No. 112.] 209 



STATEMENT OF JONATHAN TALCOTT, 



Rome, Oneida Co., Feh. 1, 1853. 



To the committee of the New- York State Agricultural Socie- 

 ty on draining, the following statement is respectfully submitted : 



1. Situation of the land previous to the process, was very un- 

 like in different places ; the first piece operated upon was in thfe 

 form of an oval circle, quite high, rather above the surrounding 

 surface in the same field : the soil gravelly, with an occasional 

 vein of blue clay intermixed, and so firm as to require the use of 

 the pick before the spade in most places, thereby increasing the 

 expense of the operation ; the quantity of land in said piece is 

 about two acres 



The second piece was about one half clay subsoil, with a rich 

 black mold of one foot in depth for the soil, and the other half 

 gravelly, very similar to the first mentioned piece, containing about 

 1-J acres, also lying quite high, fully equal to the surrounding sur- 

 face The third piece was about equally divided between muck,clay 

 and gravel, with an occasional vein of quicksand ; lying rather 

 low on the north, and rising towards the south, just enough for 

 a good descent for the water to run off, containing about four acres 

 in the form of a' parallelogram. The soil on the first piece was 

 very thin, being what is commonly termed a wet gravel ; the sub- 

 soil being so compact that the surface was always covered with 

 stagnant water in time of copious showers, and in spring and fall 

 was perfectly saturated with water, so that a good crop of grain 

 could not be grown on the piece, and the grass crop was poor and 

 wirey, showing conclusively the deleterious effects of a superabund- 

 ance of water. The second piece was quite similar to the first in 

 regard to crops : and tlie third piece was quite boggy in places, 

 and covered with bents and other coarse grass, having never 

 been plowed till this fall, and then one-(|uarter of an acre was a 

 good day's work for a man and team, the work was well don% 

 however, the roots were all picked up and laid on the surface of 

 the ground where it had been i)]()\ved,an(l the surface all reversed 

 in the operation, intending to fit it for })lanting in the spring and 

 had determined to have it well done this fall, so far as plowib'g 

 could go to complete the same for that purpose. 

 [Ag. Tr. \'^3.] O 



