114 



memory serves me. The crop was a good one for the season. 

 Last year, 1879, the land was in corn and the common pea 

 bean. The manure was about eight cords, or 26 loads of 30 

 bushels each, to the acre, of a compost or stable manure, rock 

 weed and fish. This manure proved so strong that the corn 

 (I manured that in the drill), came poorly, though the yield 

 was heavy in proportion to the stalks ; the beans (here I 

 ploughed in the compost), were very thrifty, and cropped at 

 the rate of thirty-six^ bushels to the acre. The soil is a good 

 loam, excepting one corner, which is quite sandy. 



The land for my cabbage crop was ploughed nearly eight 

 inches deep, a compost of stable manure and halibut and liver 

 chum, at the rate of six cords, or 20 loads of 30 bushels each, 

 to the acre being ploughed in. After harrowing it was laid 

 out into furrows three feet apart, and planted the first of June 

 to Marblehead Dutch cabbage, in hills three feet apart, about 

 half a dozen seed being dropped in each hill. On one-half of 

 the piece a small handful of bone dust, and on the remainder 

 a large spoonful of guano was very thoroughly stirred into 

 each hill. We had a smart shower just after planting, which 

 brought the seed up at once and seni the plants forward finely. 

 The cabbage came forward so fast that, fearing they would 

 mature too early to enable me to carry them over till spring 

 for seed cabbage, I gave them a good degree of healthy neglect. 

 They were cultivated and hoed but twice during their growth. 

 The crop headed with great uniformity over the entire piece, 

 and the heads were exceptionally large and very solid. A 

 number of heads were taken and weighed, care being exer- 

 cised to select such as would not be more than average in size ; 

 six weighed as follows— 10, 20, 11, 14, 15, 10|,lbs.; total, 80^ 

 lbs., average weight, 13 5-12 lbs. As these cabbages were for 

 seed purposes, I had no sales to go by in fixing their market 

 value. One member of the committee stated that he had been 

 selling during the season at one cent a pound. At this valua- 

 tion, there being full 4600 heads to the acre, the value of the 

 crop in the market would have been $617.15. 



