214 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Statement of Edward Smith. 



The acre upon wliicli I raised my wheat is a heavy soil, lying 

 on a clay subsoil. The crop of 1855 was potatoes, with ten 

 loads of compost. The crop of 1856, was corn, with twenty 

 loads of barnyard manure. In 1857, it was ploughed twice, 

 six inches deep. Two bushels of coffee wheat were sown May 

 13th, without manure. The seed was soaked in brine contain- 

 ing two quarts of salt, for twenty-four hours. 



Cost of preparing the land, 



seed, ...... 



harvesting, .... 



Product, 21| bushels, f^2, 



about 1 ton of straw. 



$34 00 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Statement of John Montague. 



The land on which I raised my wheat lies on the bank of the 

 Connecticut River, and measured one acre. The soil is a sandy 

 loam. The ground produced two crops of clover, one in 1855, 

 and one in 1856. On the 27th of August I ploughed the land, 

 and on the first of September sowed two bushels of wdieat, 

 which had previously been soaked in strong brine for thirty-six 

 hours. The wheat was stout on the ground, and the berry 

 large and plump. I applied no fertilizers at all to the soil at 

 the time, nor after sowing. Crop, 36 bushels. 



Value of crop : — 



Sold for seed, 11^ bushels, at |2.25, . . $26 121 



The remainder, 24^ bushels, at $2, . . 49 00 



Straw, valued at 10 00 



121 



