GRAIN CROPS. 129 



loam, in grass, without manure, in 1867 and 1868 ; forty loads, 

 of thirty bushels each, of manure from the barn cellar ploughed 

 ill seven inches deep in May, 1869 ; the ground harrowed and 

 furrowed out in rows about three feet apart ; planted. May 10, 

 with Whitman corn, putting about ten bushels of hen-manure 

 and ashes, in equal parts, in the hills ; cultivated and hoed 

 three times ; harvested about November 1. Product, computed 

 from an average rod, ninety-five bushels ; stover valued at $12. 

 Expenses : ploughing and harrowing, $6 ; manure, 140 ; seed 

 and planting, 13.50 ; cultivation, $10 ; harvesting, |7 ; total, 

 166.50. Value of crop, 1130.75 ; profit, $64.25. 



James Howard, of West Bridgewater. One acre of stiff, 

 heavy loam, with clayey subsoil, wet and springy ; in grass, 

 without manure, in 1867 ; in corn in 1868, manured with forty 

 loads, of thirty bushels each, of barn cellar compost, ploughed 

 in, December, 1868 ; forty-five loads of compost ploughed in, 

 seven inches deep, in April, 1869, and mixed with the soil by 

 using a Ross horse-hoe, and two hundred and thirty pounds of 

 ground bone, composted with ashes, put in the hills ; planted 

 May 13, in rows three and one-half feet apart, the hills sixteen 

 inches apart in the rows, putting two kernels of corn in each 

 hill ; on one-third of the piece early yellow corn, on the other 

 two-thirds white corn ; cultivated twice with Ross cultivator, 

 and hoed twice ; stalks cut about September 18, and the corn 

 harvested October 15 to 18. Product, 57| bushels of corn, and 

 about three tons of stalks and husks. Expenses : Ploughing, 

 &c., $7 ; manure, $53 ; seed and planting, $4 ; cultivation, $10 ; 

 harvesting, $10 ; total, $84. 



Mr. Howard will scarcely expect a premium on his corn, yet, 

 as his statement contains some valuable suggestions, the super- 

 visor recommends that he be paid a gratuity of $6. He says : 

 " As my corn crop was not more than two-thirds of what I ex- 

 pected when preparing my land, perhaps some suggestions as to 

 the causes of failure may not be inappropriate. This land has 

 a wet, cold subsoil, which possibly might be much improved by 

 under-draining. The early part of the season being wet and 

 cold, the corn did not come up well, and it became necessary to 

 replant it, thus making it late in starting. The bone compost 

 is not as forcing as some other manures, although, on another 

 piece of higher land it produced a noble crop of corn this year. 



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