59 



Peach-blow and the Davis seedHng potatoes, on light soil, and 

 used a handful of Coo's super-phoshate of lime in each hill for 

 manure. The crops were good and entirely free from rot. The 

 black Chenango potato has always been free from rot on my 

 grounds. 



Of fruit I am not able to speak with satisfaction. The apple 

 trees upon my farm were, many of them, old and decayed when I 

 came here. In attempting to graft and restore them several were 

 destroyed. I have set out apple, pear and peach trees, but they 

 have not answered my expectations, and probably have not been 

 treated rightly. I do not believe that the soil in this vicinity is 

 peculiarly adapted to the gi'owth of fruit trees ; and I know that 

 more attention is requisite to their successful growth than I have 

 been able to bestow upon them. 



I have accumulated every year large quantities of manure from 

 the barn cellar, the yard, and the hogsty. My custom has been to 

 cover the bottom of each with peat mud, and to add at different 

 times sods, loam, sand and litter. My cattle are yarded at night, 

 in the summer, and housed, both day and night, in the winter. 

 In the barn they are bedded most of the time upon sand, which 

 serves to keep them free from lice, absorbs the liquid and adds ma- 

 terially to the contents of the cellar and the manure heap. Part 

 of my hogs have constant access to the barn cellar, and the rest are 

 supplied with substances which are quickly converted into useful 

 manure. The horse stable is directly over that part of the cellar 

 occupied by the hogs, and all the manure from it is worked over 

 by them. 



I have kept on the average ten milch cows, a bull, a yoke of 

 working oxen, four or five young cattle, and two horses. I have 

 for many years raised all my neat stock, — selecting the best 

 calves from the best progenitors. I have never experienced any 

 difficulty in raising them, and have always found that they were 

 quiet and orderly, and would thrive well in a locality with which 

 they are familiar and where they are at home. 



I had almost forgotten to speak of the sugar cane, of which I 

 raised a small quantity. The experiment was made in accordance 

 Avith the directions of those who were familiar with the culti- 

 vation of the plant. The cane grew very sloAvly, but finally 

 reached a height of eight or ten feet. The quantity Avas large 

 for the ground which it occupied. But after a fair trial I am sat- 

 isfied that, as a green crop for fodder, it is inferior in every re- 

 spect to the sweet corn. Of its value for molasses or sugar, I 

 cannot speak from experience. If a sirup like that presented 

 at the annual exhibition by Mr. Kinsley of Canton and Mr. Hyde 

 of Newton, can be easily and cheaply manufactured, the sugar 

 cane will become a very common and desirable crop. 



Many of the details of my farm have already been published in 



