SECRETARY'S REPORT. 17 



'of three bushels ; and No. 4 at the rate of two bushels. The 

 lots were manured with 100 pounds of plaster per acre, spread 

 broadcast and harrowed in, with the exception of a strip of one 

 acre running across the several lots, which received no plaster. 

 The oats were harvested on the 28th of July, and thrashed on 

 the 2d and 3d days of September. The yield of lot No. 1 was 

 42 bushels ; that of No. 2 was 35 1 bushels ; that of No. 3, 40 

 bushels ; that of No. 4, 2Gi- bushels. The acre that received 

 no plaster yielded 20| bushels, the grain weighing 28 pounds to 

 the bushel, and being much the same on all the lots except on 

 No. 1, on which both the grain and straw were much the 

 lightest. 



ONIONS. 



The committee directed that two acres of onions be sown — 

 one on the plain and one on the vegetable garden. The acre 

 on the plain was manured with 6 cords of barnyard manure, 

 50 bushels of leached ashes, and 100 pounds of plaster. The 

 manure and ashes were spread broadcast over the whole acre, 

 and cultivated in, while the plaster was spread on half the acre 

 and cultivated in. The onion seed was sown April 24, and 

 cultivated five or six times during the season. On being har- 

 vested on the 8th day of October, the yield was found to be 

 350^ bushels. The half acre that received the plaster, pro- 

 duced 180J bushels, or 261^ bushels more than the half acre 

 that received no plaster. 



The acre in the vegetable garden was sown April IG, manured 

 with G cords of barnyard scrapings, 100 bushels of leached 

 ashes, and 100 pounds of plaster. The manure and ashes were 

 spread over the whole acre, the plaster only on half, and the 

 whole was cultivated in. The lot was cultivated during the 

 season, the same as that on the plain, and the crop was har- 

 vested on the 24th of September, the yield being 358^ bushels. 

 The half that received the plaster yielded 198| bushels, or 38^ 

 bushels more than the half acre that received no plaster. This 

 acre received 50 bushels more leached ashes than that on the 

 plain, and yielded but six bushels more. 



The land in the garden had been recently trenched, in con- 

 sequence of which the soil and subsoil had not been intimately 

 mixed. 



TURNIPS. 



Four acres w^ere cultivated with turnips on the plain, two of 

 them being manured with 10 cords of horse manure, 50 bushels 

 leached ashes, 150 pounds of plaster and 50 pounds of bone, all 

 of which were cultivated in. One acre was seeded with the pur- 

 ple top strap leaf, on the 7th day of May, and hoed and thinned 

 out in the course of the summer, and yielded 930 bushels. 

 3* 



