ESSAY ON RECLAIMING WET LANDS. 118 



vation, there is not in our County much land, that may not be well 

 drained, if right measures are taken; but the draining of some pie- 

 ces of meadow is far more expensive than others^ and this should be 

 the first item of expense, to be taken into the calculation, and in 

 general the first operation to be performed. 



Much of the land I refer to, which abounds in our County, and 

 many other parts of the state, are runs, or narrow strips of land in 

 vales, where water seems to ooze along, and by stealth saturates the 

 ground, and forms a quagmire which must be drained before any 

 other operations can be performed. If there is a fall sufficient for 

 water to run, no one need hesitate to commence the operation of 

 draining. The soil is generally of a kind of loose peat, to the depth 

 of from two to many feet. If the growth is trees, they are not 

 thrifty while it remains flowed, or in its quagmire state, and such 

 land is not profitable for a growth of fuel ; the trees must be taken 

 ofi" root and branch, and this is more easily performed on peat ground 

 than some may be aware. The roots of some kinds of trees, and 

 generally all kinds on such land, do not run deep, but spread on 

 the surface. Cutting off a few roots at a distance from the body by 

 a stroke or two of the axe, and affixing a rope near the top to sway 

 them over, one man cutting such roots as seem to hold on, in a few 

 moments a tree may be brought to the ground, with a thin sheet of 

 the top of the soil turned up. The tree may then be easily man- 

 aged, and freed from most of the soil attached to the roots. Some 

 practice cutting the trees down near the ground, and then removing 

 the stumps by various ingenious expedients, or with machines made 

 for that purpose. But I believe the former the most expeditious, and 

 cheapest method, where the soil is suitable for its performance, al- 

 though laboring men enough may be found, who will clear sueh 

 grounds of all'the stumps and roots, for the fuel they make. When 

 the ground to be reclaimed is covered with bushes and briars, not 

 worth saving for fuel, the ground should be burnt over and all humps 

 and hassocks smoothed off, and when the meadow is drained, and in 

 dry weather, piled and burnt to ashes, and the ashes spread on the 

 ground, which is one of the best of top dressings. 



To perform the work of draining, dig a large ditch in the centre, 

 or lowest part of the meadow, beginning at the lower end, where 

 there must be an outlet for the water. This ditch, should be about 

 four feet wide at the top, and about two feet at the bottom, dug down 



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