183DJ 



FARMERS' REGIS IE R 



4d? 



epread a rod square. The man cuts it out, and 

 Jays it upon a light kind of drag, made ior the 

 purpose, and it is drawn ofT by ihe horse, and 

 spread by the boy as thick as the pieces can lay 

 singly. Afier becoming dry enough to handle 

 without breaking, it is made into piles, cob-liouse 

 Tashion, of from twelve to twenty pieces in a pile. 

 It will then require about four weeks of dry wea- 

 ther to render it fit to be housed for use. The lop, 

 or turf, is thrown back into the pits, li-om which 

 the peat is taken ; and if well levelled, and the 

 ground drained, it will, after the first year, give a 

 large crop of foul meadow, or other lowland grass. 

 Peat, taken from land which lias been many years 

 drained, when dried, is nearly as heavy as oak 

 wood, and bears about the same price in the 

 market. 



"The value of peat and swamp lands for tillage, 

 is now pretty well known, and acknowledgf'd. 

 Some years since, I occasionally sold to my neigh- 

 bors a Jew rods of my peal land, yearly, to be cut 

 out for ILieJ, at three dollars per rod, being at tJie 

 rate of Jour Jnmdrcd and eighty dollars per acre ; 

 but finding lliis eum to be less than its value liir 

 cultivation, especially when laid to grass, I liavc 

 declined making Ibrther sales at that price. I 

 have raised upon my reclaimed meadows, seventy- 

 five bushels of corn, five hundred bushels oJ" pota- 

 toes, or from four to five tons of the best hay, at a 

 first and second cutting, to the acre, at a less expense 

 of labor and manure, than would be required lo 

 produce half this crop upon uplands. To render 

 these lands productive, they should l)e thoroughly 

 drained, by digging a ditch around the margin of 

 the meadow, so as to cut off the springs, and re- 

 ceive the water, that is continually flowing in from 

 the surrounding uplands. If the meadow be wide, 

 a ditch through the centre may he necessar\% but 

 this will be of no use without the border ditches. 

 This being thoroughly done, and the surplus water 

 all drawn oil', the next step is to exterminate the 

 wild grasses, and herbage of every kind, that 

 grow upon the surfice. To effect this, the method 

 heretolbre irenerally, and now by some pursued, is 

 to cover with gravel or sand, top-dress with ma- 

 nure, sow the grass seed, and then rake, or bush it 

 over. This, for the first year or two, will give a 

 good crop of hay ; but after this I have invariably 

 found that the more coarse and hardy kinds of 

 wild grass would work their way through the sand, 

 <K gravel, and entirely supplant the cultivated grass- 

 es — when Ihe whole must have another covering, 

 or be abandoned as worthless. If to be planted 

 with corn, or any of the root crops," my course has 

 been to turn over the turf or sward with a plough 

 having a wroualu iron share or coulter, ground to 

 a sharp edge in the driest season, say in the momh 

 ofSeptember, roll down as hard as possible, carry 

 on in the winter a sufficient top dressing of com- 

 pos', twenty rart-Ioads lo the acre, ;uul in the 

 sprmg [)lant with corn, or roots, without disturb- 

 insi the sod. When the corn or roots arc taken 

 ofi", the surface is made smooth with the cultivator, 

 or hoe and harrow, and late in November, or just 

 before the heavy iVosis set in, sow with herd's 

 grass and red-top seed, hall'a bushel of the former 

 and one bushel of the latter to the acre. The field 

 is then rolled, which compleies-lhe firocess. If the 

 plough does not turn the sods smooth, it will be ne- 

 cessary tolbllow it with the bog hoe, to level the 

 uneven p'ares. By keening the sod undisturbed 

 Vol. V1I_63 



in the cultivation, a more firm and compact surface 

 is formed, upon which oxen or horses may work, 

 generally, without dangerof miring. If the land is 

 intended for grass, without the intervention of a 

 hoed crop, the turf is turned over with the plough, 

 as before stated, in August or Sc[)tember, or as 

 early as the surliice becomes dry enough to admit 

 the oxen or horses upon it ; then follow with the 

 bog hoe, ond turn over such parts as the plough 

 has left unturned, make the whole sn)ooth with 

 the hoe, and late in November, spread on a top- 

 dressing ofcompost, not less than twenty cart-loads, 

 made half of loam, and half of stable manure, to 

 the acre ; then sow the grass seed, and bush, and 

 roll down. If the ground be miry, so as to render 

 the use of the plough impracticable, the bog hoe 

 must be resorted to, and the whole turned over by 

 hand, and lop-dressed, and seeded to grass, as 

 above stated. The cost of turning over with the 

 hoe, will be twenty dollars per acre, at the usual 

 price of labor. This mode of culture complclcly 

 subdues the natural wild grasses, and gives a com- 

 pact and richsuilace of vegetable mould, which 

 will give an aliundant crop of the best English hay 

 for Jour or five years, without the aid of more ma- 

 nure. II' the sod is disturbed and attempted to be 

 pulverized- in ihe course oj'thc cultivation, the sur- 

 face, when laid to grass, will be loose and spongy — 

 and extra top-dressing of loam and manure will 

 be required, and after all, the surface will not be- 

 come so compact, nor the produce by any means 

 so gieat. Should meadows be Ibund too soft and 

 miry to admit of their being ploughed in the sum- 

 mer, or autumn, and the expense of turning with 

 the hoe should be thought to be too great, I would 

 advise plouirhing in the spring, when the frost is 

 out, to the depth of three or Jour inches, carting on 

 the manure, and then sowing or planting at a con- 

 venient and proper season, 'i'he art of reclaiming 

 these low meadows, consists in takinfrofi all the sur- 

 plus water by judicious draining, and in thoroughly 

 pxterniinaling the natural herbage and grasses. 

 This being efl'ecied, we have our rich bottoms, 

 equally as productive as the deep alluvials of the 

 west, and obtained at a cost and sacrifice infinilely 

 Ices. 



"The third particular, in which peat lands may be 

 considered valuable to the farmer, consists in fiir- 

 nishing him with a very important ingredient Jbr 

 his compost. Peat is made up principally of de- 

 composed vegetable substances, with a portion ol' 

 the lighter particles of vpiretable mould, washed in 

 from the surrounding highlands. But when taken 

 fresli from the pit, it contains certain aniiseptic. 

 properties, injurious lo vegetation, nhich must bo 

 absorbed.or neutralized, by a coinbinntion with other 

 substances, in order to reniier it food for plant.-'. 

 This may in some measure be efl'ecied by expo- 

 sure lo the action of the air and frost. Where the. 

 surrounding uplands are composed of gravel or 

 sand, the peat or swamp mud may be called sili- 

 cious, and is less valuable for manure, especially if 

 ihe adjacent uplands rise abruptly; when com- 

 posed principnily of clay, the peat is aluminous — 

 this is lie(piently found resting on beds of marl, and 

 is considered much richer, and more valuable Jbr 

 the compost heap. 



"i have annually, for soiue years past, used on 

 my farm some hundreds of loads oi' peat mud, 

 which is either thrown into my hogs'ye, or mixed 

 v.'ilh I'resh stable dung, or with lime. AVhcu 



