364 



NEW ENGLAxND FARMER, 



PREMIUM FARM REPORTS. 



„,T,''® subjoined is the statement of the farming of 

 William Wells, of Shelburne, Franklin co., Mass. 

 tew farms are in better condition or show a better 

 result than that of Mr VVell.s. His establishment 

 18, in many respects, a model of good husbandry— 

 of order, neatness, indu.stry, temperance, hospitali- 

 ty and the grateful enjoyment of the blessings of a 

 kind Providence. Mr Wells received a gratuity of 

 nity dollars. H C 



To the Trvstccs of the Massnrhusells /Igrkullural 

 Socieli/ for I8;W. 



1. My farm consists of 28.5 acres, exclusive of 

 wood land. 



2. The soil consists partly of light loam, and 

 partly of stiff loam. 



3. The drier part which I mow and till is improv- 

 ed by a rotation of crops, beginning with corn or 

 potatoes the first season ; the next season the land 

 IS in wheat, oats, or barley. It is then stocked 

 •well with grass seed, and then mowed until it wants 

 ploughing and manuring again. It generally re- 

 mains in grass from four to»si.\- years. '^ Occasion- 

 ally t sow plaster on the stiff loam. The moist 

 part which is not suitable for tillage I mow, manur- 

 ing it once in three or four years. I am careful at 

 all times to have a suitable proportion of pasturino- 



4. I usually till from 12 to 15 acres. I put o'n 

 from eight to ten loads of manure where I manure 

 in the hill, and from twenty to twentyfive where it 

 is spread. 



5. My manure is generally applied in its oreen 

 state when spread, but well rotted when ptrt, into 

 the hill. 



C. I never plough in manure where I piaiitcorn 

 or potatoes, but spread it after ploughing the land ■ 

 giving it a light harrowing, as I wish to leave it as' 

 near the surface as possible, unless dropped into 

 the hill. 



7. Green sward I generally turn over in the 

 month of April ; then cart on manure, say 20 or 2-1 

 loads per acre, before planting—spread it and give 

 It light harrowing. Many tiir.es in addition, I "ive 

 It a light manuring in the hill. When I hoe "it I 

 use a cultivator, taking care not to disturb the sods. 



8. I mow .36 acres of upland. Tiie average crop 

 of hay exceeds two tons per acre. 



9. I irrigate six acres through the warm season 

 excepting when cutting the hay. The effect is a 

 greater increase in the crop, and of a superior qual- 

 ity of hay. 



10. The irrigated land needs no manure except 

 what IS carried on by the water. My mowina 

 which IS too moist for tillage, requires manure once 

 in three or four years. I apply about 20 or 25 loads 

 to the acre of common yard manure. 



] 1. I mow eight or nine acres of low land • the 

 hay IS nearly all English hay, averaging not far 

 from two tons per acre. 



13. Bog or peat lands I have none. 



13. I planted five acres of corn this season ; one 

 acre and a half is planted on land after a crop of 

 oats. The stubble was turned under in August 

 and ploughed again in the spring. Before plant- 

 ing, about ten loads of good rotten yard manure 

 per acre were put into the hiM. It produced 80 

 bushels of corn. Another piece of green sward 

 containing one acre and twentyfive rods, was turn 

 ed over in April. Before planting I carted on 25 

 loads of green yard manure, spread it, and harrow- 

 ed It in lightly. Then I put about nine loads of 

 well rotted manure per acre into the hill. It pro- 



duced 11(3 bushels of corn, averaging 100 bushels 

 and 10 quarts per acre. Another piece of worn 

 land about the same size, prepared in the same 

 manner, produced 84 bushels of cotp. Another 

 piece containing a few rods over an acre of pasture 

 land, which had never been manured, was cultivat- 

 ed in this manner. I turned it over a little before 

 planting and harrowed it lightly, and about ten loads 

 ot green stable manure per acre were put into the 

 hill. The produce was sixtyseven bushels. My 

 whole crop of corn averages 70 bushels and 6 qts. 

 per agre. My corn was planted in hills three feet 

 apart each way; four stalks were allowed to stand 

 in a hill. The seed was shelled from the ear and 

 planted without any preparation. The corn was 

 hoed three times. I made use of a cultivator in 

 hoeing each time. 



14. I planted two and one-quarter acres of pota- 

 toes on green sward turned over in the month of 

 May. Ten Joads of green manure per acre were 

 put into the hill. More than one and a quarter 

 acre was planted with a dark purple potato, known 

 in this section by the name of the Mohawk potato. 

 Owing to the unfavorable season for potatoes, the 

 crop was light. The yield was only 2.50 bushels. 

 1 had one other piece, about four-fifths of an acre 

 prepared in the same manner, with the addition of 

 one-third of a gill of plaster to the hill, dropoed up- 

 on the manure after dropping the potatoes! The 

 potatoes planted are of the pale red kind, com- 

 mon throughout the State. The yield was 250 bush- 

 els. Through the centre of this piece there were 

 two rows planted without the application of plaster. 

 The effect was, the two rows without plaster did 

 not produce only half as much as the adjoinino- 

 rows. The soil where they were planted is a stiff 

 loam. Plaster has but little if any effect in pro- 

 ducing a crop on my light loam. My potatoes are 

 all hoed twice. 



15. I raise no other vegetables except in the war- 

 den for family use. " 



10. I sowed four and a half acres of winter rye • 

 three and three-quarter acres of spring wheat; five 

 acres of oats and three and a half acres of peas and 

 oats. For the rye stubble land I ploughed once 

 The quantity of rye sowed was three pecks per 

 acre and harrowed in. The wheat was sowed after 

 a crop of corn or potatoes; I ploughed once ; sow- 

 ed about two bushels per acre. I sowed half a 

 bushel of Italian wheat. The rest of the seed was 

 straw-bearded Leghorn wheat, without any use of 

 lime. A part was sowed on light loam, a part on 

 stiff loam. The crop was equally good on both. 

 My oats were sowed on stock land ploughed once ; 

 the oats sowed and harrowed in ; two bushels of 

 seed were sowed per acre. 



17. I have laid down two acres to grass this sea- 

 son. 'I he seed was sowed with wheat the latter 

 part of April. I put on twelve quarts of timothy 

 and red-top to the acre. 



18. My manure is principally made by cattle in 

 the yard, occasionally carting in muck or common 

 earth. 



i;>. I keep this year fourteen head of oxen, eight 

 cows and heifers that brought calves last spring ; 

 young stock, twentythree head j three horses, two' 

 colts and eight sheep. 



20. I have one barn one hundred and ten feet 

 long by thirty feet wide. I have one other barn 

 fortyfive feet long by thirty feet wide, and an open 

 cellar under the whole for covering manure. At 

 the large barn there is no manure covered except- 

 ing what is under some large sheds. 



MATT as, 1S39. 



21 1 have three cows and one heifer, alTr^a^ 

 breed ; I have four heifers half blood, of short horn 

 Durham breed. 



22. I take my calves from the cow at three days 

 old, and learn them to drink milk ; keep them on 

 Tl Tr'"" '■""^"•'^^''^' «"'' tl'en It may be skimmed 

 It half agJl of rye or oilmea! be added to two qts 

 of imlk. I wean them at twelve weeks old. 



23. I raised this season five calves ; made free 

 use of milk in my family ; made 700 lbs. of butter 

 and 500 lbs. of new milk cheese. ' 



24 I have fourteen hogs of the small Bvfield 

 breed. Quantity of pork fatted this season 'SGOO 

 pounds. 



25 I keep my hogs in a pasture in the summer 

 months and give them milk and whey, and the wa^h 

 from the house. I commence fatting my ho^s by 

 boihng potatoes and apples mixed together ; °about 

 one-third apples. Afler they are well boiled, a lit 

 tie meal, about ten or twelve quarts to a barrel is 

 applied. I mix it well and let it cool. I fin'ish 

 fatting my hogs by giving clear provender four or 

 five weeks previous to killing. 



2a As my hogs are taken from the pasture to 

 the pen to fatten, I make no manure excepting what 

 is made in the pen while fatting, which is about ten 

 or twelve loads. 



27. I have three hands in the winter, four in the 

 summer, with some extra help in the haying season 

 1 pay from ten to twelve dollars per month by the 

 year ; from eighteen to twenty dollars per month in 

 the season of haying and harvesting. 



28. I have about two hundred apple trees, most- 

 ly young and just beginning to bear ; selected by 

 taking sprouts from the roots of trees producino- the 

 best of fruit, or by engrafYing. I have about efghty 

 other fruit trees, consisting of peaches, pears, quin- 

 ces, plums and cherries. 



2a My fruit trees have never been attacked by 

 canker worms nor borers. 



30. I keep no distilled spirits in my house for 

 myself or laborers. 



WILLIAM WELLS. 



The following is the account of the farm of Wil- 

 liam Salisbury, of Groton, Middlesex county, Mass., 

 a town distinguished for its general e.xcellent culti- 

 vation, and especially for its admirable success in 

 the redemption of peat bogs, now rendered some of 

 the richest and most productive lands in the State. 

 Mr Salisbury, as we infer from his statement, is 

 one of those striking examples of successful perse- 

 verance against difiiciilties, and with little other 

 means than courage, diligence, and frugality, with 

 which New England abounds, and the moral 'fruits 

 of which upon the heart and character, are as valu- 

 able as those which are brought out of the soil. 



H. C. 



To the Trustees of the Mnssa>^husetts Agricultural 

 Society. 



1. My farm consists of 130 acres, exclusive of 

 wood land. 



2. 'J he soil consists of clay, loam, and peat 



3. I till the present year about 17 acres. I do 

 not apply manure to land the same year that I sow. 



4. I apply my manure in as green a state as I 

 can. 



5 &. 6. I spread my long manure on grass for 

 corn, and turn it under from three to four inches. I 

 have this year also put meadow mud that had been 

 in the hog-yard through the winter, into the hilj, on 

 some part of my corn this year ; but intend for the 



