52 GRAIN. 



SO that he may sow as eaily as the first week in September. If he has 

 a field in grass that needs re-seeding, plow it well, and harrow in some 

 good compost manure, or other fertilizer, equal to 16 or 20 loads to the 

 acre ; then sow with some clean wheat free from chess, mullein pink, 

 wheat thief or any other foul seed, which may be made so by sifting, 

 winnowing or washing. Sow no grass seed with the wheat, the grass, 

 being the hardier of the two, will start first in the spring and damage 

 the wheat. Sow the grass seed early in the spring, soon as the snow 

 leaves the ground, and it will come up beautifully. 



If spring wheat is to be sown, prepare the land and sow as early as 

 possible after the frost leaves the ground and the land becomes dry 

 enough to plow without caking, which advice is applicable to the sow- 

 ing of barley, oats and spring rye ; the earlier sown, the heavier the 

 grain. 



White Beans, though not grain, having come under the supervision 

 of the Grain Committee, ought to be planted in rows not more than two 

 feet apart, and hills about 18 inches distant, with a little manure in 

 the hills to give them a quick start, and not more than three plants 

 allowed to stand in a hill, and, as you may see by this Report, a great 

 crop may be harvested from an acre, about 50 bushels, which at three 

 dollars per bushel, is a profitable crop for a small outlay. 



If the grain crop is of that importance of which we claim it is, what 

 shall we say of the farmers of Worcester North when it is announced 

 that only four compete for premiums on Indian corn, four on wheat, 

 two on rye, one on barley, two on oats and two on beans. Must there 

 not be some lack of energy among our fanners, or a lack of induce- 

 ment held out by our Society to bring out the maximum crops of which 

 our soil is capable of producing ? Would not a premium of twenty-five 

 or even fifty dollars, for the best crop of corn, or wheat, if offered by 

 our Society, wake up the latent energies of our farmers and bring them 

 up to a stand point that* shall cause the members of our neighboring 

 societies to wonder and admire. 



For the Committee, CYRUS KILBURN. 



LUTHER PAGE'S STATEMENT. 



CORN. 



The land on which my corn was raised was a pasture in 1864. 

 The year following it was planted with corn ; a portion of it when 

 used for pasture was very poor, a part of it being a yellow loam with 

 clay bottom and more or less was occupied by lamb-kill, whortleberry 

 bushes, and various other kinds of brush. I broke it up in the fall of 

 1864, and the following spring set out fruit trees. This year I spread 

 broadcast fifteen loads of manure from the barn cellar, and put in the 



