RECLAIMED MEADOWS. 41 



EECLAIMED MEADOWS. 

 PLYMOUTH. 



[Statement of Galen Latham of East Bridegwater.] 



The piece of reclaimed meadow I offer for premium, con- 

 taining about three acres, lies in the same enclosure with, and 

 on the upjDcr side of, the two acres and a half for which I was 

 awarded a premium in 1874. The soil, of a peaty nature, is 

 about eighteen inches in depth, with a clayey subsoil. The 

 former product was bushes and flat grass, except a small por- 

 tion, from wliich was recently cut a large growth of maple- 

 wood. The lot was drained by opening ditches connecting 

 with those through the lower and reclaimed portion, and by 

 clearing and lowering those through my own and an adjoining 

 meadow for about forty rods. 



The treatment of this piece has been similar to that of the 

 first, except in that I first ploughed the meadow, while in 

 this I applied the gravel directly to the surface. I consider 

 the last method much the best, as I think the bulrush and 

 other foul grasses are less liable to start under this treatment 

 than when the meadow is ploughed, unless it is cultivated 

 and thoroughly rotted before seeding to grass. In the win- 

 ter of 1873-74 I applied from two to three inches of gravel 

 over the most of the piece, top dressing with manure, and 

 harrowing it in with the grass-seed in February or the early 

 part of ]\Iarch. Herd's-grass, red-top, and blue-grass were 

 the kinds of seed sown. The most satisfactory result was 

 obtained in the season of 1875, on the piece from which 

 the maple-wood was cut. This piece, in order to remove the 

 stumps and roots more thoroughly, was broken up and 

 ploughed in the fall of 1873, and planted to potatoes in 1874, 

 with manure in the hill. On account of the extreme wet 

 weather of that season, the potato-crop was a failure. It 

 was then treated to a coat of gravel and sandy loam, without 

 any manure, and sown to grass Feb. 25, 1875. About Aug. 1, 



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