and then harrow it thoroughly; after that sow to herds grass, clover, and red-top seed. The latter part of August is considered the best time for seeding; but it will do very well later in the season." JOSEPH SMITH. Statement of Samuel Powers. My piece of reclaimed swamp contains five acres, and it is situated on the county road, leading from Hadley to Amherst, at the foot of the hill, about half a mile from the former place. In 1837 I became the owner of the above land in connection with twenty acres, a part of which was improved land, and worth what the whole cost, leaving the portion I am about to offer for consideration, in its then condition, of little or no value. This worthless part first engaged my attention. Its soil is of that peculiar kind called peat, and is the product of accumulated vegetable matter. I resolved, if it were a practicable thing, to put it in a fit condition for cultivation; and, on taking its water level, I found that in a distance of sixty rods there was a fall of about two feet. This fact encouraged me to make the attempt to free it entirely of water. I cut a ditch, three feet in depth, at the foot of the hill, which carried off the water which the springs gushing from the hill sent forth. In addition to this, other ditches of equal dimensions were dug, encircling the entire piece, and one also through the centre. These ditches cleared the swamp of water. After the land had remained in this condition one year I proceeded to plough it with a team consisting of three yokes of oxen, attended by three stout men to guide the plough and turn the furrows. Three days were consumed in ploughing one acre, at an expense of twelve dollars. But the work was effectually done, the heavy swamp sods being turned over and buried eighteen inches deep after clearing the surface of the many roots and logs scattered over it. A drag and heavy cultivator were next applied, which gave the swamp before rough a smooth and level surface. The following spring, a smaller plough, drawn by a pair of horses, turned over the surface, not disturbing the thick turf covered over the year before. I first planted to potatoes, and obtained a large crop; second year planted Indian corn, and had an abundant crop; third year planted broom corn, and had an abundant crop. In looking over my minutes of the income derived during the first three years of its improvement, after making a fair deduction of all expenses for manure and labor, I find that my receipts excced the expenditure over cighty dollars. Since that time, a period of fourteen years, the land has been constantly planted to broom corn, and has produced crops equal in value to the best meadow soils, while only about five loads of manure were used to the acre, and applied in the hill, which has kept it in a good state of cultivation. It yields as good crops, and is as beautiful in appearance, and as productive, as any land in the vicinity. HADLEY, October 17, 1854. Statement of John A. Morton. My piece of meadow land contains one and a half acres. The soil is in part peat mud and in part a clayey subsoil. It was in pasture, covered with brush, coarse grass, and water. In the fall of 1851 I ploughed the lot in which this land lies to the depth of seven inches. I then cut drains around the wet part, the ditches running north and south about two rods apart, the fall being sufficient to carry off the water. I planted it to corn in the spring of 1852, manured in the hill with ten loads to the acre, and the yield was thirty bushels to the acre. In the spring of 1853 I ploughed in fifteen loads of sheep manure to the acre, and again planted to corn with ten loads of compost manure in the hill. The corn grew large, and was considerably injured by the wind in August. The ground being soft, the corn was turned out by the roots. I raised over fifty bushels of corn per acre. I sowed the piece to oats the 1st of June, 1854, and sowed twelve quarts of timothy grass seed and three pounds of clover to the acre. The oats were light; the seeding looks well. The land I consider worth fifty dollars per acre, which was nearly worthless when I came in possession of it. I think the great secret in reclaiming land is, to get off all the water, and then plough deep, and bring up the soil, whatever it may be, to the action of the sun and air. I will now give the value of the crop on one acre for the last three years: Products: Two years in corn, 80 bushels, at 92 cents, 4 tons of corn fodder, at $5, 20 bushels of oats, at 60 cents, . Expenses: $73 60 20 00 10 00 $103 60 6 00 2.00 Statement of Avery D. Hubbard. My swamp contains about five acres, one acre of which I offer for the examination of the committee. Previous to my coming in possession it was drained around the edge, and was so dry as to permit a team on it in a dry time. It bore a small quantity of coarse sage grass, barely sufficient to pay for cutting. At that time I offered the land for sixteen dollars an acre. Becoming satisfied that it was too wet to improve, I let a man cut a drain for the muck, thus dividing my swamp, and leaving little more than an acre in the lot I have reclaimed. On about twenty rods of the least boggy part I cleared off the bogs and wood, and carted on sand and a little horse manure, sowing on a quart or two of herds grass seed, a kind of red top coming up around the bogs. It has produced two heavy crops of grass a year till this year, when the drought so affected the rowen that I have fed it down. In the spring of 1853 I took twentyseven rods more, cleared off the bogs and wood, and planted with potatoes, putting a little lime in the hill; and I had a fair growth, though a good many potatoes rotted. In July, 1853, I took off the sage grass from the remainder and set fire to it. In about a week it had burned all over, and had also burned about four inches of the muck. I thus entirely cleared the land of bogs, and the stumps were so loose that a yoke of small cattle removed them from the piece without difficulty. With a hoe I levelled down where the roots came out, and, on the 9th of August, sowed about a pint of turnip seed and six quarts of herds grass seed. There was a fair crop of turnips, and the grass looked fine in the fall. In May it looked well, and a number of good judges who saw it said it promised fair to be the heaviest crop of herds grass they ever saw. But the dry weather hurt it. Still, a number thought it would yield two tons to the acre; but, being at quite a distance from any scales it was not weighed. The spring being very wet and backward, I did not plant the piece I had potatoes on last year till the 13th of June. I spread on about eight horse-loads of compost, made of muck and sand, two bushels of ashes, one bushel of oyster shell lime, twenty-five pounds of plaster, and half a cord of horse manure. I also put in the hill four loads of sand and muck from the drain. There were no weeds on the piece either year; so I used no cultivator on it. |