204 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



LEGISLATIVE AQKICULTUKAL 

 MEETING. 



[Reported for thb New England Farmer bt Thos. Bradley ] 



The ninth meeting of the present series of the 

 Legislative Agricultural Society was held last 

 Monday evening, irt the Representatives' Hall at 

 the State House. Charles L. Flint, Esq., Sec- 

 retary of the Board of Agriculture, occupied the 

 chair. The subject for discussion was, "What are 

 the most profitable crops to raise on Massachu- 

 setts farms ?" 



The chairman, on assuming his position, said 

 that the subject was one having a wide range, 

 and, in his opinion, should be considered in its re- 

 lation to the various parts of our Commonwealth, 

 as what would be most profitable on one kind of 

 soil wonld not answer on another. He was con- 

 vinced that a few crops would always be staple, 

 such as corn, potatoes, oats, and the smaller 

 grains, yet what would be the most advantageous 

 to raise in Essex county might not be so in the 

 Connecticut Valley, and in the consideration of 

 the question this must be allowed. He spoke of 

 cranberries as an example of a profitable crop, 

 yet he said there were only certain localities in 

 which these could be raised. He considered that 

 under favorable circumstances, for reliability, the 

 grass crop was the best, as from the milk, in the 

 neighborhood of cities, a handsome profit was re- 

 alized. As a general thing, a good grass farm re- 

 quired but little labor or expense and thus was 

 the most profitable, but in different parts of the 

 State he admitted there were more profitable 

 crops raised, and he alluded, in this connexion, 

 to the tobacco and broom corn of the Connecticut 

 Valley. 



Mr. Flint then read portions of a statement re- 

 1 iting to the cultivation of flax for making fibril ia, 

 prepared by Stephen M. Allen, Esq., for the 

 society. 



The flax plant may be grown in any climate or 

 soil, although the constituent elements of the 

 fibre will differ on account of changes in either 

 soil or climate. The most favorable climate is 

 that where the temperature is most equable — 

 where neither severe drought nor excessive mois- 

 ture prevails. The best soil is a dry, deep loam, 

 with a clay subsoil, and this must be properly 

 drained, as when it is saturated with either under- 

 ground or surface water, good flax cannot thrive ; 

 light sandy or gravelly soil, and very strong un- 

 derdrained clay, should be avoided. The seed 

 should be plump, shining and heavy, and should 

 be sown about two bushels to the acre. After 

 sowing it should be covered with a seed harrow, 

 going over it twice, and once crosswise, and then 

 rolled, covering the seed about an inch. The crop 

 should not be weeded prior to a drought. The fibre 

 is best before the seed is quite ripe, as if it re- 



mains longer it becomes coarse. The best time 

 for pulling is when the seeds begin to change in 

 color from green to a pale brown. It can be cut 

 with a scythe or mowing machine, and used as 

 wheat in threshing, and then broken on Randall's 

 Brake, thus doing away with the necessity of rot- 

 ting. By this plan of harvesting, the roots remain 

 in the ground and act as fertilizers, while unrot- 

 ted straw is worth twice as much as the same 

 straw rotted. 



Col. Heard, of Wayland, said it was not many 

 years since the corn crop fell in the estimation of 

 the farmers of Middlesex county, but there had 

 been a reaction. He thought that now it was the 

 most profitable crop a farmer in that section could 

 raise. An acre of land, said he, should yield 75 

 bushels of corn, with good cultivation, and then 

 the ground would be left in a better state for po- 

 tatoes, oats, or a grass crop, than from any other 

 crop. Corn will sell for from 75 cents to $1 per 

 bushel, and this alone would make it more valua- 

 ble than hay, without taking into account the sto- 

 ver, which he thought was as valuable feed for dry 

 stock and working oxen as the hay itself. He 

 said that the potato crop was considered by some 

 as the most valuable crop, but he thought this was 

 only where it could be transported cheaply to a 

 market. All things considered, he thought iii 

 our mode of agi-iculture — the rotation of crops — 

 the corn crop was most profitable, and spring rj'e 

 the next. 



Mr. BucKMlNSTER agreed with the previous 

 speaker in his estimate of the value of the com 

 crop, and considered it not only the most valuable 

 but most sure, and took the returns of the last 

 century to subs.tantiate this. He alluded to the 

 value of the stalks and leaves as food for cattle 

 and horses as being very high. In speaking of 

 the tobacco crop, he thought that it should not 

 be considered as a very reliable crop, as its value 

 was quite liable to fluctuate from the influence 

 of public opinion, and that this crop, in the 

 long run, was not profitable to the community. 

 He said he had conversed with a Chelmsford far- 

 mer, a few days ago, who had told him that he 

 could raise no crop so profitable as corn, and that 

 it cost him 50 cents per bushel, while he sold it 

 for $1, thus making 100 per cent, on the crop. 



Mr. "Wetiiekell also spoke in favor of the 

 corn crop, and said that with ordinary good culti- 

 vation, 60 to 75 bushels to the acre could be raised 

 in this State. In regard to the value of the fod- 

 der, he said a Duchess county farmer had told 

 him that cattle would thrive better on the com 

 fodder from a given quantity of land than on the j 

 hay raised on that same area. A Worcester coun- 

 ty farmer had also told him that he could raise 

 corn for 35 cents per bushel. 



Col. Bkigham, of Grafton, was the next speak- 



