88 ON THE EECLAMATION OF WASTE LAND. 



were plougliecT in precisely the same way as described above. 

 Here I may remark, that with the exception of draining, all the 

 work done in connection with reclaiming the above ten acres was 

 executed by the staff of hands regularly employed upon the 

 farm — being done mostly in wet weather, when other work among 

 the arable land had to be suspended. The ploughing, and all 

 other work in connection with it, I estimate at £4, 10s. per acre. 

 The stones having been cleared off' at convenient seasons, the 

 whole was sown about the last days of April 1871, with 1 

 quarter oats to the acre; 9 bolls of lime per acre were spread upon 

 the surface, at a cost of 2s. per boll ; and before harrowing was 

 completed, 2^ cwt. per acre of GJibb's ammonia-fixed Peruvian 

 guano were sown, at a cost of 15s. 6d. per cwt. The harrow- 

 ing having been finished, a man for a few days was required for 

 breaking and levelling parts of the furrows which had been torn 

 up by the harrows. Having then been rolled, it had a wonderful 

 smooth surface. The weather during the first part of the season 

 was favourable for mostly all kinds of crops, and the braird on the 

 new land came up raj^idly, and had a good appearance to the end 

 of the season, especially the two acres first ploughed ; but none 

 of it was ripe until the middle of October, when it was cut, and 

 a week after was put into the stackyard in good condition. It 

 was thrashed the following spring, when it was found that the two 

 acres ploughed in the summer of 1869 gave each 4 quarters 4 

 bushels oats, while that ploughed in the summer of 1870 gave 

 only 3 quarters 5 bushels per acre. All weighed the same, 40 

 lbs. per bushel, and sold at 25s. per quarter. The straw was not 

 sold, but its value would have been 12s. per quarter of grain. It 

 will thus be seen that the early ploughing gave 7 bushels more 

 upon each acre then the late ploughing, which was equal to £1, 

 10s. 7id. per acre. The field was again jjloughed soon after taking 

 the croj) off it, and was sown a second time, on the 29th of April 

 1872, with one quarter of oats to the acre. It was manured with 

 2^ cwt. of guano per acre, at a cost of 16s. per cwt. The 

 summer and autumn of 1872 were exceedingly wet, rain falling 

 almost every day, and the ground in question not socking it in 

 as fast as it fell, the crop was effected thereby. It was not cut 

 until the 24th of October, and was not even then at full maturity. 

 It was put into the stackyard about a week after, and was 

 thrashed the following spring, when it was found that there were 

 3 quarters 4 bushels off each acre, which weighed 39 lbs. per 

 bushel, and sold for 22s. per quarter. The straw was worth 13s. 

 per quarter of grain. Turnips were intended for the next crop, 

 and the ground was ploughed rather deeper than before. And 

 shortly before the turnips were sown, it was gone over with a 

 grubber, and, being well harrowed, it was all that was required. 

 There being no weeds, the turnips, which were all yellows, were 

 sown about tlie first week of June, and as the farm-yard manure 



