EXTRACTS FOREIGN AND DO^rESTIC, 171 



The homestead farm contained, when I removed to it in 1834, 

 bout 60 acres ; since then I have added to it by purchase, some 

 40 acres, all of" which i*; contiguous ; making over 100 acres, ex- 

 clusive of the woodland farm in Cheltenham township, Montgomery 

 tounty, part of which is cleared and worked by me, and is in fine 

 •< 'idition, as you may recollect from my communication on the 

 j) of rye raised therein 1842. 



i'rom long neglect and a bad practice, previous to my coming 



ui the homestead, I found it in every respect in a wretched condi- 



i(in. The results of bad ploughing and bad seeding, were visible 



n the unevenness of the surface ; and the pernicious weeds that 



ai'ined to have entire possession. I at once took up the old fences 



•vhich divided about 40 acres into small fields, ploughed it up, 



'radicated the briers and brambles that filled so large a space along 



hose fences, and removed the stones within ploughing ilepth. It 



vas cropped accordingto circumstnnces — alternately with potatoes, 



11, grain, &c., until the soil had been brought into proper sub- 



tion in the fall of 1S39 ; when it was laid down for grass, by 



owing it with grain and timothy ; since which it has not been 



lisiurbed, with the exception of about eight acres in rye, this year ; 



iiid yet this last summer it cut, I may safely say, two tons to the 



:cre, and expect it to do as well next summer, should the season 



Move favorable. By this practice I brought every inch of the 



and to bear, and saved ten years expense, or wear and tear of the 



i\' fences which formerly stood inside this section. The fields in 



iiture will be divided by hedges of the Madura thorn, or Osage 



■range, raised by myself; four of these hedges already in, with 



lU'iity of quicks on hand to supply the remainder. These remarks 



I will please observe, apply lo the land lying on the souiheast 



..Ic of the lane that divides the farm. The land on the northwest 



ide, opposite, called the Spring fields, was, if possible, in a still 



iorse condition. Owing to the swampy nature of part of it, and 



he washings from the higher lands on the other side the lane, the 



losts were every spring thrown out of place as the frost left the 



round, w'hile the ravines furrowed out by the thaws and heavy 



ains, set at defiance all attempts at cropping or farming. To ob- 



iate the yearly setting up of the fences, which was not only ex- 



•nsive but vexatious, I substituted a stone and lime wall for the 



list and rail fence. The wall is about half a mile long, is two 



et below the surface at every point, two feet broad at base, and 



erages over six feet high from bottom, ending with an eighteen 



ich coping. One large under drain, with grating at mouth, takes 



le water from the lane, while several smaller drains keep the sur- 



ice of the land perfectly dry. The ravines were well killed up, 



lid ever since, for a series of years, good crops of potatoes, corn, 



rain and grass, have been taken, where formerly grew spatterdock 



nd rushes. 



VI 



I 



