592 



THE 1- AKMEllS' REGlbTEll. 



the project of covering these movinfr 'li'ls with 

 lorests ol pine (/e pin maritime,) the, rods of 

 which, by conglomerating together ihese light 

 particles, and lorming liiem inio lienps ol' solid 

 earih, might fix them permaneniiy in iheir place, 

 and arrest their further progress. 



Fifteen thousand hectares are now covered with 

 the pine : those plantaiions which date from the 

 lime when Bremoniier hegan hi^ operations, now 

 present to the eye, in place of liie desolate sand 

 hills, magnificent luresis, waving majestic above 

 the restless ocean. 



The Dunes extend sixty leagues, being in 

 breadth Irom iliree quarters of a league to three 

 leagues: tiie hills are^ntersecied by valleys, called 

 in the couniry Z<edes. 



Tiie trees are raised Irnm seeds, cast on the spot 

 on which ihey are nitended to grow — they are 

 not transplanted : when the seed is sown, the 

 movHig of the light sand is prevented by cover- 

 ing the ground with brambles or young [)ine 

 branches, fifteen hundred laggois of these being 

 necessary to cover one hectare : the seeds are 

 sown thick, and when the young plants are of 

 seven or eight years, the first thinning is made. 

 If there were any means of cheap transport, these 

 thinnings, sold at Bourdeaux, would be extremely 

 profitable. After this thinning the remaining 

 plants grow with increased vigor, and in ten years 

 reach the height of fifteen to twenty leet ; at the 

 end of twenty-five years they produce turpentine. 

 A hectare of pines produces this article to the 

 value of from 25 to 60 francs, (tiiat is from £ 1 to 

 £2 8s. sterling,) according to the age ol the 

 plants — a pretty considerable profit from land, 

 which were once an unprofitable, and worse than 

 unprofitable desert. 



REPORTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The answers of Abel Moore, of Concord, to the 

 questions proposed by the Massachusetts Society 

 for the promotion of Agriculture. 



1. My farm contains about 130 acres, exclusive 

 of woodland. 



2. The soil consists of sand, gravel, peat and 

 loam. 



3. To reply in general terms, I consider the 

 best method of improving my lands to consist in 

 an interchange of soils ; that is to carry the peat 

 and mud from the low and wet land to the light 

 upland, and in return, to carry the sandy loam 

 on to the peat land and bogs. This method 1 

 have unilormly found to be beneficial. Both lands 

 are benefited by the exchange. Each seems to 

 supply what the other lacks. A (lew years ago, I 

 had, in the mi^st of a piece of mowing land, a 

 eandy knoll, entirely barren, containing about hall 

 an acre. This I covered with refuse peat, and 

 sowed grass seed with rye. 'I'liis grass immedi- 

 ately took, and I have had a good crop of grass 

 on it for three years without manure. 



4. I till about 16 acres, and put from 20 to 40 

 loads of compost manure on an acre, depending 

 upon the kind of crop. 



5. My manure is usually applied in a compost, 



but sometimes lor potatoes ii is applied in a green 

 state. 



6. Sometimes I spread and sometimes I manure 

 in the hill. 



7. I turn the sod over as flat as possible and toll 

 it down smooih with a heavy roller, then harrow 

 it, spread on the manure, and harrow or plough it 

 in lightly. 



8. I mow liom 5 to 6 acres of ujiland, which 

 yields about two tons of hay to an acre, 'i'he great 

 bulk of my English hay grows upon reclaimed peat 

 or meadow land, which 1 do not Cciif upland. 



10. 1 manure all my Engl;.=h mowuii.' [arlifici:il 

 grasses] about once in three years. I put aoout 

 25 cart loads of compost manure to an acre. I 

 seldom make use of any exce|)t compost nianurf, 

 and for thi' last lour years 1 have purchased none, 

 but made it all on the place. 



11. I mow Irom 25 to 30 acres of low meadow 

 land, pari of which is situated on Concord river. 

 The quality o!' the hay cut on this lund is nearly 

 one half of it swail hay, whsch is very trood and 

 s|)ends well ; the remainder is con)mon meadow 

 hay, some ol which is of an ordinary quality. 

 The quantity of this kind of hay is nhwut forty 

 ton?. The greater part of this t^wail hay grows 

 on the meadows thai 1 have paitially reelaiiTjed, 

 but do not manun^ 



12. The better to explain my answer to this 

 question, i must be permitted to eny a word with 

 reference to the situation and former condition ol" 

 my (arm. It is situated aiiout half a mi e east of 

 the Concord meeting house, on the great road lead- 

 ing to Boston. Its extent on the road is perhafis a 

 quarter of a mile. On the north side of the road 

 it runs back over the hill Ii"om three quarters of a 

 mile to a mile. On the south side, with the ex- 

 ception of about two acres, it embraces all the 

 piece of flat land lying between the great road 

 and the turiipd<e, and perhaps 25 acres on the 

 south side of the turnpike. The greater part of 

 this land 1 purcliased in 1825—6. Alter I had 

 purchased, I found that I had on my hands a 

 large quantity of unproductive land, part ol which 

 would produce noihing, because it was so wet 

 and marshy, and the rest would produce noihing 

 herause it was so dry and sniuly. The land back 

 of the hill, where I now have some 30 acres or 

 more occasionally under cultivation, was so much 

 run out, that it was hardly considered worth cul- 

 tivating, and a neighbor, who had the use of it 

 one year, paid me no rent, because it was not 

 considered worth any. It is true, that it sometimes 

 produced blackberries, but if the season happened 

 to be dry, even these could not be relied upon, 

 The flats in front of the house, where I now cut 

 my English urass, were composed of swamps 

 covered with bushes, miry boire, and pond holes, 

 full of lily pads and flags, where the muskrats 

 and bull frogs seemed to hold undisputed pos- 

 session. — while on the higher land, the wood- 

 chucks made their burrows nnmoiesied. This is 

 not mere fancy. I once set an Irishman to clear 

 up some bushes and briers there, and he was actu- 

 ally driven ott by one of these animals. Be- 

 tween these bogs and the hill, there was a little 

 strip of upland, which might have produced hay 

 enough to keep a horse and cow, (! do not think 

 it did more,) and this I verily believe constituted 

 the most valuable production of the Prescot Farm 

 as it was then called. 



