108 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



ashes, thirteen bushels per acre. It was well hoed four times ; 

 harvested the fore part of October. The yield of brush was 

 1,017 pounds, and about fifty bushels of seed. 



ROOT CHOPS 



ESSEX. 



Report of the Commiltee. 



The committee on root crops, report that there were four 

 entries for premiums, for their consideration, two of which were 

 for potatoes, and two for cabbages. The committee, on exami- 

 nation of the statements presented, found that they all failed to 

 conform to some of the most essential requirements of the 

 society. The rule is as follows : — 



" Claimants for the premium on grain and root crops will be 

 required to have their land measured by a competent surveyor 

 the crops weighed, and the amount of the same certified by 

 some disinterested person." It seemed to the committee almost 

 absolutely necessary that the above rule should be complied 

 with by all the claimants for premiums, before they could judge 

 of the merits of the several claims. 



In all the claims before us, there was only one, that of S. A. 

 Merrill, in which there was any certificate of the measurement 

 of the land ; in none of them was the weight of the crop given, 

 and in none of them was there any certificate of the amount of 

 the crop by some disinterested person. 



The committee on root crops cannot, like most of the other 

 committees of the society, personally inspect the articles or 

 operations, upon which they are expected to recommend premi- 

 ums, but they must be governed by the evidence presented to 

 them in the statement which is made. 



If the land is not measured, and a certificate of the same 

 appended, the committee must first of all decide who of the 

 claimants can guess the nearest on the measurement of land. 

 If the crop is not weighed, the committee cannot determine 

 who has the best crop, and the certificate of the some disinter- 



