70 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



accomplisliing the end in view, owing to the great variety of 

 soils, and obstacles to be overcome; they being quite as valu- 

 able and numerous as the pieces of laud which have come un- 

 der observation. 



Those which we have viewed, with a single exception, after 

 having been drained and the bogs and brush cut off, have been 

 subdued by repeated ploughing and harrowing, which is a very 

 slow process of reducing the foul grasses and other substances, 

 and the unyielding qualities of such soils, more, particularly 

 when there is great dampness, which is most usually the case 

 in such lands, be they ever so thoroughly drained. 



This may be a good method where there is little inclination 

 to wetne.=rs in the soil and not much inclined to coarse grasses 

 and bushes. But where these obstacles do exist to much 

 extent, your committee are fully of the opinion, that after 

 thoroughly draining, the best method is to float or cut off the 

 whole surface of the ground, throw it into winrows, and burn 

 it on the ground. This method, although it may appear very 

 slow and expensive, we are satisfied is the quickest, the most 

 thorough, and taking all things into the account, we believe to 

 be the most economical mode of reducing such lands to a state 

 of useful productiveness. 



The ashes, which will be produced in great quantity, when 

 spread upon the soil, afford the best of manure which can be 

 produced. All the coarser materials of the land are at once 

 reduced by fire, and are not only more useful as a manure, but 

 are more thoroughly subdued and reduced than in any other 

 way. The surface, with slightly ploughing or thoroughly har- 

 rowing, is much earlier prepared for a crop than by the other 

 method, gaining one or two years out of three or four in the 

 use and production of the land over that of subduing by the 

 plough. Your committee, from the limited observation which 

 they have been able to make, would not fail to recommend this 

 method of reclaiming lands of this character in preference to 

 any other, always keeping in view that the land should be 

 thoroughly drained before the operation is commenced. 



We believe that the premiums offered by the society for the 

 reclaiming of such lands, are having a beneficial effect, and are 

 operating as a stimulus to those who possess them, to exert 



