Smith, of West Haverhill. It contained about two acres, the 

 soil being a strong, hard, rocky loam. Many large stones had 

 been taken from it, and a part of it had been underd rained. 

 Mr. Smith's mode of ploughing was new to us. He showed us 

 a field which he had ploughed this summer, a few inches deep, 

 and the grass appeared to be all killed. 



His estimate of the cost of seed, and planting an acre of 

 corn, would seem low to those who are in the habit of putting 

 all the manure in the hill. Our impression is, that the farmers 

 in this county spend on an average $8 per acre in forking over 

 manure and planting an acre of corn. Mr. Smith's estimate 

 makes it cost him 63 cents per bushel to raise corn ; and it 

 will be seen by his statement that his estimate of the fodder 

 is much less than is commonly found by those who enter their 

 corn for premium. He does most of the cultivation with 

 the hoe, and it will be seen by the statement that it costs $9 

 to cultivate an acre. 



. The next field which the Committee visited was that of M. 

 F. Hill, of Byfield. It contained between three and four 

 acres, the soil being a dark loam, free from stones, with a clay 

 subsoil. It will be seen by Mr. H.'s statement that he used 

 the hoe but little in cultivating, and put the cost at $4 per 

 acre. 



When we visited the fields we were undecided which would 

 yield the most, this or Mr. Smith's, and by the statements 

 there was not one pound's difference between Mr. Smith's and 

 Mr. Hill's. The former was weighed two weeks before the 

 latter, but it was a smaller kind of corn ; and we think it was 

 in about the same state, when weighed, as the other. Mr. 

 Hill's corn cost him IS cents per bushel ; his manure costing 

 more, and his labor less than Mr. Smith's. He Ihuskcd his 

 corn as they do at the West, and left the butts standing. 



^ We next viewed the field of Oliver P. Killam, of Boxford, 

 which contained about six acres, and we were pleased with 

 the neat appearance of this field. The surface is somewhat 



