120 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



ing crops for a series of years. The fertilizing elements sup- 

 plied for the five years cost a little less than thirty dollars. The 

 experiment upon this field is not regarded as finished, and the 

 crops will be noted until they are observed to falter. 



WORCESTER WEST. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



The ability of the farmer to succeed in improving his soil 

 and grow greater crops depends on his applying to the land a 

 plenty of manure, either from the resources of his farm or other 

 sources. As our land is growing older and becoming worn and 

 more sterile, greater pains should be taken to procure in some 

 way the necessary means of enriching it. Barn-cellars ought 

 to be kept well supplied with absorbents, in the form of meadow 

 mud, scrapings from the roadside, old head-lands, fallen foliage 

 from the trees, and other materials for absorbing the liquid 

 droppings and preventing in a measure the escape of volatile 

 fertilizing qualities. The compost heap should not be neglected ; 

 the leisure moments ought to be devoted more to making a 

 'larger heap every year. By constant care and attention the 

 farmer may make a large quantity of valuable manure, and in 

 this way save a large expense for fertilizers, compounds and 

 patent manures. If farmers in general could be persuaded to 

 avail themselves of all the opportunities they have of making 

 compost of all the materials they have that fall in their way or 

 can be easily obtained, we should not hear so many complaints 

 as we now do of short crops and worn-out lands. 



Cheese factories, with their many advantages, have, in our 

 estimation, one great disadvantage : the whey being spent at 

 the factory deprives the farmer of valuable means for keeping 

 many hogs on the farm. Formerly many of our farmers usually 

 had a good supply of material for enriching the soil from this 

 source. The filthy swine are very industrious in their way, 

 although they appear to know nothing of what they are manu- 

 facturing. Give them plenty of the raw material, either in the 

 piggery or barn-cellar, and they will soon produce an article of 

 much value in the various departments of agriculture. This 

 loss must be supplied in some way or our farms will deteriorate. 

 Greater pains should be taken to save everything that can be 



