194 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



ator and denominator by 72, the result is about 

 •;j-|-g-. Or, again, as 72 is 12 times G, the fraction 

 opposite 6 should be multiplied by 12; we shall 

 then see that 72 bushels will equal -j|fT' or about 

 ■y-W of the bulk of the soil. 



If you apply 30 loads of manure, the bulk will 

 be 10 times as much as for 3 loads, and will be 

 represented by -^f^ = ^^. 



If you apply 20 cords of manure, the bulk will 

 equal the fraction opposite 2, multiplied by 10, or 

 Jy^yiinz^V, or the fraction opposite 4, multiplied 



K 



; Jy, or the fraction opposite 5, mul- 

 tiplied by 4, or ^"^^z^z-^j, &c. 



A similar table is given below, in which the 

 quantities are represented by decimal, instead of 

 vulgar fractions, by which those accustomed to 

 the use of decimals can make up readily and ac- 

 curately, the comparative bulk of any number of 

 bushels, tons, loads or cords. 



DECIMAL TABLE. 



Tons in tlie Tons in the 

 Bushels. Only State. Dry State. Loads. Cords. 



The weight of an acre of soil one foot deep, in 

 its ordinary state, is 5,514,G96 pounds ; in a 

 thoroughly dried state, 4,119,905 pounds. 

 J. Herbert Shedd, 



Ageicultural Esginbek. 

 Boston, Feb. 12, 1861. 



AQBICTTLTUKAL SURVEY OF SOMERSET 

 COUNTY, MAINE. 



Although the "Massachusetts Society for the 

 Promotion of Agriculture" is less demonstrative 

 than some younger institutions, yet its record 

 shows that it has initiated some of the most im- 

 portant agricultural movements which have been 

 made in New England within the last half cen- 

 tury, and that its influence is still felt for good. 

 The ^^Agricultural Survey of Middlesex County" 

 by Dr. Joseph Reynolds, of Concord, published 

 in the Transactions of the Society last year, is 

 destined to prove like good seed on good ground, 

 and bear an abundant crop of information re- 

 specting the agricultural condition and capacities 

 of other sections of our own State, and of other 

 States, especially in New England, We are wait- 

 ing with interest to see the forthcoming number 

 of the Transactions of the Society, as we antici- 

 pate something further in the same direction. 



We have before us "An Agricultural Survey 

 of Somerset County, Maine," by S.\muel L. 

 BoARDMAN, of South Norridgewock. Mr. Board- 

 man seems to have followed somewhat the plan 

 of the Middlesex Survey, and has quoted quite 

 freely from that able paper, as well as from Dr. 



Jackson's Geological Reports on Maine. The 

 Survey is well written, and contains many sugges- 

 tions that cannot fail to be useful to the farmers 

 of Somerset, as well as to farmers similarly situ- 

 ated in other parts of Maine. We are especial- 

 ly gratified with the judicious remarks upon Sheep 

 Culture, and trust they will be heeded. 



Somerset county is nearly one-third as large 

 as the State of Massachusetts. It lies on the 

 Kennebec, and its affluents, Moose and Dead riv- 

 ers. Moosehead Lake divides it from Piscataquis 

 county. The northern part of the county is most- 

 ly unsettled, and is the centre of the lumbering 

 operations on the Kennebec. The southern part 

 is well settled, and we hope this timely paper of 

 Mr. Boardman, will awaken the farmers to a more 

 careful attention to the condition of the soil and 

 the demands of progressive agriculture, and that 

 some equally competent man in each county will 

 imitate his example, and thus give us an agricul- 

 tural picture of the whole State. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HAY AND POTATOES— A ONE-HORSE 

 POWER. 



Mr. Editor : — A number of years ago I read 

 in the N. E. Farmer ih&i in good hay, 1000 parts, 

 there are from 90 to 100 parts nutriment, and in 

 1000 parts potatoes, from 200 to 260 parts nutri- 

 ment. About two years since I read in the same 

 paper that it requires 201 pounds of potatoes to 

 be equal to 100 pounds of good hay. I also read 

 in the Farmer that it was stated at an agricultu- 

 ral meeting in the State House in Boston, in Jan- 

 uary last, that three pounds of potatoes are equal 

 to one of hay. Now these statements differ very 

 much, and which of them shall we believe ? It 

 will not do to dispute chemistry, if experience 

 proves to the contrary. I am inclined to think 

 the first statement nearest right. Three years ago 

 last August I had a mare that had done all the 

 light work on the farm and brought up a colt, 

 and at that time was quite thin in flesh, as she 

 had lived on grass alone. I took the colt from 

 her some time the last of August, and from that 

 time until the last of winter she worked almost 

 every day. She was fed with one peck of boiled 

 potatoes mixed with a little cut hay per day, and 

 came out fat. After a few days she ate but 

 little hay. I concluded, then, that I should ex- 

 periment a little with boiled potatoes, if I had a 

 chance. Since then I have worked this mare on 

 hay alone, and on weighing it, find that she con- 

 sumes 25 pounds of hay per day and she loses 

 flesh at that. Last August I commenced feeding 

 her on hay and one peck of boiled potatoes per 

 day, and worked her almost every day until win- 

 ter. I found on weighing the hay, that she ate 10 

 pounds per day, or a fraction less. At that time 

 she was in much better flesh than in August, and 

 since then she has had only six quarts of potatoes 

 per day, and she is round enough to ride on the 

 back a short distance without a saddle, with pleas- 

 ure. Now, if there is not more nutriment in a 

 pound of hay than in a pound of potatoes, why 



