AND GAllDENEil'S JOURNAL. 



HUBLIiSHCD BY JOSEPH 15RKCK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FEbSENOEN, EDITOR. 



VOL.. XVI. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 30, 18.S7. 



pro. 8. 



^^m.^'^W&^W^^E,:. 



'ALUABLE C0MI>IT;1VIC.\T10N ON THE CUl. 

 Tl'RE OP ^\ HEAT. 



Boston, Afc. 22d, 1837. 



T. G. FE»SF.NnE.-«, Esq.. — Dtar Sir — I -simmI yoi 

 II extract of a iBtler from James RoiiaiiUoii of 

 liilailelpli'm to tlie lion. Dniiiol Web.stoi-, in wliicli 

 e says, " I wiil take the lilierty of siiliiriitting 

 ) yonr coiipitloration a prai-lice that may be saicf 



universal in tlie northern pait of Britain in tlje 

 nving of wheat ; there it was resorted to as a 

 leans to prevent the smnt in wheat, and it lias 

 erfeetly answered that purpose. 



All seed wheat is treated after one or other of 

 le following modes: 



A hrine is in-epared by putting common salt 

 ito water until ihe brine has strength to float an 

 ;g. The wheat, by some farmers is put into this 

 ckle, and the light grains are sliirnmed off and 

 rowii a^iile ; other farmers put the wheat on 

 e barn floor, and sjirinkle the brine over it with 

 bunch of straw, or a broom, turning the wheat 

 ickward and forward until every grain of the 

 heat is wetted ; this is the most expeditious «ay 

 It is considered somewhat slovenly ; the grain 

 tlien dried by sifting slacked lime over it, and 

 rning over the mass ; it is then sown in the usu- 



way. There is always an anxiety to have all 

 at has been 'jiickled' sown on the .'^ame day; 

 lother process is to employ chamber'Iey in jilace 

 the sail pickle, and the manner of using it is 

 3 same as that of the salt brine. 

 1 presume tliat this last material will be most 

 ficacious when it has had an age sufiicicnl to 

 rni volatile alkali. 



Permit me to recommend the process to your 

 teution I advi-^^e making the ex|)eriment ; be 

 sureil it can do no ill. 



In cases vvliere the sowing r.f wheat has been 

 laved until laic in the season, whether from ne- 

 ssity, or for the purpose of escaping tlie depre- 

 tioiis of the fly, a portion or all Ihe manure 

 onld be spread over the surface of the land af- 

 r the wheat has been sown : tliis portion of the 

 unure becomes the nurser and protector of the 

 ung plants, whose roots are at that time very 

 nder, and so short that they are acted on by the 

 )sl before they have time to reach the ploughed in 

 inure ; conscipiently this ploughed in manure 

 of no service to theni, and they perish from 

 nger and cold." 



If the foregoing is any thing new, or you think 

 worth publishing for the advantage of Agricul- 

 [■e, please give it a place. 



Yours, truly, T. FLETCHER. 



S^VADIP CULTl'RE. 



Ma Cooke, — Sir — I wish you to insert in the 

 k Grower and Agriculturist, a communication 

 Mr Conant of JafFrey, relative to swamp cul- 

 e, published in tite N. H. Sentinel in March 

 (2, and beg leave to submit the following queries 



what are the specific properties of the substra- 

 tum .' 



\Vas it necessary in the outset, to cut it into so 

 small pieces by ditching, and is it still necessary to 

 keep all the ditches open ? 



Does water continue in the diiclies through the 

 season. 



Are there many springs in or about the swanifi .' 



What was the variety of timber originally 

 growing upon it ? 



?tlr Conain's views are requested upon the best 

 method, and [iroliahle profit of reclaiming the 

 swamps in this section of the country which vary 

 in area fiom one to five acres, an<l in depth of 

 mud from one to six feet, with a rocky, imperme- 

 able and almost impenetrable substratum ; abounil- 

 iug in s|)rings upon the margin, and generally 

 covered with hard wood, mostly ash. 



S. WOODWARD, Jr. 



Gilsum, ,']prit I5th, 1S37. 



Th#fo!lowiiig is the communication alluded to 

 by Mr Woodward. Answers to Mr W.'s queries 

 will he clieerfully inserted in some future number 

 of this paper, sheuld MrC. think proper to furnish 

 them. 



Mr EniTOR : — I have been cultivating a piece 

 of meadow or swamp land of about six acres, and 

 have often been inquired of respecting the method 

 of cultivation and expenses ; what the crops were, 

 profits, &c. The swamp alluded to when 1 boughi 

 my farm eighteen years ago had been pi rtly L-lear- 

 ed and was very wet owing to the small brook 

 that once passed through it being filled iij) with 

 brush, &c. ; it |iroduci-d some joint grass but prin- 

 cipally flags, hard-hack and moss. I first com- 

 menced by opening the brook, which drained it 

 and killed all the flags, and nearly all the grass. 1 

 then cut a ditch round a piece of about eight}' 

 square rods, cut otTthe stumps and the most |)rom- 

 inent bunches of moss, and after it was frozen 

 carted on two hundred, and fifty loads of gravel 

 and levelled it, cart^'d on ten loads of fall manure, 

 and in the spring following spread it, sowed on 

 oats and grass seed. I had a good crop of oats, 

 and the following season it Was estimated by good 

 judges that we had tweutyfive hundred of timo- 

 thy and clover hay. The next year I encircled 

 about half an acre more with a broad ditch ; cut 

 the turf and moss into squares of twenty inches 

 in diameter each, and turned it over with a prong 

 hook, took out all the stumps and roots leaving it 

 level as possible, and carted on two liundreil loads 

 of gravel, and eleven of manure. In the spring 

 following sowed oats and grass seed, s(ireading 

 on seventeen bushels of bouse ashes. I had a good 

 crop of oats; and the next year one and a hall 

 tofig of the best timothy hay. The next piece ol 

 about half an acre I cullivrited in the following 

 manner; after enclosing it »itli a ditch, began on 

 one side and cut the lurf into squares of about 

 twenty inches diameter, piled them out of the 

 way, and dug up the mud eight or ten inches 



[he consideration of Mr C. 



iVbat is the depth of mud in the swamp, and ' deep, then cut another tier of squares^ turned 



hem into the trench dug dowti as before, laid the 

 mud on to them, in like manner until the [liece 

 was completed, taking out all the stumps, roots, 

 Sic. The next spring [ilanied it with potatoes, it 

 yielding at the rate of three hundred bushels to 

 th(^ acre. After taking off the crop in ihe fall we 

 leveled the mud, and in the winter carted on 

 about twenty loads of gravel, ten of manure and 

 six of leached ashes. In the s-pring after spreading 

 all as equal as jiossible, sowed oats and grass seed. 



The oals grew very large as did the grass the next 

 season. The method last mentioned, 1 have made 

 ii.se of in <'ultivating the remainder of the old or 

 cleared part of the meadow. Of that pan cover- 

 ed with wood we measured off one acie, cut a 

 large ditch around it, cut by the roots all the wood 

 and brush, carried oft' the wood and sturaps, 1 urn- 

 ed the brush and carried on sixteen loads of ma- 

 nure : and in the spring following laid out the 

 manure at suitable distances on the top of the 

 swamp ; and jilanted it with r otatoes and we rais- 

 en three hunilred and fifiy bushels. After the 

 crop was off we levelled it, taking out all the roots 

 near the top of the swamp, and sledaed on teiv 

 loads of leached ashes. In the spring following 

 spread them, and sowed on oats and herds grass- 

 seed. The oats grr;w large and lodged dowi> 

 early so -that they did not fill, the giass took welll, 

 and bids fair for a large ci op next season. '1 ^^^ 

 Remainder of the swamp I have cleared and plant- 

 ed in like inariner last .seasoa.. The expense of 

 dffehing, digging up and turning an acre of the 

 old meadow, in the way above desiTfbed.is about 

 thirty six dollars. Ihc expense of cutting the 

 wood, and brush from the above mentioned atre 

 was twenty dollars. 



There was twentyfwo cr rds of wood which 

 paid for clearing. The prof t of the potato croi)' 

 after paying the expenses was twenty dollars. 

 Four acres of this land (which by the way was 

 all there was to grass then) produce the last sea- 

 son at twice cropping as near as could be estimat- 

 ed, sixteen tons of best timothy hay. — Should it 

 be asked if this land will continue to be thus pro- 

 ductive, I answer it will not without manuring. It 

 will want a top dressingonce in about three years. 

 A mixture of horse manure, loam and ashes I 

 consider the best for the best purpose. Of the 

 different methods I have made use of in cultiva- 

 ting the old part of the swamp, I consider that of 

 digging up or turning the best, as being the cheaji- 

 est and most productive, it incorporates the man- 

 ure, gravel and ashes with the mud, causes a fer- 

 menldtion, and produces rapid vegetation. The 

 object of the above descriptio"!] is twofold. First, 

 to answer the inquiry of numerous individuals as 

 statt^l above, secondly, ho|)ing that it will come 

 under the notice of some gentleman who has been 

 cultivating this kiml of land, will he willins to 

 publish the result of his exjcrience, for I am fully 

 of the opinion, this kind of land when known and 

 properly cultivated will be the most jirofitable we 

 have. JOHN CONANT. 



Jafrey, Jan. 27, 1835. 



