SECRETARY'S REPORT. 67 



and this by means wet meadows, which were comparatively 

 worthless, have become as valuable as any other part of the 

 farm, and are more profitable than the older and more ex- 

 hausted uplands. This gain has not been confined to one sec- 

 tion of the State. It has been very general, though of compar- 

 atively recent date. In some few places, indeed, as early as 

 a century ago, waste lands had been greatly improved, but very 

 little interest was felt in the subject in the State at large, until 

 within a few years. Tiiis would naturally be the case in a 

 country not long settled. When lands are cheap and easily 

 procured, those which require the least expenditure of labor are 

 taken and used first. There is no occasion for high culture, 

 such as we should expect to find in an old and populous 

 country. When one field is exhausted, others are near at hand 

 and may be had for the asking. As the progress of civilization 

 and the wants of the people require it, attention is turned to mak- 

 ing and reclaiming land. The sea and the marsh are filled up to 

 meet the necessities of the city ; the lake and the swamp to 

 supply the wants of the country ; and as new land is made, the 

 old will be more highly cultivated. This reflection will force 

 itself upon the observing traveller at every turn between Berk- 

 shire and Barnstable. To show the state of feeling existing to 

 some extent in different sections, a few brief extracts may be 

 given. 



An intelligent writer in the southern part of Berkshire 

 says : — " The drainage of and reclaiming waste and swamp 

 lands, has engaged the attention of our farmers to a large ex- 

 tent. The amount of laud so reclaimed within the time you 

 named, has been from 400 to 500 acres, and the most of this 

 has been reclaimed within a few years. The profit arising from 

 it will, on an average, be about 50 per cent. ; in some cases it is 

 very large, and lands so reclaimed are now the best parts of our 

 farms. Our Agricultural Society has taken the matter in hand, 

 and is now offering handsome premiums to the reclaimers. 

 The number of competitors this year was quite large, showing 

 that the importance of it is beghming to be felt." 



In Hampshire County, one writer says : — " I will give you 

 the process of reclaiming our poor, worthless swamp lands. 

 In the first place, we drain them as dry as we can conveniently, 



