No. 1 a. Meadow, 2.06 acres, seventh year; crop of hay very light; has been top-dressed, but must be plowed and reseeded. No. 1 b. and No. 1 c. 4.16 acres, part orchard, part hog lot, part a small piece of alfalfa, balance cut a heavy crop of mixed hay first year of mowing. No. 1 c. .93 acre, rye, grass and tall Fescue. No. 1 c. .93 acre, orchard and meadow oat-grass. Both of these plots are improving with age. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. 10.38 acres, meadow, second year, a good yield of mixed hay, quality good. 4.84 acres, the old pasture, very rich old sod. 1.32 acres, seventh year, yield light, cannot be plowed very well. Nos. 5 and 6 and 6 b. Corn cut for soiling mostly, also beets and carrots; now all in wheat, seeded with hard red wheat called Deit's Longberry, and promises a good No. 7. No. 7. No. 9. crop. 2 acres in corn for soiling, earliest planted, followed by turnips. 2 acres in potatoes a failure because of blight, now fol- 2 acres included with 3.69 acres. 11.60 acres, part (6 acres) in corn fed to cows, and land No. 10. 13.47 acres, grass cut for soiling from one-half, and ground plowed for corn, yielding a good crop for green feeding. No. 11. No. 12. Balance of No. 10 is meadow, to be planted with corn next year. Part (3 acres) new seed after wheat cut; fair crop Balance No. 11 (5.7 acres) seeded with grass alone; From the above description it will be seen that a regular rotation has not been carried out upon all the fields, but rather such farming of them as the needs of the dairy may demand. The use of the land being changed, and its productiveness lessened somewhat by the interruptions of the regular business of the farm, and the changing of some of the inclosures, incident to the fire and rebuilding, a much larger area is in wheat this year, which promises well. The failure of the potato crop, because of blight, was a serious loss to the farm. Had the result been anticipated and spraying under the direction of Prof. Halsted resorted to, the farm would probably have obtained a handsome profit from its potato crop. As stated in our last report, the dairy experiment was resumed January 1st of the present year, and has been continued without interruption up to this date, December 1, 1892. Some changes have been made in the Guernsey herd, leaving only two cows in the experiment. The Jersey herd met with a serious loss by the death of "Carrie Darlington," a cow of great promise and great value. Her place has not been filled. Changes have been made in the farm dairy from time to time until it now contains twenty-four cows and heifers in milk, many of them very good. Among these are five registered Holsteins, two Jerseys and several grades. The farm also owns two Shorthorn, one Jersey and two Holstein heifer calves, from six. months old to one year, of good breeding and promise, the Jersey bull Daniel Pratt's Rex, four horses and a colt, which will soon come into Has purchased during the year a sulky Oliver chilled plow to be used with two or three horses, which has proved a very useful im use. plement; also Bullard's hay tedder; an extra milk wagon, which is used as a supply wagon, and a milk sleigh. The farm is now well equipped with labor-saving machinery for fitting the land for crops, planting and gathering them, for utilizing the coarser fodder by cutting and steaming, making the corn-stalks a good and palatable food. The new buildings are found to be convenient. The new arrangement for watering the cows in the stable proves a great boon, both to the animals and to those caring for them. The manure cellar proves not only a great convenience but also adapted to save all the manure, both solid and liquid, and to keep it in good order for applying directly upon the land by means of the spreader. The new wagon and tool-house has proved satisfactory, as has also the arrangement for heating water for cleaning milk bottles and dairy fixtures. The dairy-room and dairy fixtures have been used in carrying on the dairy experiment. The cold-water pipes could not be fully tested with the small quantity of ice stored. The hog-pens are convenient and comfortable, and the sale of pigs and light pork has proved a source of profit to the farm. The only breed now represented is the Cheshire. Under the direction of the Professor of Agriculture, E. B. Voorhees, an experiment in feeding pigs is now in progress, a full report of which, when completed, will be made by him. The flock of Wyandotte fowls has increased to twenty, and more will be added when the accommodations will admit. Since September 20th, 1892, four students have been employed upon the farm. Two of them, Lewis A. Adams and D. Mount Gravatt have charge of the dairy experiment, Charles E. Conover is employed on the farm and in the stable, and George S. Mower has charge of the pig experiment and the fowls. It is hoped that this part of the farm's work may be extended, and that it may be more closely connected with the College in its educational work. THE WEATHER AND THE SEASONS. BY E. W. M'GANN, DIRECTOR NEW JERSEY STATE WEATHER SERVICE. The following table shows the monthly and seasonal precipitation (including melted snow), also the excess or deficiency (above or below the normal) for thirty-nine years, at New Brunswick, N. J., for the year ending November 30th, 1892: SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30TH, 1892. The mean temperature for the year, 51.9, is 1.2 above the normal, and 0.2 above the mean of the preceding year. The maximum temperature recorded was 99 degrees, on July 26th, and the minimum temperature, 1, on January 17th. The annual precipitation, 41.90 inches, is 5.03 inches below the normal for thirty-nine years, and 1.16 inches less than the total amount for 1891. SOIL TEMPERATURE. The following table gives the mean temperature of the soil for each month of the year 1892. Observations were made each day at 2 P. M., at Highland Park, Middlesex county. |