RENOVATING WASTE LANDS. 79 



THE EENOVATION OF WASTE LANDS. 



By I. E. Mallett. Topsham. 



I am aware of my inabilit}' to recommend or even hint at 

 the best course to be pursued with reference to the improve- 

 ment of quite a large area of the lands of Maine, as they 

 stand to-day. What may be truly considered as "waste 

 land" in one locality', may not in so great a sense be so 

 considered in another, merely from location or requirement. 

 In some localities near our larger towns or cities, it is very 

 different from what it is farther away ; in close proximity to 

 them, it seems that there is a demand for every square inch 

 of land being improved, even at a cost that would be con- 

 sidered exorbitant in sections more remote, so I think no 

 special rule will appl}^ in all sections alike, except it may be 

 this — that whatever land is worth}' of cultivation, is worthy 

 of being cultivated well. Brains will decide for us under all 

 circumstances, if we only consult them as intelligent men 

 should do. 



■ In treating upon the "waste lands of Maine," I shall only 

 refer to a few of the more common kinds or classes, and offer 

 my ideas of the most economical and practical manner of 

 improving them. I am fully aware of the comprehensiveness 

 of this subject. It is one that almost every fjirmer has to 

 consider, and one with which perhaps everj' farmer has had 

 more or less practical experience, for it is a hard matter to 

 find a single farm but has had at some time, if it does not 

 now have, more or less of w^aste land connected with it; and 

 I am also aware that I have no new method for the improve- 

 ment of such waste lands, but thinking, and knowing even, 

 that we farmers are not more apt in our pursuits than other 

 people, we think it no harm to give "line upon line and 

 precept upon precept," here a little and there a little, hoping 



