234 HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN, AND 



in the hill. I got a fair crop of corn, and the next year seeded 

 it down to oats, with about eight pounds of clover seed to the 

 acre. The crop of oats was fair. The following June, the 

 clover being very thick, and about knee high, I turned it in 

 very carefully, and sowed it to buckwheat, getting an excellent 

 crop. I cut the buckwheat as high as possible ; and turned the 

 stubble in ; then sowed to oats, four successive years, cradling 

 the oats as high as possible, and immediately turning the stub- 

 ble in ; and got an increased crop, every succeeding year. The 

 manure, alone, would have run out in two or three years, but 

 turning in the clover and the stubble every year, enriched the 

 land, and increased the crop. This piece, having been seeded 

 down, now bears very heavy grass, quite equal to three tons to 

 the acre. 



WoRTHiNGTON, Dec. 30, 1848. 



Reclaimed Meadow. 



Nathaniel Easrer^s Statement. 



''& ' 



My farm comprises a good deal of low, moist land. I have 

 a swale between two small hills, at the head, and in the mid- 

 dle of which were two cold springs, and some slough holes, 

 ahat would not freeze in winter. Besides the uselessness of 

 the land for cultivation, it could not be carted over at any sea- 

 son of the year. This swale is from four to eight rods wide, 

 and about forty rods long. I cut a ditch lengthwise through 

 the centre of it, of four feet depth. This I half filled with 

 stones, covered with brakes, and then filled with dirt making a 

 blind ditch. It now bears the very best English grass, quite 

 three tons to the acre, having only been harrowed and sprinkled 

 with herds grass and clover seed. The ground is dry, and 

 hard enough to team over at any time. Some portions of it I 

 have planted to oats, corn, and potatoes, and got good crops. 

 The ditch of forty rods cost me five days' labor in September, 

 at, say seventy-five cents per day. The filling with stone I 

 considered no expense, as I was necessarily carting away stone 



