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Improvement of Land. 



Read December 8th, 1807, 



Chester county, November 20thy 1807. 

 Friend Vaughan, 



Agreeably to your request, I now inform you how I 

 have improved my farm. The first three years I could 

 only keep two horses and two cows, and seldom had more 

 than four tons of hay : though the last six years, I have 

 grown from 20 to 25 tons a year. Had I taken your ad- 

 vice when I first took the farm, it would have thrown 

 much in my way ; that was, to use lime on my land. — 

 When I determined to try it, I first got 200 bushels, and 

 laid it on nine acres, planted with indian corn, and had as 

 great a crop as had been ever seen growing : my neighr 

 bours came far and near to see it: the year after I made a 

 fallow of the land, put in wheat on three acres, and the 

 rest in rye, and had a good crop : in the spring, I sowed it; 

 with clover and timoth}-, and put two bushels of plaister 

 of Paris on an acre, and had as great a crop of clover as 

 could grow ; it laid three weeks before the time of mow- 

 ing; the lime and plaister did all this, for no land could 

 be poorer before : there are ten acres in the field, and 

 not being used to spread lime, I laid it on nine acres; 

 where I laid no lime I got no clover, although I put on 

 the plaister. I have limed all my land, and plaistered it 

 every year and never fail of clover. I think two bushels 

 of plaister are enough on one acre. In one field I have 

 put on four bushels on half, and two on the other half 



and I find it no diifercnce in the produce. There is ano- 



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