

\ OL. XVUI.] 



AND H O R T I C U L T U !{ A L REGISTER. 



^ 



PUBLISHED EV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.4RKET STREET, (Agricultuhal Warehoube.) 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 1, 1840. 



[NO. 39. 



N. E . FARMER, 



PREMIUM FARM REPORTS. 



Statement of Joshua A". La'vton, of Great Bairijia;- 

 ton, whose fnrm ohiairied the second premium of 



I the Massachusetts Agricultural Socitty. 

 Question 1. Of liow much land does your farm 

 consist, cxclu-sive of wood land ? 

 An.i. 185 acres, having added 12 acres of pas- 

 ture tlie present year. 



'2. What is the nature of your soil — does it 

 iConsist of sand, gravel, clay, loam, or peat ? 



About three quarters consists of a sandy lonm 

 and loam, and one quarter of clay loam ; all resting 

 or based on limestone ; no peat or gravel. 



3. If of a part, or all of the above kinds, what 

 do you consider the best metliod of improving 

 them .' 



To break up or plough the sward land in 4 or 5 

 years, fii-st spreading about 20 cartloads (I speak in 

 reference, to my means of manuring the farm,) of 

 long or compost manure per acre before ploughing, 

 for a corn and potato crop, which should be taken 

 the first year of tillage ; a crop of spring grain 

 should be taken the ne.xt year, without npplyin? 

 manure, except plaster, which is as good ploughed 

 in, unless grass seed is sown, (that is, the land is laid 

 down,; and then it had better be spread after the 

 grain has come up; if a third crop is taken before 

 seeding down to grass, it had better be winter 

 grain, spreading before ploughing, 10 or 12 cart- 

 loads of long manure ; but after, if the manure is 

 fine, to the acre ; and sow on plaster in the spring 

 following, a bushel to the acre, on both winter and 

 spring grain. Grass land should not ho fed down 

 close in the fall, CBpecially on clay or clay loam 

 land. I sow a bushel of plaster to the acre on all 

 my grass land. 



4. How many acres do you till, and how many 

 cart-loads of manure (meaning by cart-loads 3(/ 

 bushels at least) do you generally put on an acre? 



54 acres this year, and put on when I manure, 

 from 12 to 15 such loads to the acre. 



5. Is your manure applied in its long or green 

 state, or in compost ? 



Both in a green state and in compost. 



6. Do you spread and plough in your manures 

 put upon fields to be planted with corn or potatoes, 

 or put it into the hills .' 



I always spread and plough in manure for corn 

 and potatoes, and sometimes in addition, put a little 

 fine manure in hills of coui. 



7. What is your method of ploughing and cul- 

 tivating green sward ? 



I plough it in the spring end after the ground is 

 settled and thoroughly dry, plough again from 4 to 

 .5 inches deep, laying the furrows at an angle of 

 from 30 to 40 degrees, thinking it better than to lay 

 them flat, and harrow the first time in the direction 

 of the furrow, and after, a little obliquely, till the 

 ground is mellow — always using the double-joint- 

 ed harrow, because it covers the turf with the soil, 

 sinks into a hollow, in fine, by conforming its shape 



to that of the ground, and doe.-i its work evenly and 

 alike. 



8. How many acres of upland do you mow, and 

 what is the average quantity of hay upon an acre 



4.5 acres, yielding on an average 1 3-4 ton to 

 the acre. 



0. IIow many acres of grass land do you irri- 

 gate — at what season, and how long do you allow 

 thn water to flow your land, and what is the effect? 



I do not irrigate any. 



10. Do you manure the lands irrigated, or any 

 other land you mow — how much to the acre — and 

 what kind of manure do you put on? 



I stack hay on the poorest part, in the hay sea 

 son, and fodder it out in the winter, when I also on 

 other poor parts, put hay or straw in pens and fod 

 der it out ; and in the spring,' put a little compost 

 on that which is moist. 



11. How many acres of low land not suitable 

 for the plough do you mow, — and what is the 

 quantity and quality of hay cut the present year? 



5 or 6 acres : the produce is red-topand fox-tail, 

 and in qirantity from I 1-2 to 2 tons the acre. 



12. What is your method of reclaiming low, 

 bog, or peat lands, and what has been your suc- 

 cess ? 



By draining and under-di"'aining, which made that 

 productive that before produced nothing. ' 



13. How many acres of corn have you planted 

 the present season — what was your mode of prepar- 

 ing the ground and the seed — the kind and quantity 

 of manure used to an acre — the manner of apply, 

 ing it, and the quantity of corn raised to an acre ? 



About 14 acres ; which was green sward. I 

 ploughed and harrowed as before described, spread- 

 ing the manure before ploughing, about 15 cart- 

 loads to the acre, on 4 acres, and none on tlie re- 

 maining 10 acres, it having lain down 7 or 8 years. 

 I planted the seed dry. Tlie product was 30 bush- 

 els to the acre. 



14. How many acres did you plant with pota- 

 toes the present year — what, was your method of 

 planting — your manner of cultivating — and what 

 the average quantity raised on an acre — and what 

 kind did you plant ? 



About 4 1-4 acres of green sward ; plou-ghed and 

 harrowed as aforesaid ; being first spread over with 

 green manure and compost, about 1.5 cartloads to 

 the acre. I furrowed it both ways, 3 feet apart one 

 way and 2 1-2 feet the other, and planted one or 

 two whole potatoes in the angles, and ploughed and 

 hoed them twice; raised about 300 bushels to the 

 acre, principally the round pink-eyes, some ladies' 

 bakers, Mercer, &c. 



15. What number of acres of other vegetables 

 did you plant — what kind, and how many bushels 

 of produce had you to the acre, and to what use 

 shall you apply them ? 



About one acre of rutabaga — produce 800 bush- 

 els to the acre ; and shall feed them chiefly to cat- 

 tle and sheep. 



Ifi. IIow many acres of winter or spring grain 

 did you sow the present year — how was the 

 ground prepared — what quantity of seed did you 

 sow on an acre — if you have raised wheat, of what 



kind — the nature of the soil — and was it sown 

 witli or without using litiie ? 



About 32 acres; 16 acres with spring grain, and 

 ou stubble ground, of a sandy loam and clay loam, 

 ploughed one inch deeper than I plough sward-land, 

 harrowed once previous to sowing; sowed 2 bush- 

 els of Italian wheat rolled in lime to the acre, and 

 3 bushels oats lo the acre ; no manure was put up- 

 on it. [I sowed the wheat from the 18th to the 20th 

 of April, and had a good crop; not a head of tiiat 

 sown the 20th had an insect in it, but a feio heads 

 of that sown the 18th, had.] The remaining 14 

 acres was stubble and fallow ground, and was 

 ploughed and harrowed the same as were the 18 

 acres, and was sown with winter rye, in a dry state 

 and 5 pecks to the acre. 



17. How many acres have you laid down to 

 grass the present year — at what time fn the year 

 did you sow it — how much seed to the acre, and 

 was it sown alone, or with a grain crop? 



51 1-2 acres — 37 1-2 in the spring, with7quarts 

 timothy and 3 quarts clover seed to the acre; 14 

 acres of which with a grain crop, and the residue, 

 23 1-2, alone: and 14 acres this fall with a grain 

 crop, with Tqts. timothy seed to the acre. 



18. What are your means, and what your man- 

 ner of collecting and making manure ? 



My ..j'^arts are the droppings of my cattle, &c., 

 hay, .'traw, wasH of street, soil and turf carted from 

 the highway. I put them in barn-yards and hog- 

 pens. 



19. How many oxen, cows, young cattle, horses, 

 and sheep, do you keep through the year — what is 

 the size of your barn or barns, and have you a cel- 

 lar under them — is your manure covered ? 



From 2 to 4 yoke of oxen, according as my busi- 

 ness requires; 6 cows, 10 young cattle, 4 horses, 

 and 400 sheep. (I hired pasturage this year to the 

 amount of $55.) Have two barns ; one is 30 by 

 80 feet, with a cow-house as high as the barn, 24 

 by 54 ft. ; the other, erected this year, is 35 by 45 

 feet, with a cellar under it, and a straw-house at- 

 tached to it, 20 by 30 feet. '1 he large spaces un- 

 der the buildings are accessible to cattle, sheep and 

 swine, and will cover a large proportion of the ma- 

 nure. Water is brought in aqueducts to the barns 

 as also to the piggery. 



20. Are your cows of the native, foreign or 

 mixed breed ? 



They are mostly native. 



21. What is your management of calves in- 

 tended to bo raised ? 



Have generally taken them from the cow at 4 

 days old, and fed them 2 weeks on new milk, and 

 after on skimmed milk till they are 10 or 12 weeks 

 old, and then put them wholly to pasture. 



12, How nmch butter did you make this year, 

 and how much cheese, and what proportion new 

 milk ? 



About 500 lbs. butter, and 1200 lbs. cheese — of 

 new milk. 



23. How many swine did you keep, what quan- 

 tity of pork did you make, and of what breed were 

 your hogs ? 



I have kept 50 swine this year ; 23 are of the 



