170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



catching the colts, and the cost of keeping them. The owner 

 was perfectly satisfied with my bill, and so was I. That is 

 all the damage I have had in five years. 



Question. Will you tell us how you got rid of all those 

 walls ? What is the best way ? 



Mr. Cheever. There was a swamp-lot near by, from 

 which muck had been carried for two generations into the 

 barnyard for compost ; and it left a ditch fifteen or twenty 

 feet wide, full of water at times, and made a harbor for 

 muskrats. A ditch was dug around the swamp, filled with 

 stones, and covered- over, which drained the border, and gave 

 us a chance to drive on the meadow a little nearer the main 

 ditch we wished to fill. Then another ditch, that ran in 

 towards the centre, was cleaned out in a dry time, and the 

 material thrown on to the bank, shovelled back, and allowed 

 to lie there until it dried in the atmosphere sufficiently to 

 allow driving on with a light team. We then drew in stone, 

 and filled the ditch. Then we commenced the other side of 

 it, and dug another ditch of the same size, just far enough off 

 to leave a bank to keep the water from flowing in, throw- 

 ing the mud, wlncli is from four to six feet deep, on top of 

 the stones. That left another large hole to put more stones 

 in. Those walls were gradually disposed of in that way. 

 That kind of work was carried on, until there is not room 

 now to dig another ditch. That is one way of getting rid of 

 stones, and it is a good way. This sample of millet grew on 

 that ground, after a good crop of rye, where I have sat even- 

 ings, and phot musquash swimming in the water. 



Question. How deep did you put the soil on? 



Mr. Cheever. From one foot to nearly two feet. Eigh- 

 teen inches to twenty inches is what I would recommend in 

 meadow-land, to cover small stones. The first stones that 

 were drawn were covered too shallow, and the plough touches 

 them occasionally. 



Question. What was the whole expense ? 



Mr. Cheever. It took about all the leisure time of the 

 regular help on the farm for some thirty years to clear off 

 all those walls, 'get out the rocks, build the drains, and make 

 the farm fit to till. 



Question. How much would it have cost if you had had 

 to hire it done ? 



