162 
TRIAL OF PLOWS. 
TRIAL OF PLOWS, 
To take place at Albany, the second week in 
June, commencing on Tuesday the 4th, and to 
continue as long as may be necessary to ensure 
a fair trial of every implement entered. 
JUDGES. 
Anthony Van Bergen, Coxsackie ; John Dela- 
field, Oaklands ; J. Stanton Gould, Hudson ; San- 
ford Howard, Albany; B. B. Kirtland, Green- 
bush. 
PREMIUMS. 
Best sod plow for stiff soils, furrow not 
less than 7 inches in depth, nor over 
10 inches in width, Diploma and. ... $ 15 
Second best do 10 
Best sod plow for light soils, furrows 
not less than 6 inches deep and 12 
inches wide, Diploma and 15 
Second best do ' 10 
Best plow for fallows, or old land, 
Diploma and 10 
Second do 8 
Best subsoil plow, Diploma and 8 
Best sidehill plow, Diploma and 8 
Competitors must become members and enter 
their names and plows at the rooms of the 
society, by the 15th of Ma}^ with B. P. Johnson, 
Secretary; and the plows to which premiums 
are adjudged, to be deposited in the rooms of the 
society for exhibition, if plows of the same 
pattern are not already there. 
The committee will meet at the society's 
rooms on Monday, 3d of June, to make arrange- 
ments for the trial. Trial to continue until the 
committee and competitors are fully satisfied, 
so that the awards may with confidence be 
relied upon, from the thorough trial made, 
leading to practical and satisfactory results. 
N. B. — A general competition is invited under 
this head, as the trials will be conducted and 
the decisions made without regard to any former 
trials or awards, and will be open to competitors 
from any part of the world. 
RULES REGULATING THE TRIAL. 
In deciding the general question — What are 
the best plows 1 the committee will be governed 
by the following principles: — 1st, the character of 
the work performed ; 2d, the power required in 
draft; 3d, quality of materials, durability and 
cost of the implements. 
For stiff soil, excellence of work shall consist, 
first, in leaving the furrow slice light and friable ; 
second, in so disposing the sod and all vegetable 
matter as to insure its ready decomposition. 
For sandy soil, or that which is already too 
light, the points in regard to work will be, first, 
thoroughly burying the vegetable matter; and 
second, leaving the ground generally level. 
For fallows, or old land, the principle in refer- 
ence to the quality of work will be, the thorough 
pulverisation and friability of the soil. 
In determining the power required in draft, 
the most perfect implement will be used, and 
the trial will be conducted in the most careful 
and thorough manner. 
The same implement for testing draft, and 
the same team, will be used for all plows in the 
same class. 
The plows may be held by the competitors or 
persons appointed by them, as may be pre- 
ferred. 
The Executive Committe of the New- York 
State Agricultural Society, realising the im- 
portance of perfecting the plow, the most im- 
portant implement of husbandry, and desirous 
of affording every possible facility for a 
thorough trial, have appointed judges compe- 
tent to do justice to the competitors, and have 
selected the second week in June, in this city, as 
the time for the trial of plows to be made. The 
only object of the Executive Committee is, to 
ascertain, if practicable, the best plows for stiff 
soils, for sandy soils, for fallows, or old land; best 
subsoil plow; best sidehill plow. The principles 
upon which the trial will be made are annexed ; 
and time sufficient will be given, so that every 
competitor shall be satisfied with the fullness 
and fairness of the trial. It is hoped, that great 
good will result from a trial of this description ; 
and it is expected, that competitors will be 
present from all our best manufacturing estab- 
lishments, and that the awards of the judges will 
be such as to satisfy our farmers, as well as the 
manufacturers of plows, as to the character and 
value of the implements which shall be declared 
entitled to the premiums of the society. The 
competition is open to all; and we would most 
cordially invite you to be present on the occa- 
sion and exhibit your implements; and ) r ou are 
desired to give early notice by mail to the subscriber, 
should you conclude to be present. B. P. Johnson, 
Albany, April 6th, 1850. Cor. Sec'y. 
.-•-. 
Weight of an Acre of Sweet Potatoes. — 
John F. Townsend, Esq., of Edisto Island, in- 
forms us that he weighed a crop of the " sweet 
yam," which gave 12,742 pounds per acre. A 
crop of" yellow yams" gave 21,344 pounds. 
IMPROVEMENT IN APPLE ORCHARDS. 
Can you, through the medium of your paper, 
tell me how apple trees can be made to bear 
yearly a good crop 1 ? It was my impression 
previous to reading your paper that some apple 
trees bear only once in two years. But I sup- 
pose that the majority of fruit trees will yield a 
a crop, under proper culture, yearly. I have 
some growing in turf ground, which six or eight 
years ago produced good fruit, but now, even 
when they do bear, much of it falls off prema- 
turely. The soil in which they are situated is 
of a very rich black. A Subscriber. 
Southampton, L. I., April, 1850. 
In answer to the above, we would inform our 
correspondent that Mr. R. L. Pell, of Pelham, 
Ulster county, New York, has succeeded in mak- 
ing his Newton pippin trees bear every year by 
forking in around the roots a liberal compost of 
charcoal, bonedust, common salt, soot, wood 
ashes, and oyster-shell lime. To this may be 
added brick dust, burnt clay, leaf mould, or green- 
sand marl. By keeping the trees properly 
cleaned and pruned, they cannot fail to bear. 
