23 



REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 



REPORT ON HAY CROPS. 



Your Committee on the best Hay Crop produced ou tmy furm in 

 tlie county, have been called upon but once. There has been but 

 one entry for premiums come to our notice. We have examined 

 the farm, and find by the peculiar and somewhat novel manner of 

 manuring, seeding, and harvesting the crops, together with the 

 different varieties of grasses grown, and their adaptability to the 

 producing of milk, a very remarkable contrast to other farms 

 which have come under our notice in years past. 



We award to Mr.A. W. Cheever, of Sheldonville, Wrentham, the 

 Society's first premium of $25 for the best Hay Crop. 



E. L. METCALF, Chairman. 



Franklin, Nov. 13, 1872, 



STATEMENT OF A. W. CHEEVER. 



(To the Committee of the Norfolk Agricultural Society on Ex- 

 periments in producing the largest quantity and best quality of 

 English hay per acre on any farm in the county, regard being had 

 to the character of the soil, the mode and cost of cultivation and 

 making.) 



Character of the Soil. 



The character of the soil on my farm is very much varied, run- 

 ning from the best of drained meadow through several grades of 

 loam up to poor, thin, dry, gravelly knolls, and consists of about 

 twenty-five acres in mowing and tillage. The tillage includes 

 over two acres of orchading, and as much more in corn fodder, 

 potatoes and gardens. Some corn fodder and grass is grown 

 among the trees in the orchards. The remainder of the cultivated 

 land produces one or more crops of hay every year. 



The land has been cleaned almost entirel}' of rocks and stones 

 that would interfere with the free use of the plow, cultivator and 

 haying machines. The old stone walls have been removed to the 

 low-land drains, until the whole farm, except seven acres of pas- 

 ture, is contained in two lots separated only by a lane leading 



