104 MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 



beside the pear trees above mentioned, there are two very 

 large and four smaller cherry trees, 2 large apple trees, 1 large 

 and four smaller peaches, 1 Siberian crab, 11 quinces — rose 

 bushes and other flowering shrubs and plants, too numerous 

 to mention. Some eight or ten pear trees are scattered in 

 other parts of the garden, chiefly in a bearing state. The soil 

 in the southerly part of the garden is similar to that before 

 described, except that it was not quite so wet originally. All 

 of it lies on a bed of clay, and has had but little manure. It 

 is fourteen years since I kept a cow, eight years since I kept a 

 horse. Last November, I bought two small loads of horse 

 manure, which was used on a small spot appropriated to 

 beans, beets, carrots, &c. My only reliable source of manure, 

 is the vault, the pig pen, the waste from the kitchen, and the 

 weeds. It may not be entirely out of place, to say here, that 

 the emptying of a vault is not quite so offensive as some sup- 

 pose, if the proper precaution should be taken. Twenty-four 

 hours before you begin the work of emptying, dissolve twenty 

 or thirty pounds of copperas (sulphate of iron) in the necessary 

 quantity of water, and throw it into the vault, and the offensive 

 odor will be hardly perceptible. 



I have never kept a precise account of the products of my 

 fruit trees, for I have not cultivated them for the market, — 

 having no taste or faculty for trading. My own family are 

 supplied bountifully, and more than we use is presented to 

 friends and neighbors, and thence is derived the principal com- 

 pensation for the labor of cultivation. If the whole product of 

 my little garden had been sold this year, at prices usually ob- 

 tained for raspberries, currants, and pears, I think it would 

 have amounted, at least, to one hundred dollars. The whole 

 extent of my estate is 220 feet by 150 feet 6 inches, making a 

 little more than 33,000 square feet. Nearly, if not quite, half 

 is occupied by the house, barn, and other 'out buildings, 

 clothes yard, carriage way, and other gravel walks. I could 

 add many other remarks to show how much can be obtained 

 from a small piece of ground ; but enough has already been 

 said to answer the purpose of the committee, to whom are re- 

 spectfully tendered the true regards of their friend and servant. 



Cambridge, Sept. 16, 1852. 



