RECLAIMING SALT-MARSHES. 291 



ble in the interest of an increased production of well-paying 

 crops. From five hundred to six hundred rods of good 

 ditches have been added to those dug in previous years : 

 more than one-half of that work was, however, accomplished 

 by one party, Dr. Henry, who in the past year, as well as 

 in previous years, has occupied a leading position in turning 

 the reclaimed sea-marsh meadows to a proper account. Two 

 and a half feet deep ditches were dug at an average expense 

 of twenty-five cents per rod. About one hundred acres of 

 land were ploughed for the second time, and from fifteen to 

 twenty acres of new land has been added. 



The sod of lands ploughed the second time was found thor- 

 oughly rotten : the soil resulting is in a good, pulverulent 

 condition for seeding. The drained land is getting firmer 

 from year to year : horses and oxen can conveniently travel 

 in the furrow. The yield of hay has been less during the 

 past season upon those meadows which had been seeded 

 down with good grass-seeds after a mere harrowing of the 

 old sod without a previous ploughing. The highly spongy 

 condition of the old sod had favored the destruction of orass- 

 plants by a severe drought toward the close of the preceding 

 season, after a very satisfactory crop of hay had been secured. 

 The uncertainty of cultivating a grass-crop by seeding on 

 an old and spongy sod after a mere harrowing of its surface 

 has received an additional striking illustration ; the yield of 

 English hay being only one-third that of the season of 1878. 



The superior productiveness of a large portion of the 

 reclaimed marsh-lands will not be duly appreciated until the 

 plough shall have been effectually used to mix the different 

 layers of soil and to secure that degree of compactness to 

 the latter which is essential to protect the roots of plants 

 against the influence of local extremes of the climate and 

 thcweather. Red-top and Timothy have been, as in previous 

 seasons, the principal variety of grasses cultivated. Experi- 

 ments with suitable mixtures of grass-seeds, recommended 

 on former occasions, have not been successful on account of 

 the dryness of the season : the seeds did not germinate and 

 grow. Besides grass, corn, oats, onions, and potatoes have 

 been the most prominent crops raised. Most of these crops 

 have been planted mainly by parties who have leased the 

 lands of the late Williams estate. Their success has been 



