52 



deposits of muck, now so much used in the compounding of ma- 

 nure. My whole farm, therefore, consists at present of say 150 

 acres. Its length is 1756 paces by 600 paces broad, and is all 

 joined together and very compact. 



The land mowed over this year was about seventy acres. I 

 put into the barns 138 loads of hay, most of which was of the 

 very first quality, besides eight to ten tons of rye straw and sev- 

 eral loads of second crop hay. I suppose the loads to average 

 about a ton in weight, but it is possible they may be less. Some 

 were double loads, drawn by oxen, and some packed on what is 

 called " the hay rigging," drawn by one horse only. I have 

 gathered corn from about six acres, of the kind called " Pem- 

 broke," and have two acres of carrots, which I hope may yield 

 thirty to forty tons of that useful vegetable. 



I have sent to Mr. Wilder an account of the field of winter rye 

 which attracted so much attention the day you and the other gen- 

 tlemen favored me with a visit, and was not a little surprised 

 when I received an account of the weight of the straw. The 

 reapers remarked in the field " that they had never seen any 

 thing to equal it even in the old country." 



You are so familiar with the nature of the soil in West Rox- 

 bury, and so much at home upon all the subjects of agriculture, 

 that I doubt my ability of saying any thing more, which is not 

 known to you already. No one can doubt the fertility of the 

 land in this vicinity, and by using a sufiiciency of manure I 

 could make each acre give a very large return,especially of grass, 

 and of a superior kind. Land which, with only a small quantity 

 of manure, will produce forty to forty-five bushels of rye to the 

 acre, must be admitted to be of good quality, and ought to pay a 

 profit. 



I have said nothing of the ancient house in which I continue to 

 dwell, at a considerable sacrifice of comfort, especially during our 

 long and severe winters. I have attempted, in vain, to discover 

 the year in which it was built. In looking over, however, " Dr. 

 John Elliot's Biographical Dictionary of the settlers of New 

 England," I find a statement by him that it was built by Colonel 

 William Dudley, who was the grandson of Thomas Dudley, one 

 of the first settlers of Massachusetts, and who came over in the 

 Arabella. His father was Governor Joseph Dudley, and he died 



