^OI.. XVll. NO. IS, 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



141 



ts, that some of the premiums were finally 

 e<l upon as a matter of conipronilse between 

 iifforcnt iiieiiibers of the committee, 

 lie coiMinittec awarded tlio premiums as fol- 



t of $10, to Elias Ayres and VVillard Broad, 

 irre. 



I of .47, to Wm. Hond, of Leicester. 



' of .*.">, to Francis S. Brackett, of B ilton. 

 ho bull I'f i\I.>.ssrs. Ayres & Broad has lately 

 piircliasod by them at great expense, and in 

 ipinion of the Committee, has more good and 

 r bad points than almost any animal they liave 



TO bull of Mr Bond appears under miny dls- 

 ntagcs, from having been driven a great dis- 

 j and nut being in hinh order. 

 ie Ayrshire bull, presented to this Society by 

 ;iishuifr, appears again in the pens in his u.^iial 

 liiiess. 11>.' has been the subject of so much 

 ;ient on former occasions, that the ronimittee 

 )t think it necessary that they should say more 

 m. 



le bull presented to the husbandmen r.f West- 

 , by that veteran cgriculturist, the Hon. John 

 es, shows advantageously the good taste and 

 nont, as well as skill in breeding, of that gen- 

 in, to whom this Society has been so frequent- 

 lebted for the best ornaments of its pens, 

 ■ven bulls under one year old were entered 

 remiuin — generally of good shape and propor- 

 — but some of them having the appearance of 

 luch forcing. 



le committee award premiums as follows : 

 t of $'), to George B. Slater, of Webster, 

 of ,v3, to Adam Harrington, of Shrewsbury. 

 ; of ^a, to Thomas S. Brackett, of Bolton, 

 fie committee consider tlioir opinions of com- 

 .ively little consequence to the future celebri- 

 ■ value of these animals, because a bull calf 

 lently changes almost his entire character af- 

 ■ne year, and more especially if he has been 

 d during that year. 



II which is respectfully submitted. 



On Working Oxen. 

 'ommUlee — Nath'l P. Denny, Leicester ; Asaph 

 rews, Shrewsbury ; Paul Whitin, Northbridge ; 

 ua \V. Leland, Grafton ; Holloway Bally, 

 thboro' ; Amory Holman, Bolton ; Nathaniel 

 in, Paxton. 



he committee appointed to award premiums 

 Worlving Oxen, have attended to that service 

 made the following report, viz: 



better exhibition of Working Oxen has never 

 lared on any former occasion. Twenty-two 

 3 of oxen were entered for premiums, eighteen 

 fhich became competitors. So little difference 

 •arrd in the oxen, in relation to equality of 

 :h, docility, size and appearance, that the coni- 

 ee found it very difficult to decide who was 



entitird to the premiums. But being obliged 

 ecide, ihcy have awarded the premiums as fol- 

 3, viz : 



'he first premium of $12, to Jotham B. Pratt, 

 Vorcesti'r, for his five years old oxen, 

 'he second premium of $8, to Abiel Jaques, of 

 rcestcr, for his four years old oxen, 

 ^he third premium of $G, to Marshall Pratt, of 

 ord, for his four years old oxen. 

 t. T. Marble, Loren Carpenter, Leonard Wheel 

 , Jefferson Wheelock, and Simon Carpenter 



are entitled to the thanks of the Society for the 

 great skill they have displayed in training tlieir 

 cattle for service. 



All which is respectfully submitted. 



ROTATION OF CROPS, &c. 



Mr Samuel Worcester, of Bridgewater, lias 

 made some inquiries of us in writing, for our opin- 

 ion as to the best system of rotation of crops, and 

 particularly whether rye is a good crop to be plow- 

 ed in for potatoes. He has made some inquiry al- 

 so, as to different kinds of potatoes, and asks if we 

 have ever known white ones to be worth much. 



lie also wishes we had been more explicit in de- 

 scribing the new mode of sweeping down rye and 

 other green crops to be buried under the furrow. 



We are much inclined to think that ICnglish 

 writers are making too much of a good thing — ro- 

 tation of crops ; and that much of the written phi- 

 losophy on this subject is unfouriJi-d. For in- 

 stance, we find that some plants grow better when 

 cultivated for many years on the same spot. It is 

 notorious that onions succeed much better on 

 ground that has borne them for many years in suc- 

 cession. Buckwheat also improves on repeated 

 sowings of the same ground, and we find that grass 

 will follow grass quite as well as it will follow 

 corn, potatoes, oats, or barley. If you doubt this, 

 turn over some grass land in August, and sow it 

 immediately to grass again. In this mode, we 

 have long been more successful with grass, than 

 when we practiced a rotation systeni. 



But we acknowledge there are plants which 

 never seem to sweeten the ground ; their roots are 

 poisonous; and you will not succeed in continuing 

 to plant the same on the same spot for a succes- 

 sion of years. Of this class is the potato, which 

 should never succeed immediately another potato 

 crop. Indian corn may be raised for twenty years 

 in succession on the same ground, if you apply 

 enough manure. The roots are sweet, and when 

 they rot, why should not they be as good food for 

 future corn roots as rye and wheat straw are said 

 to be, by these philosophers, for a second rye or 

 wheat crop ? 



Rye, plowed in, makes a most excellent dress, 

 ing for a potato crop. This has been tried in Sa- 

 lem. A friend tells us he plowed in a crop of 

 rye there the latter part of May, and he never rais- 

 ed 60 large a crop of potatoes as with this dress- 

 ing. He said the ground was so hot in two or 

 three days, that you could hardly stand on it. Corn 

 also would flourish on a green cr-ip of rye, we can- 

 not doubt, for it does well even after potatoes. 



We have reason to be cautious in adopting a 

 system of rota'..pn ; the study of this will be found 

 of much importance, and it is experience only that 

 can direct us. Thus we find on repeated trials, 

 that Indian corn seldom does well immediately af- 

 ter buckwheat. Rye has been sown in June on a 

 ley of buckwheat, and after a few weeks it has 

 been known to wither and die. This might hap- 

 pen, it is true, even if a clover ley was turned at 

 that season ; for rye is not a summer grain, and 

 the heat caused by any green crop at that time of 

 the year, might destroy a growth of rye. Indeed, 

 we never knew rye sown in June, to come to much 

 in any case. Rye is not a summer grain, but 

 buckwheat is, and this should be chosen at that 

 season, if a green crop is wanted. 



Rye flourishes on poor land better than almost 



the grain is wanted, or if it is to be fed off by cat- 

 tle : it seldom flourishes when sown late in May. 

 If you sow it about the first of Sejitember, and let 

 it grow till the latter part of May, you need not 

 fear to plow it in and plant either corn or potatoes 

 on it : both have been tried. For potatoes it makes 

 an excellent bed, causing the earth to be lignt, 

 and suffering thom to make ample room for tho 

 tubers in the hill. 



As to the different kinds of pot.itoes, we find 

 none that we prefer to tho Chenango fur early 

 ones, and Long Reds for late ones. ^Ve have 

 never seen a white potato that was a great bearer 

 or that was very rich. 



Ill regard to the plan which wo have recommend- 

 ed to sweep down rye or other green crops for the 

 plow to bury, we thought it so very simple that 

 any one could take, without many words of de- 

 scrijition. Take a young shrub oak bush, or two 

 if they are small, four feet long, with all the twigs 

 on; place it, or ihem, butt foremost, under tho 

 plow-beam, and lash to it, letting the lops run 

 back as far as the hind part of the mould-plate, 

 but not far enough to be buried by the furrow. 

 This will sweep down your standing rye or other 

 growing crop, as you pass along, and your plo«i' 

 will bury it completely. You can tell only by trial 

 just where to place your bush, but you should let 

 it run as far back as you can, and not bury it under 

 the furrow. — Mass. Ploughman. 



ROHAN POTATOES. 



Mr S. C. Mann, in the Dedham American, says: 

 "This potato has improved with me, in quality for 

 the table, withoul depreciating materially in (|uan- 

 tily or size. The present is the third year from 

 the seed, which I procured from Mr E. iM. Rich- 

 ards, of this town, being the second or third crop 

 raised by him. 



The result of the crop this year, is to me evi- 

 dence of improvement in size, quantity and quali- 

 ty. About fifty bushels were dug from one piece, 

 taking on an average about thirteen hills to a bush- 

 el with less than two bushels that were not of 

 good size. In a more favorable season, tliis per- 

 haps would not be considered an extraordinary 

 yield, but the result in this case was entirely unex- 

 pected to me, after the extreme drought experienc- 

 ed here in the early part of the season." 



BnlUr without C/iuimn.?.— The Stamford (Eng.) 

 Mercury says, that a cow belonging to Mr tiinlth, 

 of that place, has been regularly milked for the 

 lust twelve months, but during the last thirteen 

 weeks, after standing for two meals as usual, the 

 cream when taken off, has changed gradually to 

 butter, without the assistance of a churn ol any de- 

 scription ; and when made up, is considerably firm- 

 er than any other butter at this season of the year. 

 Strange as this may appear, it as an indisputable 

 fact. ° 



Shoe Pegs.— Wc understand that a quantity of 

 fresh cut birch wood is now coming down the Ca- 

 nal, amounting to about thirty cords, all of which is 

 destined for Lynn and Ipswich, Mass., to be manu- 

 factured into shot.ptgs. An interesting example 

 of the uses of the raw material, and an indication 



of much activity in the shoe manufacture.— Por/- 

 any grain ; but it must not be sown in June, when land Adv. 



