278 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



FEB. 19, 184(1 



could grow from an ounce, or to ascertain how many 

 bushels I could obtain from a pound, using extra 

 soil, manure, labor, &c. &c. 



But my object was to find out what kind of soil 

 and mamire was best adapted to the Rohan, and 

 what might ordinarily be effected by cominon' cave 

 and means. 



T now give you as briefly as I can, the promised 

 account 



I purchased of you in May last, fire pomids Ro- 

 han : on the 7th I selected the lowest ground I had, 

 a very deep soil, rich but very wet: I marked out 

 one row of fifteen hills, about two feet apart : I 

 dug with a spade, holes below the level surface, 

 about one foot deep : into these holes I put two 

 quarts each of Ward's bone manure, and mixed it 

 up with the earth, nearly filling the holes to each 

 hill : I planted two eyes and covered tlicm three in- 

 ches deep : the ground was so wet while planting 

 as to mire and make it quite muddy. 



I next planted ffleen hills more, in a row parallel 

 with the first, (three feet distant.) The second row 

 was planted precisely like the first, excepting the 

 manure. To this row I applied fresh cow manure, 

 and mixed it up with the earth in the holes as the 

 first. 'I'o each row of fifteen hills I planted two 

 pounds of Rohan. 



You will recollect, sir, that about this time we 

 had heavy rains : after they were planted, the wa- 

 ter actually covered the entire surface of the ground 

 for more than two days ; it was so very wet, I 

 doubted much if they ever sprouted. On tlie 15th 

 I planted the other pound ; and for this I selected 

 the dryest ground I had, a side hill, having a north- 

 easterly exposure : I planted ten hills ; manured 

 with old stable manure (horse.) 



To all the three rows 1 gave but the ordinary 

 care, removing the weeds between them (wicc only, 

 and giving them a very slight hilling up. 



Those planted on bont manure came up first and 

 grew best : those planted on the cow manure, only 

 six ont 0? ff teen came up at all: those on the horse 

 manure all came up. 



On the 24th September, the day previous to the 

 annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultu- 

 ral Society, I dug them all. 



From the fifteen hills planted on bone manure 1 

 dug two bushels, very large and superior, weighing 

 128 lbs. : From the six hills that came up on cow 

 manure, the produce was about a peck, weighing 

 12 lbs. ; inferior in size and appearance: and from 

 the ten hills on the side hill, I dug half a bushel, 

 weighing 30 lbs. ; very fair in size and appearance. 

 I have tried the several kinds on my table, and 

 find those grown in the meadow, on the bone manure, 

 decidedly best ; yet I do not think theili by any 

 means a good eating potato. 



Those grown as above mentioned, on the tojic 

 manure, were long and large, many of them weigh- 

 ing over a pound. I selected twelve for the exhi- 

 bition at the Society's rooms, which weighed 14 lbs. 

 Those grown on the side hill were smaller, more 

 round, and even surface. 



From the experiment I made, I am satisfied that 

 the Rohan will prove a very desirable potato for 

 stock. That tcet land suits them best, and to en- 

 sure great crops, bone manure is what they crave. 

 Tliese are my reasons : 



When I dug them I was struck with the appear- 

 ance of the long, fibrous roots, which had struck 

 down into the bone manure, and formed, as it were, 

 a perfect net-work around the whole mass, so much 

 so, that in pulling up the tops or vines, the whole 



mass in some instances were drawn up with them, 

 and this only with those planted on bone manure. 

 I took particular notice of this fact, for in digging 

 the others I found no such roots at all. 



The bones were decomposed in pait and formed 

 a glutinous body, and it appeared that it had ab- 

 sorbed and dried up much of the moisture around 

 the hill, and it is to this fact I attribute their pre- 

 servation during the wet season, their rapid growth 

 and their liberal produce, while the other row near 

 them were nearly or quite destroyed by the moist- 

 ure. 



There is no doubt in my own mind but thatthe- 

 crops would have been much larger had they re- 

 mained longer in the ground, for when they were 

 dug they were in a thrifty and growirrg state ; but 

 being desirous of ascertaining some facts at that 

 time, was the reason of my digging them. 



So well convinced am I, sir, that the above men- 

 tioned facts are important, that I shall the coming 

 season, increase the quantity planted to several 

 bushels, and upon bone manure, and should any one 

 be induced to try the experiment, I hope they will 

 give the result to you. 



Very respectfully. 



Yours, truly, 

 JAMES L. L. F. WARREN. 



Brighton, (J^onantum Vale,) Jan. 28, 1840. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



PAUPER FARM S . 



Mr Breck — The system of supporting the poor 

 on farms, is one that has added much comfort to 

 the unfortunate, but is opposed by some individuals 

 on the ground of expense. It has appeared to me 

 that such farms should be model farms. Managed 

 judiciously, by men who should be retained in of- 

 fice for a series of years, they could bo made such. 



The manner of presenting the annual accounts 

 of many pauper establishments, of the kind here re- 

 ferred to, has appeared to me erroneous, and con- 

 veys to the inhabitants wrong impressions and re- 

 sults in cheating the farm of its rightful due, in the 

 same way that farms are frequently defrauded by 

 individuals. Below you have a supposed case, pre- 

 suming that the town has paid for its farm and 

 stock, and that without it, the cost of supporting 

 each pauper would be ninety cents per week, as 

 struck off to the lowest bidder. 



C 



$20( 

 2( 



40 



Farm, 

 By cash for butter, &c. 

 " " Calves, &c. 

 " " Potatoes, &c. 



" " Boarding inmates, average 



number through the year 19, at 

 90 cents per week, 88! 



1840— ./jfpnV. 



Farm, 300C 



Slock, 32; 



Tools, ii; 



Produce, ,')4( 



$512£ 



By the above it will be seen that the town, 

 posing its farm as good as the previous year, 

 made an advance of $285, and has pai-d the int( 

 on investment, $235, making the sum of .$55 

 which deducted from $889, the cost in the old 

 of supporting the poor, leaves the actual coi 

 the town $369 ; — or say $19 1 -2 per year, or 3* 

 cents per week for each person, supposing the e 

 her nineteen. 



It is confidently believed that the results of i 

 of the pauper establishments prove more favor 

 than represented above. Will you or some of; 

 correspondents point out any error that may « 

 in this statement. I 



" " clothing, groceries, &,c. 



for inmates, 171 80 



" " superintendent, 300. 00 



Interest on $3920, 235 20 



Estimated labor of inmates, 78 00 



Balance profit, 285 00 



$5129 00 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



CHANGE IN ENGLISH HAY. 



Ma Editor — In the spring of some eight or 

 years ago, (I am not certain of the exact time,) 

 working oxen, which had previously been veryj 

 to bear the heat in the spring, could not work 

 usual, without being over-heated. On inqui 

 found that other farmers' oxen were in the s; 

 situation, and that it was very extensively so. 

 was a subject of inquiry and discussion, what c( 

 be the cause, as the weather was not unusu 

 warm. My oxen had always in the spring, b 

 kept on hay, of what is called natural English m 

 ing, and always before, with the best success, 

 natural English mowing is meant such uplam 

 is too rocky, or too moist to plough, or which 

 supposed to be more profitable to remain in its ni 

 ral state ; and occasionally giving it a top-dress 

 of fine manure, and in that way to get two cr 

 of hay in a year, and a third, of good feed 

 cattle. Why it is called English hay, I know : 

 for such grasses are the natural product of the f 



After much thought on the subject, and from 

 fact that my cows were affected in the same w 

 when exposed to the sun, I came to the conclus 

 that it was the hay ; and most men now have cc 

 to the same conclusion ; not all, however, be 

 aware of the fact, that ihe quality of the hay '. 

 altered, and that, from some unknown cause, ! 

 where the management has been the same fo 

 hmg succession of years. It has now become v 

 generally known that this kind of hay is not ea 

 so well by animals as formerly : there is not t 

 sweet smell to it that there used to be, and thai 

 generally causes the cattle that eat it to heat- 

 some instances, the cultivated grasses are not of 

 good a quality as formerly, and produce the sa 

 effect as the natural grasses, on working oxen. N 

 what can be the cause of this alteration in the abc 

 mentioned kind of hay ? I will hazard the opini 

 that it is caused by some alteration in the seaso: 



