250 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



Contra. 



50 crops of hay, 5 tons a year, at $5 per ton, . . . $250 . 00 



50 crops of early spring grass, when feed is 

 scarce, for pasture, very valuable, but good for 

 nothing, because cattle can't get at it, . 00 



Fall feed, a little nipping around the edges, 

 where the ground is a little dry, and grass 

 ditto, not worth much; but let it balance the 

 hay poles, 9 . 60 



Consolation to the owner to think he always has 

 hay on hand is worth as much as the old shoes 

 and boots lost while poling it out, 25 . 00 



Thinking what a nice piece of meadow that 

 would be if it was drained, and having a 

 "darn'd good mind to try it" every year for 50 

 years, is certainly worth four-and-sixpence a 

 year, Connecticut currency, and cheap at that, 37 . 00 



$322.10 

 320.60 



Balance in favor of the "Old Pond Meadow," $1.50 



Now let us suppose that this land had been judiciously 

 drained, and how would the figures look? Why some- 

 thing like this: 



The Old Pond Meadow, Dr. 



To one month's labor in cutting a ditch through 

 the centre, and around the edges, and about 20 

 rods to the brook, $ 30 



To cutting and hauling off the bogs and burning 



them, say $5 per acre, 35 



To breaking up and seeding after the land be- 

 comes dry, say $3 per acre, 21 



To lime, ashes, and manure, average for 50 years, 



say $3 per acre each year, 1,050 



$ 1,136 



