PROFIT AND LOSS. 99 



years. The crop of the fifth year frequently exceeds that 

 of the fourth ; and if the plantation is a heath pond, or 

 moist basin place, and is flooded during winter, and 

 properly managed, it will continue to bear for many 

 years. After the fourth year, the expense of weeding will 

 be very little, indeed almost nothing. The vines should 

 completely cover the surface, forming a dense mat that 

 excludes all other vegetation. 



Where the muck is of sufficient depth to require sand- 

 ing, this additional expense will bring the first cost up to 

 about $275 per acre; althougli, in some instances, it has 

 required twice that amount to prepare and plant the mea- 

 dows and construct the dam. The cost varies with the 

 width of the meadow, depth of sand required, etc. 



It is not the most expensive meadows that are most 

 profitable; for instance, one in Ocean County, we are in- 

 formed, cost $800 per acre, and yet is very unpi'omising. 



First-class meadows, in bearing condition, command 

 high prices. Several years ago, S. H. Shreve purchased a 

 tract, near Toms River, for $1,000 per acre ; and even at 

 this high rate it is said to have paid for itself in three 

 years. This meadow was originally a dense cedar swamp, 

 and w^as prepared by clearing away the timber, turf, etc., 

 and spreading several inches of sand upon the muck. 

 The sand in the vicinity was of a yellowish color, although 

 entirely free from loam. About the year 1863, Restore 

 B. Lamb commenced operations upon a heath-pond bot- 

 tom near Pemberton. There was but little turf to remove, 

 and in three years he finished planting the vines upon ten 

 acres, at a cost of about one hundred dollars ($100) per 

 acre. These grew luxuriantly, and, in 1867, when only 

 seven acres of the meadow w^ere in full bearing, the yield 

 was twelve hundred bushels, which produced a net in- 

 come of over three thousand dollars. In 1868, owing to a 

 partial failure of the crop, the profits amounted to only 

 about one thousand dollars, In 1809, the crop was esti- 



