76 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



n^of-1874,. . . . . . }Jg P"»^} weOpoond 



Hay of 1875, 2,630 " \ . , R() „ 



Rowen, " 1,950 " / 4 ' 0SU 



Hay of 1876 1,950 " \ 9 100 t{ 



No rowen, on account of drought, 1876, . . / ' 



Total, 9,440 pounds. 



At $16 per ton, this would amount to $75 52 



The crop can now be secured by machinery at an annual 

 cost of about $1.50. 



BRISTOL. 



Statement of Peter C. Thayer of Taunton. 



The half-acre of grass I enter for the Society's premium 

 has been in grass ten years, was reclaimed swamp, ploughed 

 after roots had been torn out about six inches deep, and a 

 coat of sand about two inches thick, with about six cords of 

 manure and half a ton of bone to the acre, and sowed to 

 herdsgrass, twelve quarts to the acre, and harrowed in. 



I have given it a top-dressing every year since, of about six 

 cords of stable and hog manure per acre, the cattle having 

 been bedded with sand, and four years ago I gave it a second 

 dressing of half a ton of bone and twenty bushels of un- 

 leached ashes per acre. Last March I gave it a top-dressing 

 of about six cords of stable and hog manure per acre, and 

 the first of May I gave it a light dressing of night-soil. 



My first crop of hay was cut and taken away by the com- 

 mittee on crops June 21 ; second crop cut July 24 ; third 

 crop cut September 12 ; each crop was taken away and dried 

 and weighed by the committee. 



The committee selected one rod as a sample of the half- 

 acre, and after taking away the first cutting told me that the 

 rod they had selected should be the sample rod for the 

 season, and told me to do anything to the rod I pleased, 

 and requested me to try and see how much I could raise 

 on the rod. 



The day the first crop was cut I gave the sample rod a top- 



