FUIJI.ISIIKD KY THOMAS W. SHEI'ARD, KOfJKRS' BUILDINGS, CONGRESS STREET, (EOUR'iH DOOIl FRO.M STA'i !■: S'lKEET.) 



\ 01,. I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1823. 



No. 37. 



PREMIUMS 

 Ifl'cred by the Essex Jlgricultitral Society, in 18-'.5. 



The Committee of the Trustees appointed to 

 propose objects for premiums, adverting to the 

 iriijinal design of the institution — the improve- 

 iii'iit of the general husbandry of the county — 

 liive thought it advisable, at" this time, to de- 

 lait materially from what seems to have been 

 I heading principle in all the Agricultural .So- 

 iities of the country — that of olTering prenii- 

 1111^ chiefly for certain specific articles of hus- 

 bandry, instead of the combined improvements 

 af entire larms. 



Since the formation of the Essex Society, 

 ipecific premiums have produced valuable ''f- 

 "ects ; by demonstrating, that with high manHr- 

 ing, and good culture, some former usual crops 

 may be doubled, trebled, and even quadrupifd. 

 But the important question is — not what smill 

 lots in or near market towns, and abundantly 

 supplied with manures, may be made to yield ; 

 but how the productive powers offai-ms can be 

 essentially increased : and this can be effected 

 mly by a better management in all articles ot 

 tjusbandry. With this in view, the Committee 

 propose to extend the encouragement hereto- 

 :ore given for general improvements ; and offer 

 the following premiums. 



I.— MANAGEMENT OF A FAHM. 

 For the management of a farm, in itj tillage, 

 nowing, orcharding and pasturage : the quanti- 

 y of land appropriated to each — their tultiva- 

 ion — the means and the manner of making, in- 

 reasing, preserving and applying manures — 

 heir quantities — the respective crops and pro- 

 lucts — the quantity and management of the Mve 

 .tock — and the quantity of labor employed—to 

 )e detailed. 



'er the be$t .... |3(: 



"or the second best ... 25 



^or the third best - - - - 20 



"or the fourth best ... 15 



II.— DAIRY STOCK-SOILING. 



For experiments in feeding milch cows on 

 jreen crops, from the middle of June to he 

 niddle of October, by supplying them to tue 

 full with those crops, in their stables, without 

 turning them to pasture. Feeding cattle in 

 this manner is called soiling. 

 For the best, . . - 



For the second best, 

 For the third best, ... 



The whole process to be detailed. 

 REMARKS. 



The green crops may be rye (sown the pre- 

 ceding year) oats, barley, millet, Indian corn. 

 clover and various grasses. Any sorts of grair, 

 sown to produce fodder for soiling, after bemir 

 harrowed in, should be rolled, to make the sur 

 face and the ground smooth for mowing. The 

 clover and upland meadow grounds, destmed 

 for soiling, will be better for rollmg, with ?. 

 heavy roller, to make a smooth bottom, with- 

 out which the mowing cannot be close ; and it 

 not close shaven, the thickest part of the grass 

 will remain uncut. 



If the soil be rich and the surface smooth, thi 

 grass may be cut when only three or four in 



$20 

 15 

 10 



Such ground well set with the grasses which 

 produce what is known among ns as English 

 hay, and inclined to moisture, may in this man- 

 ner be mown three or four times in a season. 

 The cutting of the rye, oats, barley and millet 

 should commence as soon as they will yield a 

 good swarth, and be finished before they have 

 passed the flowering state. If mown befora 

 they flower, they will shoot again; and if the 

 growth be rich, yield second crops. 



Indian corn will be well grown for soiling bv 

 the loth or 15th of July; and will continue 

 green, and in full sap until the last of August. 

 And in order to continue a supply of this rich 

 green food — to which probably no other voge- 

 tsbjc of our country is equal, especially for 

 milch cows — pieces of land may be planted in 

 succession, so that some may be in full sap to 

 the last of September, when, in Essex, frosts 

 usually strike the blades, and greatly lessen 

 their value. 



If there be a piece of rich mowing land in 

 the farm, its second or third crop will furnish 

 green fodder to the middle or last of October. 

 Perhaps late sown oats, hardier plants than In- 

 dian corn, may supply the place of grass. Pump- 

 kins, also, during this month and the next, will 

 furnish a most valuable food. 



All the sorts of fodder above mentioned, like 

 the young grasses of the spring, naturally dis- 

 pose cattle to a degree of looseness, though 

 probably without injuring them. But if any of 

 them operate to an excess, a little good hay 

 will furnish a useful corrective. 



After November, potatoes, mangel vvurtzel 

 and carrots, added plentifully to their dry fod- 

 der, even if this be only barley, or oat straw, 

 or wet or low ground meadow hay, will doubt- 

 less keep cows in milch till within a few weeks 

 of their calving.* Cows, durirrg the time of 

 Ibeir going dry, and other stock at all times, 

 fully supplied with ruta baga, or common tur- 

 nips, with the same poor dry fodder, may be 

 kept in high condition. In England, cattle in- 

 tended for beef are often fattened on wheat 

 straw and turnips, giving of the latter as many 

 as they will eat. They commence feeding in 

 this manner in autumn, and by the spring the 

 cattle are fat for the market. The cattle thus 

 fattened, and in so short a time, are of moder- 

 ate sizes. 



Rye, oats, barley and millet, when destined 

 for soiling, should be sown twice as thick as 

 when intended to ripen their seeds. In like 

 manner, Indian corn may be planted in contin 

 ued rows only so far apart as to admit a small 

 |jlough in its culture, and with the plants only 

 four or five inches apart in the rows. The 

 surface of the ground should be smooth in the 

 'dws, so as to admit of mowing the corn. 



The farmer who shall pasture some of his 

 ••ows, and soil the others, will add to the value 



* An observing farmer, long: ago expressed to me thf 

 oitiiiion, that cows should go dry livt or six weeks be- 

 Ibrc calving, to give tiinefor the milk vessels to be dis- 

 tended, and tlv bag enlarged ; in the language of 

 larmers, for the springing of the bag. It was his opin- 

 _ - . ion that tht greatc r in rease of milk after calving, 



^es high, and will then yield a good swarth. I would amply compensate the loss of going dry so long. 



of the experiment, by keeping their milch 

 separate, and noting their relative quantities 

 from cows of equal goodness, and the quantity 

 and quality of the butter made from each set. 



III.— THE DAIRY. 



For the greatest quantity of good butter, in 

 proportion to the number of cows producing it, 

 (not fewer th;m four) made on any farm, from 

 the 20lh of May to the 20th of November, twen- 

 ty-six weeks, and the quantity of butter aver- 

 aging not less than seven pounds per week for 

 each cow, - - - g20 



Kor the second greatest, - - - 15 



For the third greatest, ... ]y 



The kicids of food and the management of it to be 

 detailed. 



REMARKS. 

 The object of Agricultural institution.^, as al- 

 ready observed, is impi-eveinent ; and in Essex, 

 none seems to be more wanted than in milch 

 cows. If the society were to continue their 

 premiums, during any length of time, merely 

 for the greatest quantity of butter, they would 

 not enforce any improvement in the quality of 

 those animals. Seven pounds of butter a week, 

 for each cow, is less than half what the Oakes 

 cow of Danvers produced, in the same time. The 

 seven pounds a week, therefore, are very at- 

 tainable by every farmer who will improve his 

 breed of coxrs, and feed them to the full with jui- 

 cy and highly nourishing food. The Commit- 

 tee trust they do not entertain a groundless 

 hope, that the premiums here offered will have 

 claimants •, and that in some future years, the 

 Trustees will be justified in contining these 

 premiums to cows yielding ten, twelve, and 

 fourteen pounds of butter a week, for twenty 

 six weeks in the year. 



IV.— TURNING IN GREEN CROPS AS A 

 MANURE. 



For the best experiment of turning in green crops 



as a manure, on not less than one acre, - $15 

 For the second best, ... lO 



For the third best, .... 6 



REMARKS. 



The claimants must give a particular account 

 of their respective processes, and the results. 

 The object aimed at is, to ascertain whether 

 land can be manifestly improved by turning un- 

 der green crops, and to what degree enriched. 

 Each experimenter will follow his own judg- 

 ment in his process ; but the following intima- 

 tions may merit his attention. 



The turning in of green crops is a very an- 

 cient, though not a very general practice. Its 

 utility has lately been called in question. Hence 

 the desire to bring it to the test of fair experi- 

 ment. 



Take an acre of land, so far exhausted at the 

 last crop as to render it inexpedient to intro- 

 duce another without a good manuring. Plough 

 it in the spring, and sow it with oats, barley, 

 buck wheat, or millet — and not be sparing of 

 the seed. When the crop sba.i be full grown, 

 but still in blossom, plough it lu, and sow it 

 again. When this second crop shall be full 

 grown, [dough it in. 'I'he next year repeat 

 this process — again pliughing in ;vvo crops; 

 the last by the beguiuing ol October. It may 



