212 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JASITART 9 1»3». 



MR INGERSOLL'S PIGGERY. 



(Concluded.) 



Brookline, Dec. IMh, \SXy 

 Pear Sir, — 



I received youiyfavor of the 21:^1 ult, a long 

 time after its date, and not until it was much worn 

 and chafed with its travels ere it reached nic. I 

 will endeavor to answer your enquiries in detail 

 The following is a "suimnary view of the total 

 quantity of each kind of food used in my piggery 

 per aiinuiD," and the months in which they are 

 used; beginning with the 1st of July, which 

 about the time I begin to depend upon summer 

 vegetables, viz : 



hush. 

 July and August — Mangel wurtzel, roots, 

 and tops being the thinnings from two 

 squares each, containing 33 rods, ^00 



Summer squashes, 200 



Early cabbages, 100 



Scpttmber, October and .November — 



Winter squashes or pum)>kins, 700 



Large drum head cabbages, SOO 



TWnimings of mangel wurtzel 



turnips, &c. &c. 150 



Decembe^r, January, February, March, 



Jlpril — Mangel wurtzel,* (roots) 200 



Carrots, DOO 



Ruta baga, 200 



Cabbages, 1500 



May — Parsnips which are left in the ground 

 during the winter, and allowed to grow 

 in the spring, until their tops are from 4 

 to tj inches higli, when they are daily 

 dug as wanted, and all boiled, 500 



June — Potatoes, 250 



Early lettuce, peas, chopped up vines and 

 pods when the peas are full grown, though 

 still green, 050 



Bushels, 



6550 



We always mix the vegetables by boiling some 

 of eitlier kind in eacli kettle. 



Aly farming, or rather gardening, goes upon the 

 principle of cultivating but little ground, and by 

 great attention to get large crops, and in some in- 

 stances two from the same land. The form of one 

 piece constantly in cultivation is an oblong, thus 

 divided with an alley or walk 4 feet wide in the 

 centre. 



No. 1. Of the upper side was sowed this year 

 •with mangel wurtzel, thinned out several times as 

 described in a former letter, and finally cabbage 

 plants set out two feet apart, (for winter crop,) ta- 

 ken from square No. 3, of the lower side. 



No. 2. Has now a crop of parsnips left to grow 

 tlie next spring, to furnish food for the month of 

 May. The frost, however severe, does not injure 

 them, and they are very mucli liked by the hogs. 

 The advantage of preserving without trouble through 

 the winter makes them valuable. 



No. 3. Upper side, produced parsnips that were 

 dug in the month of May, and 4th of June was 

 sowed with carrots. Produce 237 bushels of the 

 short kind. 



No. 1. Of the lower side was cropped with 

 carrots this year ; of the long orange kind. Pro- 

 duce 248 bushels. 



* Cabbages and mangel wurtzel used first. 



No. 2. Bore the crop of mangel wurtzel I de- 

 scribed to you in a former letter. 



No. 3. Cabbages. — The ground was laid out in 

 8 beds, 4 rods long, and 1 wide ; the 12th June, it 

 was sowed with Pomfret cabbage seed, in rows 2 

 feet asunder. They were thinned out, as plants 

 were wanted to set other places, so as finally to 

 stand 2 feet apart. Produce .500 bushels. 



This piece of land is constantly cropped in such 

 routine, that the same vegetable occupies the same 

 square onre in three years. Each square is annu- 

 ally manured with well rolled hog dung, and always 

 at the rate of 4 cart loads for 40 cubic feet. The 

 cabbage square has in addition 20 bushels of un- 

 slacked wood ashes. 



The aggregate produce this year of the whole 

 6 squares, or 1 1-5 acres was as follows, viz : 

 8 1-2 rods wide 



Upper Side. 

 No. 1. Mangel wurtzel tops 

 and roots all boiled to- 

 gether, 510 bush. 

 Cabbages transplanted 500 do. 



1010 bush, 



No. 2. Now filled with parsnips — no 



doubt, 500 do. 



No. 3. Carrots, 237 do. 



Lower •Side. 

 No. 1. Carrots, 

 No. 2. Mangel wurtzel. 

 No. 3. Pomfret cabbages, 



Busliels, 3028 



Upon the borcers of this garden ground, which 

 is one rod wide, I have a row of fruit trees. Un- 

 der them we have lettuce, early cabbages, ruta 

 baga for transplanting, and such vegetables as our 

 family require. But upon the plat above described 

 nothing groAvs to shade the crops devoted to the 

 piggery. 



A second piece of ground, contains a square 

 acre, and is divided into 4 equal parts and cro])pcd 

 in this manner, viz: 



1-4 acre, early potatoes and peas for family use. 

 Of the peas, those not wanted, are chopped up, 

 vines and all, and boiled in June. This land is 

 cleared soon enough for a crop of transplanted 

 Swedish turnips, or ruta baga. 



1-4 acre, summer squash. Produce 200 bushels. 



1-4 acre carrots. Produce 310 bushels. 



1-4 acre, cabbages, do. 500 do. 



These two pieces of land are my sheet ancho 

 — they are highly cultivated and neatly dressed' 

 without a weed allowed to seed upon them. 



I annually cultivate besides, 3 acres of fiel. 

 land by breaking up 1 1-2 acres, and laying dowi 

 the same quantity, These 3 acres are cropped at 

 follows, viz : 



1 acre potatoes, 250 to 300 bushels. 



1 acre winter stpiash or 



pumpkins, 700 to 900 bushels. 



1-2 acre cabbages 1000 bushels. 



( Roots, tops &c 

 1-4 acre mangel wurtzel 2.')0 } given to sheep am 



I cows. 

 1-4 acre carrots, 250 



2500 bushels. 

 These crops are an average for the last 3 years 

 My whole farm, (if it deserves that name,) is onh 

 21 acres, within a ring fence. Of which one acrt 

 or more is occupied by buildings, yards, and ap 

 preaches to them. 



To carry on all my operations I keep two hirec 

 men through the year, one of whom however, doe; 

 the duty of house servant at the same time ; am 

 I hire besides day laborers and cattle to plough, t( 

 amount of 150 dollars more. It occupies abou 

 the whole time of one man, to take care of m' 

 stock, consisting of 100 hogs, GO sheep, 1 chaisi 

 horse, 1 cart horse, and one cow ; though they an 

 both together, and when the animals are fed, ar 

 employed in the gardens in summer, and in winte 

 getting out manure for the next season. 



In answer to your question respecting the " pro 

 bable marketable value of the vegetables on m' 

 farm," I would observe that the kinds and quantitie 

 of many which I raise, could not de sold at all ; a 

 for instance, the mangel wurtzel, ruta baga and al 

 the tops and trimnaings of others. MrQuincy tells 

 me, lie this year sells carrots in Boston, after car 

 rying them 8 miles, at 9 dollars per ton, or 18 centi 

 per bushel. Cabbages are sold by the load at i 

 cents each, or about 8 or 10 cents per bushel 

 Parsnips and winter squashes must be retailed, anc 

 pumpkins in any quantities would not sell for any- 

 thing. 



To answer your question about market gardeners' 

 I have endeavored to recollect who among ray 

 neighbors have been successful and long establishec 

 in that line, and I cannot select a single individual 

 who has not driven his own cart to market, until hC' 

 had sons old enough to take his place, and thus by 

 attending to the minutia; of the business prcventni 

 that fraud and deception, that a gentleman farim 1 

 cannot easily avoid. When J first bought in) 

 estate, I sat up a market cart, got a stout horse, 

 and a man well recommended, but my dailv receipts 

 kept growing less and less ; my man and horse 

 were out late every evening, and after a vexatious ■ 

 and mortifying experiment, I was convinced, that I 

 inust either find a market for my vegetables upon 

 the place, and under my own eyes, or give it up as 

 a losing concern — for 1 could not bring my mind to 

 the constant and daily competition, for trifling sums, 

 which a man habituated to it from infancy, rather 

 takes pleasure in. 



Manure bought in Boston, costs them two dol- 

 lars per' buck load, of G2 or 03 cubic feet, trod 

 hard and moderately heaped, in its unrotted state. 

 The expense of carting put at the lowest rate, can- 

 not cost the farmer less than SI 50 per load, and 

 when they bring it on hire, they charge 82 50. 

 My whole stock annually furnishes three hundred 



