PLYMOUTH SOCIETY. 103 



uneven by the ravages of worms. After the corn had grown, 

 many depredations were made by the feathered tribes, and by 

 another sort of animals, whose true characters might be repre- 

 sented with feathers on a coat of tar. It was difficult to find 

 two adjoining, unbroken rods in the field. In the selection 

 made there was a manifest difference in favor of the rod not. 

 subsoiled. The weight of the corn on the subsoiled rod was 

 &1& pounds, on the other rod 38f pounds, making a difference 

 of a fraction over five bushels to the acre. The whole crop 

 was afterwards weighed, but that result claims far less reliance 

 than the first test, on account of inroads made on the field. 

 Mr. Hobart's field was less broken, but by some neglect not 

 planted equidistant, the line of separation between the subsoiled 

 and the other part not very distinctly marked, for which rea- 

 son the rods selected as tests were some distance apart. The 

 corn on a square rod of the subsoiled part weighed 46f pounds, 

 on the other part 37 pounds, making a difference of nearly 21 

 bushels to the acre. In this experiment, it is believed the test 

 made, showed too great a difference, and, in the other, too little. 

 Either experiment, however, clearly proves the utility of subsoil 

 ploughing. The first premium of $10 is awarded to Mr. Colla- 

 more. The second of $6 to Mr. Hobart. 



To Nathan Whitman, of East Bridgewater, the first premium 

 of $8 for the best crop of barley. He raised 34 bushels and 18 

 quarts on an acre. 



To Daniel Alden, of Middleborough, the first premium for 

 oats $8, and to Nathan Whitman, the second of $6. The crop 

 of oats raised by Mr. A., and the measure, attested on his oath, 

 which the rules of the Society do not require, is an unprece- 

 dented one in this county. Seventy-one bushels to the acre must 

 be regarded here as an enormous crop. Mr. A. manured very 

 highly, and stirred the soil thoroughly before sowing ; he soaked 

 his oats in water 24 hours, then rolled them in ashes. He sowed 

 two bushels and three pecks on one acre and forty-seven rods, 

 considerably less than farmers generally use. There appears 

 to have been nothing in this experiment widely different from 

 the practice of good farmers, excepting the small quantity of 

 seed used, soaking and mixing with ashes. If to these circum- 



