G8 BOAED X)F AGRICULTURE. 



and then ttc cut the surface over as even as possible, and in 

 some cases we plough and level it, and then we draw on sand 

 or gravel at the rate of about a cart load to a square rod of 

 ground, and then cart on fifteen or twenty loads of good 

 manure per acre, and spread evenly over the ground, and then 

 harrow it thoroughly. After that sow it to herds-grass, clover, 

 and redtop seed. The latter part of August is considered the 

 best time for seeding, but it will do very well later in the 

 season. Land reclaimed in this way, we consider the most 

 valuable land we have ; it will generally yield two good crops of 

 first quality hay a season." 



These are selected not as being the only writers who speak 

 of this subject in this manner, but as giving in the main a fair 

 representation of the general feeling in the diflerent sections of 

 the State. As we might anticipate, this feeling does not pre- 

 vail universally. One writer in Bristol County, says: — "But 

 little attention has been paid to reclaiming land ; most farmers 

 think it better to let the swamp and very rough land come into 

 wood. A few have paid some attention to it, and find it pays 

 well; but most farmers say they cannot afford it, labor is so 

 high. I am of the opinion that not more than two hundred 

 acres have been reclaimed." Others, in other sections of the 

 State, use language very similar ; still all seem to entertain the 

 opinion that there is an increasing interest in this subject, a 

 more earnest inquiry into the best processes of reclaiming, and 

 a general impression that "it will pa}^" In short, men begin to 

 see that we must have better lands and a higher degree of cul- 

 ture. When they carr}^ out in their practice the conclusions 

 which they now feel themselves forced to admit, our waste lands 

 will be reclaimed to fruitfulness and beauty. 



Improvement of Pastures. 



As I have before intimated there has been an increase of the 

 whole number of acres in tillage ; yet in nearly one-half of the 

 whole State there is a gradual and constant decrease, much 

 of the land formerly tilled being given up to pasturage. In 

 very many towns the number of acres in pasturage, also, is 

 decreasing, many old pastures having become so poor as to 

 be abandoned to bushes, or converted into woodland. The 



