AND WHERE TO FEND ONE. 145 



I began by opening a ditch through its whole 

 length, some 800 feet, then dug narrow cross-ditches 

 at right angles, 30 feet asunder, in which were de 

 posited trunks formed by nailing two boards together, 

 and discharging into the main ditch. They were 

 then covered, and became underdrains. This was 

 all done in the autumn. In July following, the 

 ground was dry and hard enough for a team of four 

 mules to plow up the tough and almost impenetrable 

 sod that covered it. In October this sod was taken 

 off and collected in a huge pile, so high and so long 

 as to resemble a railroad embankment. Two hun 

 dred bushels of lime were mixed in as the pile was 

 made. That winter the denuded meadow was filled 

 in with dirt from an adjoining highland, in many 

 places to the depth of a foot, the wheelbarrow and 

 horse-shovel being used. The next season it was 

 all ploughed and planted with corn, cabbages, and 

 pumpkins. 



But the sod taken from the surface was worth 

 more than the whole improvement cost. It amounted 

 to several thousand loads. It burned readily when 

 only half dried, and could have been as quickly 

 converted into ashes as that which fell to the lot of 

 Dr. Miller. But in place of being burned, a section 

 of the heap w r ent four times a year to the barn-yard, 

 where it speedily graduated into the richest kind of 

 manure. 



It was interesting to notice how every plant grew 

 and flourished to which it had been freely applied. 

 Corn, grapes, strawberries, celery, potatoes, and 

 garden vegetables especially, were stimulated into 



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