 bushels and the potatoes at 100 bushels 

 yearly. In 1856, the crop of hay was 1-| tons of Timothy ; in 

 1857, 3 tons of clover at first cutting, and 2,500 pounds of second 

 crop. 



NoKTii Andover, September, 10, 1857. 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Statement of Moses Field. 



Previous to last winter, I gave some fifteen acres of exhausted 

 pasture land a dressing of one hundred pounds of plaster to 

 the acre. In the months of April, May and June, when I had 

 no other business in hand, I dressed fifty more acres at the same 

 rate. The last seems as efficient as the first dressing, the 

 abundant rains of tlie season having caused it to produce imme- 

 diate effect, as shown by the lively green grass of the dressed, 

 in contrast with the dull brown of the undressed pasture. My 

 experiment is important, not so much for its magnitude, as for 

 the importance of its principle. The reclaiming of our moun- 



