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STATEMENT OF OLIVER ROBERTS, OF DAN VERS. 

 To the Cortimittee on Farms: — 



Gentlemen, I herewith submit tlie following statement r 

 The farm which I enter for premium, of Essex Agri- 

 cultural Society, was purchased by me in April, 1878. 

 It was then in a run-down, worn-out condition, containing 

 forty-one acres, having been occupied by no one as tenant 

 or owner for more than seven years at a time, for at least 

 thirty years previous. The buildings were badly out of 

 repair, and the general aspect of the place presented a dis- 

 couraging prospect. The farm was divided about as 

 follows on the " Town Valuation Books.'''' Tillage, 18 acres ; 

 pasture, 10 acres ; meadow, 13 acres. The pasture, with 

 the growth of wood on it, covering about three acres, has 

 been cleared of rocks, stumps and roots, and is used, a 

 large part of it, in growing onions and other crops, the 

 balance being in grass. The meadow, which had never 

 been ploughed before, and on which nothing but wild grass 

 grew, has the most of it been ploughed, and is now bearing 

 a good crop of English hay. We have some two acres of 

 cabbages on part of it this year. The buildings have been 

 repaired and some additions made, including cellar under 

 barn, 40 x 60 feet, the whole now presenting quite a 

 respectable appearance. The crops we grow mostly are 

 potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, beets, parsnips, tomatoes, 

 dandelions, etc. We grew this year, as near as I can esti- 

 mate, 3,500 bushels of onions, 2,000 bushels of iDotatoes, 

 25 tons carrots, 300 bushels of beets, 500 bushels of toma- 

 toes. We have about three acres of cabbage which are 

 fair, although they have suffered from blight considerably- 

 Our potatoes, some of them, rotted badly, and we probably 

 lost at least 500 bushels by it. 



We cut from twenty to twenty-five tons of hay. For 

 stock we have five horses and two cows on farm. We use 

 from 150 to 200 cords of manure, besides what we make 



