Page images
PDF
EPUB

БА

"

sheep were kept upon it till the last of April, when it was well saturated with urine, this was mixed with some sawdust that had been used in the stable and well wet with the urine from the horses. I planted peas upon it; they came up, but did not grow much. By digging and examining them, I found the rootlets avoided the sawdust, and got their nourishment from the soil beyond it.

The first week in May I planted a field of potatoes; part of it being manured at the rate of six cords of manure to the acre, which was a compost made by mixing three cords of barn cellar manure with three cords of meadow muck. This was put in the drills on part of the field, and by the side of it I applied Croasdale's Superphosphate at the rate of four hundred pounds per acre. The same kind of seed was used, (the sebec) those on the manure yielding at the rate of 256 bushels to the acre, and the phosphate giving at the rate of one hundred and twenty-two and one-half bushels per acre. Those on the phosphate came up first, and were of a deep green color in June, in July they rusted. On one acre of the same field I spread six cords of manure, of the same kind as the other, and harrowed it in. It was then marked out in drills, three feet eight inches apart, and planted with Harrison potatoes. On twenty-four rows I put one hundred pounds of Peruvian Guano, costing five cents per pound; two rows were left without additional fertilizers; the next twenty-four rows had one hundred and fifty pounds of Croasdale phosphate costing three cents per pound The acre yielded three hundred and fifty bushels. In the first part of the season, where the guano was applied, the vines were much the largest, and I thought before I dug them that the guano would increase the crop twenty-five per cent, but when they were harvested, I had as many bushels of marketable potatoes in the two rows that were left without it, as in the others. They were uniform in size, though not near so many in number. By measurement, I find that one hundred pounds of guano gave me five bushels of small potatoes and a great heap of vines, the phosphate gave three bushels of small

potatoes and about half as much increase of vines as the guano. In the corn field which you saw, I applied different kinds of manure, but it was so much injured by the wire worms in the first part of the season, that I cannot give any acurate statement. But the guano, and the phosphate gave only about half as much corn as the stable manure. That on the fish guano, where it was not injured by the worms, did well.

The

The manure on the field of ruta baga turnips, which you saw, was prepared as follows: To three cords of meadow muck, I added one cask of lime, twenty bushels of ashes and four hundred pounds of ground bones. In the four first rows we used the mixture at the rate of six cords to the acre. first row yielded twenty-two bushels, the next seventeen bushels. I account for this difference by the fact that the first got some benefit from the manure upon the cucumbers that were planted by the side. On the fifth row we put two-thirds of the quantity of this mixture, and added twenty pounds of Fales' fertilizer, costing three cents per pound. This produced seventeen bushels. On part of the field, a compost made of barn cellar manure and meadow muck was applied at the rate of four cords per acre, and twenty pounds of Baugh's raw bone, (this bone is prepared at Chicago) and costs three cents per pound. Where this bone was added to the compost, the turnips were the best in the field; twenty pounds of this bone produced one hundred and fifty pounds of turnips. On this piece, containing about two-thirds of an acre, we had three hundred and thirty-seven bushels.

If I had not already made this statement too long, I might speak of the effects of different kinds of manure upon the squash crop and the cabbage.

MANUFACTURES AND GENERAL MERCHANDISE. The Committee on Manufactures and General Merchandise

have attended to their duties and submit the following report: Chute & Parsons, Peabody, Refrigerator, Sanford's Patent, gratuity, $3; Starrett, Newburyport, Meat Chopper, gratuity, $1; Hale & Co., Newburyport, Clothes Wringer, and Egg Beater, $2; C. R. Smith, do., Washing Machine, $2; Mrs. S. Richardson, do., Bonnets and Millinery Goods, premium, $2; D. H. French, do., Stationary, gratuity, $2; Edward Donahoe, do., Horse Shoes, gratuity, $1; H. McGlue, do., do., $1; Thomas G. McGlue, do., do., $1; Brown Manufacturing Co., do., Fire Arms, gratuity, $1; Nathaniel Morse, do., Posts &c., for Stair Work, gratuity, $3; H. W. Hurd, do., Weather Strip and Door Bells, $1; Jordan D. Frost, do., Stoves, $2.

Signed by Committee Warren Ordway, Charles G. Savory, Sidney C. Bancroft.

ROOT CROPS.

Your Committee, to whom were entrusted all the entries, in this most important branch of the Agricultural interests, of Essex County, would submit the following report. There were thirteen entries of crops as follows, viz:

3 of Potatoes by Messrs. Phelps, of North Andover; Perkins, and Longfellow, of Newbury.

2 of Ruta Bagas by Messrs. Longfellow, of Newbury and Newhall, of Newburyport.

2 of Onions by Messrs. Ilsley, of Newbury, and Gregory, of Marblehead.

2 of Cabbages by Messrs. Newhall, of Newburyport, and Gregory, of Marblehead.

2 of Squashes by Messrs. Newhall, of Newburyport, and Gregory, of Marblehead.

1 of Mangle Wurzel by Mr. Newhall, of Newburyport. 1 of Carrots by Mr. Gregory, of Marblehead.

Representing the towns of North Andover, Marblehead,

Newbury and Newburyport, on the outskirts of the County, and leaving the great central farming towns not represented. The entries, though more numerous than for several years, are still far below in number what we could have wished, and what we have good reason to expect, when we take into account our County's fame abroad as one of the largest onion, cabbage and carrot growing counties in the United States.

Unlike many of our predecessors on this Committee, who have been content to examine statements only, we have visited and seen all the crops, with one exception, growing upon the land; and there were never less than four of the Committee present, and can truly testify that the incidents and facts elicited, and the appearance of the crops well repaid us for our visits, especially when we take into account the great drought, which prevailed throughout our County, during the most important part of the growing season, materially lessening the amount of most of our crops; indeed, the only crop not so effected, was the crop of Early Goodridge potatoes entered by the Masters Phelps, which was planted early, and the most of them harvested by the first of August. Had this crop been planted later, it would have felt the drought more than any of the others, as it was planted upon a run-out piece of land, the most of which being a gravelly knoll, ploughed very shallow the previous autumn, the last spot to have selected upon which to grow a crop for premium.

The young men (who are under 18 years of age) should have credit for the excellent appearance of the crop, they having performed all the work done upon it; and that for once at least, there has been entered upon our records for premium, a crop grown upon soil that so fairly represents in quality, a large proportion of the farming lands in this County.

The potato crop of Mr. Perkins, of Oldtown, was visited on the 29th of September, this was upon soil almost directly opposite of the preceding, at least in regard to its present condition, if not naturally so, as it had been used for onions for over thirty years; the excellent care it had, and being planted

with the Harrison, a potato famous for its productiveness and good looks, both of vine and seed, (though for what else your committee are unable to state,) the yield was enormous, being at the rate of 410 bushels to the acre; and even this yield would have been exceeded, had not the drought caused the formation of small potatoes above ground, on at least one-sixteenth of the vines; thereby rendering unmarketable all the potatoes growing on the vines so effected, which was plainly visible to the Committee as they passed over the ground.

The crop of Early Michigan potatoes, a new and valuable variety, entered by Mr. H. F. Longfellow, of Byfield, was an excellent crop; it was grown on land in good condition, and well suited for such a crop. Mr. L. supposed when he entered it that there was a half acre as required by the Society's rules, but it was found after our visit to contain but 65 rods, thus excluding it from a premium. As it is a new variety of superior quality, as tested by your Committee, we feel that it deserves a notice here at this time, while there is such a rage for new potatoes. The piece was shaded on one side by six large apple trees, which would have been 14 trees to the acre, which affected the quantity of the crop reported by him as at the rate of 257 bushels to the acre.

RUTA BAGAS.

Mr. Longfellow's crop of these roots, in an adjoining field comprising three acres, was well worthy of entry, and of which he entered one acre, that in his report yielded at the rate of 56,580 pounds. The piece entered by Mr. Joshua L. Newhall, and visited by us a fortnight earlier, did not then promise so large a crop as the above, though its yield was large, at the rate of 39,840 pounds to the acre.

ONIONS.

The acre entered by Mr. Paul M. Ilsley, of Oldtown, was visited on the 29th of September; the onions were then pulled and spread over the ground, which was well covered and was the largest yield for the uniform quality, that most of the members of the Committee had ever seen, assuring us that:

[ocr errors][ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »