Vgl. 6.— No. 19. 



^EW ENGLAND PARMER. 



HT 



MERKIMACK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 The committee on Farma began their labours on 

 thi! seventh of August, last with viewing: the Farm 

 of Capt. David Morrill in Canterbury. This farm 

 contains 150 acres of good land, divided into 40 

 ncrea of field land, 30 acres of wood land, 3 acres 

 of ro;iplo orchard, "i acres of apple orchard, and 

 the remainder pasturinjr. The produce of the 

 Ueld land the present .<:eason,is five acresof wheat, 

 two acres of corn, three acres of potatoes, two 

 acres of oals, one fourth acre of flax, and forty 

 tons of hay of a good quality. Capt. Morrill has 

 five acres of good corn on his pasture land, ma- 

 nured only with plaster of Paris. His buildings 

 are good, convenient and sufficiently large for his 

 family and farm. He has built on his farm within 

 twenty years, more than six hundred rods of stone 

 wall. He has freed his field from b\ishes and 

 stone heaps : his field is well secured with good 

 stone wall and with good gates at all necessary 

 j-nd convenient places. He attends to gardening 

 as much as is profitable at his distance from the 

 market, raising a full supply of sauce for his fami- 

 ly and carrots for his cows. He makes from his 

 maple orchard from five to si.x hundred lbs. of su 

 irar yearly. Capt. Morrill's cattle are of an ex- 

 cellent quality, and show that they are fed by 

 liieir owner. lie cultivates his farm with his own 

 hands, aided by two minor sons, a boy of 12 years, 

 and half a month of a hired man in haying. His 

 work is done and well done in season : and from 

 the quantity of produce raised by him, the com- 

 mittee are of opinion that Capt. Morrill is a man 

 of uncommon industry, and that his sons are genu- 

 ine chips from the old block; and that they all 

 early learned that 



" lie Ihai wKuUl bv fanning- tlirive. 

 iMusl either liol.l Ihe plough or drive." 



The committee also vie ved the farms of the 

 Hon. Joshua Darling', Maj William Little, and 

 Dea, Jeremiah Russell. 



Jndce Darling's farm contains one hundred and 

 si.xty acres of land, embracing a great variety of 

 soil, and is divided into forty-five acre.' of field 

 jand, ten acres of reclaimed meadow, ten acres of 

 wood-land, throe acres of orcharding, an ' the re- 

 cjainder pasturing. The pro'luce of the field land 

 ♦he present season is I'i acres of corn, 2 acres of 

 wheat, 4 acres of rye, 3 acres of potatoes, one 

 third of an acre of pe;is, one half acre of whUe 

 beiin.s, and about 40 tons of hay. Judge Darling's 

 farm is well fenced and well cultivated. His gar- 

 •len is e.\-ce!leut, his buildings are large and con- 

 venient ; his stock of cattle and flock of sheep are 

 ef an excellent quality. The committee could 

 Koflparn the quantity of labour bestovxed (m Judge 

 Darliiig's farm, but nre of opini'^n that there must 

 be more in proportion to the produce than on that 

 cf Capt. Morrill. 



Major Little's farm co'.itains ninety acres of in- 

 terval land, of niiddliurr quality, and is mnstly un- 

 der improvement. He has occupied this farm five 

 yea.'n, a part of the time, and at present by a ten- 

 ant, who worhs the farm much better than tenants 

 in general. Yet be is a tenant, Maj. Little has 

 made great improvements by cuttini bushes and 

 »eclaiuiing low ground, and making productive 

 much land that wn.s before barren. The produce 

 of his farm the pve.=ent season is seven acres of 

 torn, twelve acre.s of '>at^, one acre of potatoes, 

 ]i acres of wheat, and forty tons of hay. In tlie 

 epinion of the committee, Maj. Little is entitled to 



much credit for improvements on his interval, in 

 making it produce four limes as much hay for the 

 two last years as it usually did while under its 

 former owner. 



Deacon Russell's farm contains 200 acres of 

 land of a middling qnality, and is divided into 

 eighty-five acres of field land, seventy -five acres 

 of wood and timber land, and the remainder pas- 

 luring. The produce of the field land the pres- 

 ent year is eight acres of hops, seven acres of 

 corn, two acres of potatoes, three acres of wheat 

 four acres of rye, three acres of oats, and about 

 si.xly tuns of hay. Deacon Russell works his farm 

 m the ordinary way, except his hop fields, which 

 receive his special attention, and reward him well 

 for it. The committee are of the opinion that one 

 acre of tlie hops will give as much net profit as 

 throe acres of mm, (taking Deacon Russel's ac- 

 count of it as a correct one.) Deacon Russell's 

 buildings are convenient and large enough for his 

 family and farm, and from all appearances we 

 were led to believe that he had carried his hops 

 to a good market. 



The committee have unanimously agreed to award 

 the following premiums : Capt. Dnvid Morrill of 

 Canterbury, for the best cultivated farm, ten dol- 

 lars ; to the Hon. Joshua Darling of Kenniker, for 

 the next best do. eight doll.irs ; to M j. Wm. Lit- 

 tle of Hopkintnn, for the next best do. seven dol- 

 lars ; and to Deacon Jeremiah Russell of Bow, for 

 the ne.xt best do. six dolls. To Dr Ebenezer Learn- 

 ed of Hopkinton, for bis special improvement in 

 making compost manure and cultivating his field 

 of corn, five iollars. To Horace Chase, Esq. of 

 Hopkinton, tor hi.s excellent kitchen garden, three 

 dollars. To John Emerson, gardener to Hon. E. 

 Webster of Bofcawen, for his skill in gardening, 

 three dollars. To JeremiHh Emmery of Concord, for 

 his great perseverance in reclaiming twenty-five 

 acres of dead meadow, and makiuL' it good and 

 profitable mowing land, threw dollars. 



The cniumittee re^'ret that there were no more 

 farms entered f( r in.spection and premiums, when 

 there are so many pood farms and farmers within 

 the Socifty ; 'nil it is hoped that mo e farms viill 

 be entered next season, that there may be a fair 

 competition. E. DUSTIN, Chairman. 



ON THE USES AND VALUE OP THE ROL- 

 LER. 



J. S. SKiisNf R, Es<i. — Your correspondent, Mr. 

 George H. Cheesman, of Rockingham, Va. hav 

 ing requested information, as to the benefit of ap- 

 plying the smooth roller to lands laid down to 

 grain or grass, and having myself been in the 

 practice of applying the roher for tuenty years,it 

 is with groTt pleasure that 1 afibrd him the results 

 of my long, and uninterrupted experience. I 

 should never think of sowing grain or grass with- 

 out the roller. 



In answer to his questions, in the order stated 

 by him, I reply that my own experience has only 

 extended to light, loamy lands, someof Ifiem with- 

 out, and some with small stones on the surface. — 

 I have no cl."iv"y soil, but from my knowledge and 

 ohst'rvation of such soils, 1 should believe that 

 there are none to which the operation of rolling, 

 would be more beneficial than to them, provided 

 the surface, at the time of rolling, was perfectly 

 dry. It would in such a state of the soil, (I shduld 

 suppose,) bs eminently serviceable in breaking 

 dbwn the aggregated masses of c.ay ; but in any 

 other state of tiie elayey soil, I should suppose the 



rolling highly injurious. But this is vicrt t/nort/, 

 having no praclic;al acquaintance with such soiU-j. 

 In loamy, or gravelly, or sandy, or stouy soiU. the 

 practice of rolling is, I can surely afiirm, of great 

 use. In sowing grasses, or grain, I have usually 

 applied the roller, immediately after the bush har- 

 rowing. The effect of the roller, at that |.criod, 

 is eminently and unquestionably valuable. It 

 leaves a smooth and beautiful surface, resembling 

 the nicest garden culture. It prevents the une- 

 qual distribution of the grain or grass seed, ( i!' 

 well distributed in the first instance by the sow- 

 er, ) by copious showers on an unequal .surface. — 

 It puts every stone, not exceeding four inches in 

 diameter, below the scythe, and of course the sick- 

 le. It facilitates in a degree above our expecta- 

 tion, the germination of the seeds, whether of 

 griiss or grain, iiy bringing the soil into close con- 

 tact with the seeds, many of which, without ap- 

 proximation, would remain for many days, or even 

 weeks, without germinating. 



On grain, or grass lands, I apply the roller in 

 the spring after the sowing, but not until the sur- 

 face has become so liard and dry that the horse's 

 hoofs shall not penetrate the soil too deeply. I 

 precede the rolling with a light harrow unloaded, 

 never fearing the occasional di.-lodgement of the 

 plants. I then follow with the roller, though the 

 plants are often four or five inches high. Tlu: 

 ridler then set'ies the roots firmly in the ground, 

 which had been raised by the preceding winter's 

 frosts, and in one week I perceive the benefieiai 

 effects of the roller, tliough its first and immedi- 

 ate effect seems to those unaccustomed to its use. 

 pernicious or destructive. The roller I have used 

 has been of free stone, 18 inches in diameter and 

 3A feet in leni'lh ; its weight I should suppose, 

 cannot bo less than ">00 Ihs. at the least ; but as 

 such rollers c'Uiiot easily be procured, a smootii 

 log of |H inches diameter, or a plank one of two 

 feet, will answer equally well, having directly 

 over the axis a box filled with stones to such n 

 weight, as a common horse, can conveniently drag 

 over an undulating surface. This can only be 

 settled, by each individual, according to tht 

 strength of his horse and the inequality of his 

 giound, of which, every man on the spot, can 

 a'one bo the competent judge. 



I have no hesitation to say, that among all tlie 

 improvements of modern husbandry, the rolle;- 

 holds an important, and I should sav, an indispen- 

 sable place. JOHN' LOWELL. 



Roibunj, Od. 31, 1837. 



N. B. It may seem to those, who judge of ihr 

 labour of any proceeding, by the words used in its, 

 description, that this is a very operose and o.xpeu- 

 sive process. For the information of such, I wouli! 

 say, that an acre may be rolled by one boy and a 

 horse, in one hour, at the most moderate calcula 

 tion — at least so we find it in New England. 



Jim. Farmer. 



To preserve Potatoes from the Frost. — If ym: 

 have not a convenient store-place for them, dig a 

 trench three or four feet deep, into which ther 

 are to be laid as they are taken up, and thee 

 covered with the earth taken out of the trench, 

 raised up in t)ie middle like the roof of a house; 

 and covered v.'ilh straw, to carry off the rain — 

 They will thus be preserved from the frost, aiiS 

 can be taken up as they are wanted. 



