357 



and then cutting side ditches at right angles with it to empty 

 into it, and sometimes cutting off the springs by covered drains 

 round the margin of the meadow. The centre ditch may be 

 four or five feet wide at top, and two or three at bottom, or six 

 feet at the surface and two at the bottom, according to the quan- 

 tity of water to flow in it, and of a suitable depth to take off all 

 the water ; and the side drains may be two feet at top and one 

 at bottom, with six inches of rough stones thrown in at the 

 bottom and these covered with straw or brush so as to prevent 

 the dirt sifting through, and these again covered in with the 

 material which was at first thrown out. It is necessary that 

 the top of the stones with which the drain is filled should be 

 below the ordinary depth of ploughing so as not to be disturbed 

 when the land is cultivated. I do not know how I can better 

 serve the objects of my Report than by allowing several of the 

 farmers, who have most distinguished themselves for these im- 

 provements, to give their own account of the methods adopted. 

 1 may here add that among other applications the application 

 to a peat meadow after it has been pared and burnt, of a good 

 dressing of clay has been signally beneficial. Herdsgrass, to the 

 growth of which these reclaimed bogs seem particularly con- 

 genial, peculiarly delights in a soil strongly clayey or aluminous. 

 Three tons of hay to the acre from these lands is not uncom- 

 mon, and their productiveness may be long kept up by good 

 management. Four and five tons are sometimes produced. 



4. I begin with an account of his mode of reclaiming peat 

 meadow, with which my respected friend, Mr. Phinney, to 

 whose high reputation as a farmer my praise would add nothing, 

 has favored me. His meadows present examples of some of 

 the most judicious and productive improvements to be found in 

 the State. 



" I consider my peat grounds by far the most valuable part 

 of my farm. They are more valuable than my wood lots for fuel, 

 more than double the value of an equal number of acres of upland 

 for the purposes of cultivation, and in addition to these, they 

 furnish an inexhaustible supply of the most essential ingredient 



