112 ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



acre of the groTiiid, four hundred and eighty bushels, as meas- 

 ured and deUvered in the market. The value, at the time I 

 sold them, was ^1 33 a barrel; they have since commanded a 

 higher price. 



One fact I noticed this and the last year, where my onions 

 grew, may be worthy of remark, as illustrating the effects of 

 sub-soil 2)lovg]ilng. Three years since, about half of the plane 

 land, where the onions grew, was subsoiled eight inches below 

 the ordinary ploughing ; the other half was not. In all other 

 respects, the land was manured and treated alike. The crop 

 was decidedly better on the part that was subsoiled, than on 

 the part that was not. I am not able to state, with precision, 

 how much better, but should judge it to be {xoxn fifteen to twenty 

 per cent. At the time I used the subsoil plough, it was the bet- 

 ter to prepare the land for a crop of carrots, without any ex- 

 pectation of a beneficial influence upon the onions. I state the 

 facts as observed, and presume the improved crop was the con- 

 sequence of the subsoil ploughing. I have not used a plough of 

 this description sufficiently, to speak with confidence of its gen- 

 eral utility ; but, from what I have witnessed, cannot doubt it 

 may be used on some kinds of soil to great advantage. 



One other fact I observed on my field of onions, which may 

 be worth mentioning. When I procured the muscle-bed, a part 

 of it I spread directly upon the land, and a part I distributed in 

 heaps, and, after it laid through the winter, caused it to be 

 spread. Where these heaps laid, could be distinctly seen 

 through the season, and the crop was much less than around 

 them. Possibly, too much salt had mingled with the soil : 

 whatever may have been the cause, the effect was prejudicial. 

 The extraordinary crop of onions, the last year, induced many 

 to engage in the cultivation the present. Many fields have 

 fallen short of expectation nearly one half My own has done 

 well ; though, had the season been a favorable one, I cannot 

 doubt that the crop would have been one quarter part more. 

 The demand for the onion has, thus far, been commensurate 

 with the supply ; and I see no reason to hesitate, in the belief, 

 that it will continue to be one of the most advantageous crops 

 that can be cultivated. 



Danvers, Oclobei', 1848. 



