BROOMCORN. 



207 



BARNSTABLE. 



Statement of Frederick Parker. 



The acre of land on which my oats were raised is a heavy 

 loam, partly clay. It had a heavy coat of manure in 1857, 

 and was planted to corn. About the first of April last I 

 ploughed without manuring, as I do not approve manuring 

 spring grain where the land has been previously highly man- 

 ured. On the 9th of April I sowed two and one-half bushels 

 of oats, and harrowed three times, one before and twice after 

 sowing. They were harvested about the first of August, but 

 just previous, a heavy rain beat them down, and so broke the 

 straw, that it was impossible to harvest them clean ; some had 

 to be mowed. I judged at the time that I lost ten bushels by 

 the storm. The land was just one acre, and worth about 850 

 per acre. 



Value of crop : — 

 49 bushels oats, at 60 cents, ..... $29 40 

 1.1- tons straw, at $7, 10 50 



BROOM CORN 



HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN. 



Statement of James Porter. 



The ground on which the broomcorn was raised, which I 

 offer for a premium, lies near the Connecticut River, in South 

 Meadow. It has for thirty years or more, been under the culti- 

 vation of the plough, with either wheat, Indian, or broomcorn 



