vol.. XVH Ni» 43. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



341 



for the best work with the least expense of labor. 

 It must be understood, that in all cases, whether 

 there be any competition or not, it is at the discre- 

 tion of the committees to withhold a premium, if, in 

 their opinion, the object so offered is not deserving 

 of It. 



.\ny attempts to obtain preminms by unfair prac- 

 tices, will be punished by a forfeiture of the premi- 

 um, sliould it have been awarded before a discov- 

 er , and will also preclude the oflender from being 

 lierijiitted to apply for premiums in future. Pre- 

 miums to be demanded within six months after 

 they are awarded. 



JAMES RHODES, President. 



Wm. W. Hoppin, Secretaiy. 



-MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY—PREMIUM FARMS. 



We publish below, William Pomroy's answer to 

 tiie queslions of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Society the last year. Mr Pomroy was honored 

 witli a premium of seventyfive dollars. Mr Pom- 

 roy s farm is in Northfield, Franklin Co : and we 

 have no hesitation in saying that in its condition 

 and management, is among the very best in the 

 State. H. C. 



1. The farm consists of 00 acres exclusive of 

 wood land. 



2. The soil is a loam bordering on sand. 

 My methods of improvement are as follows. 



3. I have practised for a number of years past, 

 sowing from six to eight lbs. of southern clover 

 seed per acre, whenever I have sowed wheat, rye, 

 or oats, in order to plough it in after the crop of 

 grain is taken off. I have postponed turning in the 

 clover and stubble as late as convenient, that the 

 clover may be dead before ploughed in, as my ex- 

 perience tells rae if I plough in a perfectly green 

 crop of cloTer, it will leave the land cold and 

 heavy. I never sow grass seed without grain, nor 

 grain without grass seed. By this method, my 

 land is growing better every year. 



4. I have tilled this season 23 1-2 acres, and 

 apply about ten loads of manure to the acre, with 

 corn. 



.5. iMy manure is applied in compost. j 



(j. I sometimes put the manure into the hill or j 



spread it after ploughing, and harrow it in. I pre- [ 



fcr the latter mode. i 



7. My method of managing green sward is as 

 follows : to plough late in the fall, and harrow : 

 well in the spring, and plant without manure, ex- 

 cepting about one bushel of gypsum, two bushels 

 of dry ashes, and three bushels of leached ashes to 

 the acre, which is put in the hill with the corn. 



8. My mowing land consists of 14 acres in my 

 home lot, and 7 1-2 acres in the meadow. This 

 meadow is not flowed. The 7 1-2 acres in the 

 meadow produced this season 15 tons; 5 acres in 

 my home lot produced 20 tons ; the remaining 9 

 acres 25 tons — total on 21 1-2 acres, 60 tons. 



St. I employ no irrigation, my land not being fa- 

 vorably situated for that. I manure my home lot 

 every other year from my barn-yard, applying from 

 10 to 15 loads per acre. 



10. I cut no hay but the best of English hay. 



11. I have no low land or peat bog on my farm. 



12. In Indian corn this season T have 8 acres 

 and 26 rods ; 3 1-2 acres of which in my homo lot 

 ploughed once, (as it will be understood I never 

 plough but once for a crop,) about the middle of 



April, and manured with barn yard manure carted 

 out in the fall ten loads to the acre — put in the hill 

 and planted some during the last days of .\pril with 

 common eight-rowed corn. 1 usually pick the corn 

 and carry it off; then cut the stalks at the bottom, 

 and bind the bundles with straw and cart them in- 

 to the barn on the same day. I never top my 

 stalks. This piece produced 67 bushels to the 

 acre; also 2 1-2 tons of fodder. The above corn 

 was hoed three times. I used a harrow the first 

 time and a cultivator afterwards. Four acres and 

 106 rods of corn in the meadow, being the remain- 

 der of the above mentioned 8 26-160 acres, was 

 thus managed. It was green sward, and ploughed 

 in November. It was turned over perfectly smooth 

 and harrowed well in the spring. I put about one 

 gill of gypsum and ashes (principally leeched) in 

 the hill. I planted it about three feet apart; fin- 

 ished 4th of May, with eight-rowed corn of good 

 sized ears but rather short, said to have been 

 brought from Canada the year before. This was 

 hoed and harvested as above mentioned, and pro- 

 duced 75 1-4 bushels to the acre — 75 lbs. of ears to 

 the busliel. We weighed 75 lbs. of ears at two 

 dift'erent times, and shelled it, which produced one 

 bushel and two quarts each time. 



Neither this piece nor any other part of my 

 meadow has had any manure for 7 or 8 years last 

 past. I have practised this method of raising corn 

 on green sward 4 or 5 years, with about the same 

 result, compared with other pieces, with different 

 management. I think tlie gypsum and ashes of but 

 little use, excepting to keep off the worms. I have 

 not put anything in the hill three years out of the 

 five. 



I lay down a piece of land to grass with 12 qts. 

 of herds grass to the acre, every year, in order to 

 mow, that I may have a piece to plough for corn 

 every year. I sow it with wheat or rye, say from 

 the 10th to the 20th of September, and mow it from 

 one to three years successively, as the case may be. 

 I never plant my land which is not manared, ex- 

 cept on green sward. 



13. I plant no potatoes excepting in my garden. 

 I can get one bushel of corn on the same ground 

 that would be required to produce two bushels of 

 potatoes on my farm. 



14. I have practised raising cattle in years past, 

 but think it not profitable for me, as I am now situ- 

 ated. 



15. I have cultivated this season 2 1-2 acres of 

 winter wheat. Last fall the land was ploughed 

 once, harrowed and bushed. I sowed one bushel 

 and three pecks to the acre. My wheat has for the 

 last three years, been badly winter killed. I have 

 cultivated this season two acres of Italian spring 

 wheat and three-fourths of an acre of a common 

 kind. I sowed two bushels to an acre. It was a 

 fair crop. The Italian was best. T always soak 

 my seed in lime-water or britfe, and roll it in gyp- 

 sum or ashes. I have cultivated five acres of rye, 

 and sowed one bushel of seed to the acre ; and five 

 acres in oats: I sowed 3 1-2 bushels of oats to the 

 acre. 



16. I have laid down to grass this season, five 

 acres ; sowed on the 15th September, with 12 qts. 

 herds grass with grain. 



17. I have no other means of making manure 

 but in my barn-yard. 



18. I stall-feed from 25 to 30 oxen usually through 

 the winter. I pasture from 10 to !4 ic su.iiraor. 

 I keep 2 or 3 cows and 2 horses through the year 



19. My barn is 70 feet long, 42 feet wide, 16 feet 



posts ; I have also, 220 feet of sheds, 15 feet wide' 

 14 feet posts. The under story is used for carria- 

 ges, farming tools, granary, stabling, and the remain- 

 der for sheds for cattle. The upper part is filled 

 with hay and corn fodder. 



20. My cows are of native stock. 



21. I raise no calves. 



22. I make no butter excepting for my family 

 use. I have kept no account of the quantity made. 



23. I fat three hogs weighing together when 

 dretised about 1100 lbs. I dp not know what breed 

 they areof. 



24. We give the swine our slops and what milk 

 and bran we have. They are fattened on some 

 kind of grain provender. 



25. I obtain no manure from my hog-pen, as my 

 hogs run in my barn-yard, excepting when fatten- 

 ing. 



26. I employ only one man constantly. Labor- 

 ers have obtained here this season, from 11 to $14 

 per month. ' I have paid §13 ; but as I am about 

 leaving town, I found it necessary to procure one 

 that is capable of keeping my accounts, making 

 purchases and sales, as the farm may require. I 

 have obtained such an one, who I am at this time 

 paying .§300 per year and board. I have kept an 

 account of every day's work done on my farm from 

 the time of fitting my grounds and sowing my seeds 

 last fall, to the time of finishing my corn harvest 

 this fall, and charged to each piece at the time it 

 was done, calculating one pair of oxen the same 

 as a man, and a horse half as much. 



14 acres mowing in home-lot 

 7 1-2 " in meadow 



4 "106 rods of corn in meadow 

 3 1-2 " in home-lot 



5 " oats 



2 1-2 " winter wheat in meadow 

 2 3-4 " spring " " " 

 5 " winter rye 



331 



27. I have about 35 apple trees, all of grafted 

 fruit. 



28. I have a few pear, plum, and cherry trees. 



29. My trees have not suffered, us I know, from 

 canker worms or borers. 



30. I have used no spirituous liquors nor wine 

 on my farm nor in my house, for thirteen years last 

 past 



WILLIAM POMROY. 

 J\orthJieU, Oct., 1838. 



Coldest climates. — The earth has no spot 

 on its surface, either habitable or otherwise, which 

 is so cold as Yakutsk, a paltry yet principal town 

 of eastern Siberia, where a few wooden houses are 

 intermixed with numerous huts, plastered over with 

 cow-dung, and windowed with ice. In this dreary 

 and remote region, the earth is always frozen, the 

 summer's thaw never reaching below three feet 

 from the surface, the subterranean ice having a 

 computed deptli of 200 yards. In January the ther- 

 mometer has been known to sink 18 degrees below 

 the bitterest cold experienced by Ross during his 

 hst expedition ; and yet the inhabitants, favored by 

 a warm though short summer, reap both wheat and 

 barley, and cultivate successfully potatoes and va- 

 rious other hardy vegetables. 



The Northampton Courier says that hawkers and 

 pedlers are carrying about all sorts of bushes and 

 twigs for mulberry trees. So look out. 



