ON WHEAT AND RYE, 73 



The Committee award to JMr. King, who was the only appli- 

 cant to them for a premium, the sum of twenty dollars, 



D. Cummins, Chairman. 



XII. ON CULTIVATION OF WHEAT AND RYE. 



HECTOR coffin's STATEMENT. 



To the Trustees of the, Essex Agricultural Society. 



Gentlemen, — I received from a friend last fall a peck and a- 

 bout half a pint of white winter flint wheat, grown near Ithica 

 Tompkins county, in the state of New York, between the south- 

 ern ends of Cayuga and Seneca lakes, said to be newly intro- 

 duced there, to be very productive, and a species which never 

 blights. This wheat was sent by one brother resident there, to 

 another resident in this neighborhood, as a valuable present, to 

 experiment on, in this sea-board climate. 



This gentleman, not having it in his power to give it a trial last 

 fall, placed it in my hands for that purpose. I selected a piece 

 of ground I own in the town of Newburyport, on account of its 

 being detached, well fenced and sheltered, and about the size re- 

 quired for the experiment. It had, however been let somo 

 years on shares, and planted with potatoes ; was very muddy 

 and somewhat encumbered wiih dog or joint grass ; and had been 

 scantily manured in hills when the seed was put in the ground, 

 and much neglected in the subsequent cultivation. The last 

 cultivation of the ground, the day I comenced my operations, 

 September 28th, drew four horse cart loads of rank weeds and 

 potato haulms from it. I then had it manured with four large 

 cart loads of horse and hog manure mixed, (taken from a hotel 

 stable where many swine were kept,) say two large cords ; spread 

 it equally on the surface and ploughed it in, harrowing the piece 

 over, and picking out some of the remaining late abundant crop 

 of weeds. It was then cross harrowed on the 29th of Septem- 

 ber, and the above eight and a quarter quarts of wheat was very 

 evenly sowed, after being washed in strong brine, and rolled in 

 air slacked lime, about five or six hours before putting into the 

 ground ; when it was once well harrowed in, on which was sown 

 10 



