Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-03-10

The state OF Maine now has 100000 peo-
pie, and its farmers, the past year, raised
one-third of the wheat required for home
consumption. The Maine Farmer has for
years urged more extensive cultivation OF
wheat, and last year its publishers offered
800 in three prizes of $50, $50 and 800, for
the best crops grown in 1879. These prizes
have Just been awarded to competitors who
produced crops, respectively, Of sixty-one,
forty-eght and forty-four bushels on an acre.
There were twenty-four competitors in all.
The total yield of the twentyfour acres was
7S6 bushels and twenty-one quarts, or an
average of nearly thirty-three bushels to the
acre. Contrary to expectation, the best crops
we're not on the new lands of Aroostook
county, but in the Underwater towns, where
marine fertilizers are used. The principal
fertilizers derived from the sea are fish scrap
and refuse from the fish oil works and the
lobster canning establishments, sea-weed and
what is called muscle-bed," sort of ma
rine muck filled with the remains of shell
fish. 1t will be noticed that these are all
strongly heterogeneous and phosphate sub
stances. Abstracts from competitors re-
turns are given in the Farmer, from which
we extract those taking the prizes, the first
two being from tide-water towns and the
third from Aroostook county in the north
eastern part of the state;
John Waterman, North Haven, sixty-one bush
els The land gravelly inclined to loan; In the
fall Of 1877 spread on and powed In ten cords
Of lobster waste; in the spring OF 1878 spread on
and plowed In forty cart loads OF barn manure
Commenced blowing April 23d, 1875 May 8th |
sowed the wheat, two and one-half bushels to the
acre. The land in 1878 was planted with corn
and potatoes.
Alfred Kilby, Dennysville Maine, forty eight
bushels. clayey loan, with southerly slope.
One under-drain across it, diagonaly, made in
1877. The land green sward, was ploughed in
the fall Of 1877, and planted with potatoes In the
spring Of 1873, having been only narrowed and
furrowed. The manure, placed in the hills, con-
sisted Of barn manure and mostly green rock
weed In the fall Of 1878 repoughed the land
only. In the spring narrowed thoroughly with
out ploughing, and then sowed my wheat and
narrowed in without any other dressing than was
applied in the fall as mentioned. The result was
as stated above, forty-eight measured bushels
Lewis NJ. Macomber, Linneus. forty-four bush.
els and twenty-four quarts. The acre OF ground
upon which raised the above forty-four bushels
and twenty -four quarts Of wheat, was broken up
in the spring Of 1878, and planted to corn that
year. In the spring Of 1878 put on one hundred
loads Of manure; in the fall of 1878, after har-
vested the corn, poughed the ground about six
inches deep, about the 10Th of May, 1879 cross
ploughed the land and sowed four bushels OF
wheat on the acre. ! sowed the wheat the last
week In May Iput on no manure in the spring
of 1879; the ground was so rich that the wheat
lodged little; this injured the crop somewhat;
should probably have had four or five bushels
more il it had not lodged.
Only twelve of the competitors mentioned
the kind of wheat sowed-of these eleven
yield of the latter was twenty-four bushels
and sixteen quarts.