32 ON MEADOW AND SWAMP LAND. 



land ^vltll -whicli the county abounds. As Mr. Marsh very truly ob- 

 serves, there is no labor done on a farm, that yields a more certain 

 return, than that bestowed on low and Avet ground. The crops of 

 much of the light land under cultivation, are frequently injured by 

 the severity of our summer droughts, while the low lands, if judi- 

 ciously drained, produce largely whether the season proves to be dry 

 or otherwise. 



The fact being now well established that peat meadows, after 

 having been reclaimed, are among the most valuable and productive 

 of cultivated ground, the question arises. What, from past experience, 

 is the best method to be pursued in reclaiming such land? The meadow 

 or swamp of Mr. Marsh was dug over, and the stumps thrown out, at an 

 expense of twenty dollars ; then covered with gravel and sown down 

 to grass. But on many tracts of peat meadow which are free from 

 bushes and trees, the expense of inverting the sod may be entirely 

 saved. From the experience of one of the Committee at least, the 

 most economical course to be pursued, and that which gives the 

 greatest return for the outlay, is, after draining by marginal and 

 other ditches, to haul on in the winter, (if the meadow be soft,) 

 about one hundred and fifty loads of gravel to the acre, spread in 

 July following ; and early in September, after having put on some 

 compost or ashes, seed down to grass. Meadows reclaimed in this 

 way, have continued to produce good crops longer without top dress- 

 ing, than similar land which had been planted till the turf was sub- 

 dued, and then sown down without any admixture of sand or gravel. 

 The inquiry is sometimes made. Of what benefit can mere sand or 

 gravel be to sucli land ? It is well known that meadows which are 

 submerged during a great portion of the year, contain acids which are 

 deleterious to cultivated plants. In order to induce fertihty, such 

 acid must be corrected. It is said by chemists that every hundred 

 lbs. of granite contains six or seven lbs. of potash ; this alkali is ab- 

 stracted by the peat from gravel, when applied to such land, and 

 the peat becomes a bed of manure. It is necessary also to warm and 

 consolidate the meadow and to afford silex for the coating, and there- 

 by give support to the growing plant. Hence the great value of 

 a certain amount of coarse gravel in the process of reclaiming peat 

 meadows. 



In September, the Committee, at the request of Mr. Samuel C. 

 Pitman, of Lynn, viewed a piece of land on his farm, containing 



