34 



every working clay, he takes time to direct the management of 

 the place, and finds recreation, health and happiness in the vari- 

 ous rural operations Avhich are here carried on. The land is near 

 tlie summit of a high swell, has a tenacious suhsoil, and retains 

 ■water. Mr. II. has underdi'aincd a portion, on which he has 

 planted fruit trees of various kinds, and they have thriven Avell. 

 We have seldom seen finer dwarf pear trees, or those which pro- 

 duced better crops of fruit, in proportion to age, than we found 

 here. Many will recollect Mr. H. as a frequent and successful 

 competitor for the fruit prizes of this Society. The Committee 

 Avere much pleased with the general laying out, and universally 

 neat appearance of this " farm of four acres," which, whatever its 

 results in a pecuniary view, can hardly fail to 'pay in the enjoy- 

 ment it affords its intelligent proprietor and his family. 



E. R. Andrews, of West Roxbury, has a farm of one hundred 

 and twenty acres, twenty-five of which is woodland. It is used 

 as a milk farm, thirty cows being generally kept. They are fed 

 mostly in the barn, at all times. He relies on green corn-fodder, 

 chiefly, as feed in summer, and hay and roots in winter. He had 

 eisht acres in fodder corn and ten in roots, at the time of oar 

 visit. He had also a patch of rape, tried as an experiment. Its 

 appearance was pretty good, but we cannot report the result. 

 Some of his root crops — which consisted of carrots, sugar beets, 

 mangel wurtzel, and kohl rabi — looked well for a large yield, but 

 the wetness of the season had rendered it difficult to keep the 

 weeds down as fully as would have been desirable for the benefit 

 of the roots. 



Mr. A.'s mode of cultivating fodder corn is somewhat peculiar. 

 After being ploughed, the ground is furrowed, leaving spaces of 

 about three feet. The cultivator or horse-hoe is then drawn 

 lengthwise over these spaces, and the corn sown at the rate of 

 three to four bushels per acre. A light plough is then run on 

 each side of the beds, followed by a bush harrow in the same 

 direction, which sufficiently covers the corn. This leaves the crop 

 in broad rows, and it is cultivated with the horse-hoe. Once 

 going through — as the corn, from the land being heavily manur- 

 ed, grows rapidly — is generally sufficient. 



Mr. Andrews has made some experiments in spaying cows, 

 having operated on thirteen. He commenced in April, 1859, 

 with three ; most of the others Avere operated on six to eight 

 months previous to our visit, at which time ten of the spayed ones 

 Avcrc giving milk. Several others had been fattened and sold. 

 All those Ave saAV, appeared healthy and in good condition. Two 

 Avhich Avere spayed a year ago last April, were giving an average 

 of seven Avine quarts of milk each, per day. These, of course, 

 afford the best example of the effect of spaying, as the others have 



