134 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



start than either of the others, and looked better during the 

 early part of the season ; then No. 1 gained vipon it and took 

 the lead. The result is given above, with the exception that 

 the corn on No. 6 was riper and dryer than on either of the 

 others. All the plots except No. 6 were treated, in all respects, 

 in accordance with the directions given. 



NANTUCKET. 



Statement of Edward W. Gardner. 



The piece of land which was selected for the experimental 

 apj)lication of manure, and entered by me for premium, lies in 

 the east pasture of " Cambridge farm," near the swamp. It is 

 a rich, sandy loam, with clayey and gravelly subsoil, retentive 

 of water and manure, but not wet ; and measures forty-five 

 feet by two hundred and twenty-five. For five years (and how 

 much longer unknown) previous to 1859, it had been in grass, 

 without any manure, and in that year yielded a good crop 

 of hay ; after which it was ploughed, and manured at the rate 

 of six cords of good barn cellar manure per acre, and was 

 planted with turnips ; but in consequence of the great amount 

 of charlock and dog grass which came up, but few turnips 

 grew. Those which got a start were very fine. The charlock 

 was pulled up and fed to the pigs, and not allowed to go to 

 seed ; and the dog grass was fed by stock in the fall. On the 

 30th of March, 1860, it was divided into five equal parts, 

 of forty-five feet square, and on No. 1 was evenly spread three- 

 fourths of a cord of barn cellar manure, composed of horse, 

 cow, and hog droppings, and a little peat muck, and the whole 

 was ploughed full eight inches deep. Tiie same quantity of the 

 same manure was spread on No. 2, and the whole was cross 

 ploughed four inches deep ; the same was put on No. 3, and 

 the whole was cultivated and harrowed. On the lltli of iMay, 

 it was ])lanted with three varieties of corn, as follows : the 

 hills were three feet apart, each way, and four kernels were j^ut 

 into each hill. In the two northern rows, I used small yellow 

 corn, from Berkshire; in the next seven rows, "top-over" 

 corn ; and in the remaining five rows, Nantucket white corn. 

 On the 7th of June it was cultivated, and hoed, and the missing 



