1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



191 



telligent creatures as to hate the labor by which 

 their bread is to be produced. "The well-fed 

 horse and ox enjoy the labor to which they are 

 applied, and so would the boy if he were taught 

 it as judiciously as is the colt ! '■'■Steady drudgery 

 and hard irorA-," for a boy whose limbs are as 

 lithe as an antelopes, and whose mind springs 

 from object to object, as though resting on the 

 wings of a bird ! No wonder he has a prejudice 

 against regular employment. 



For the yew England Farmer. 



PROFIT OF HENS. 



Mr. Editor : — I send you the following ac- 

 count of the management of a flock of hens, 36 

 in number. They were allowed to roam where 

 they pleased, with the exception of a few weeks 

 in the first part of the winter, when they were 

 confined to a pen 12 x 16 feet, with the privilege 

 of going out doors occasionally. In June, they 

 were confined to the barn most of the time, to 

 prevent their depredations on my growing corn. 

 Corn was kept by them most of the time. The 

 account stands thus, commencing with December, 

 1853, and ending with November, 1854 : 



He.ns. Cr. 



December, 1853, by $ 00 00 



January, 1864 '.'*.'. qo 00 



February, " ! !oO 00 



Marcli, " 9 doz. eggs, at 15 cents per doz 135 



"9 " ".12. ." « 1 08 



April, " 17i. ." ".13. ." " 2 27 



May, " 304 . ." ".13. . " " 3 96 



June, "24..." ".13.." " 3 12 



.June, " 2 bbls. manure 2 00 



July, " 22^ doz. eggg at 14 cents per doz. ...3 15 



August, "30 " ".15.." " 4 50 



September, "17^ " ".16.." ". 2 77 



October, " 5 5-6..." ".15.."!.. !!". !!!.'".'o 87 



November, " 5 hens killed ".'.'.".0 75 



" " 6 hens kept 1 00 



" " 2 bbls. manure 2 00 



Total income $28 82 



Hens. Br. 



December, 1853, to 2 bushels corn «2 00 



January, 1854^. ..2..." « 2 00 



February, " 2. .." ". .... ..'...."."! ."."..2 00 



March, " 2...".. " o 00 



;fiP"'' " ii.."..".'.>!'.'.'.'.V.V.".V.!.".'!.'.'i50 



May, " 1..." " 100 



June. " 1. .." cob-meal .0 50 



.", '' 1- • •" corn 1 00 



■i'l'y' , »...".." 075 



August, " 1. ..".." 100 



September, " 1...".." "l 00 



October, " U-.". ."'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.""."" i m 



November, " 1 ...".. " '.'. i 50 



Five hens lost '.".".'.'.'.".'..'.'.'.'.0 82 



making them roost on the rack ; I simply drove 

 them from all other places, just befure dark, and 

 they soon learned where to go to roost to be let 

 alone. S. Tenney. 



West Poland, Arid. Co., Me., 1855. 



Tot.il cost -$18 62 



Income 28 8"' 



^°^' ...18 62 



Net income $10 20 



Income per head 28^ 



The above does not show a great profit, yet it 

 shows a fair one. I am convinced that a much^ 

 grea,ter profit migiit be made by providing a good' 

 poultry house and yard, and a variety of food. 

 Mine had a full supply of lime, and occasionally 

 a little raw meat. Tliey were provided with a 

 rack to roost upon, made by boring holes in two 

 poles, SIX inches apart, and inserting slats four 

 feet long. The rack was laid on polos, about 

 three and a half feet from the boards laid to re- 

 ceive the manure. I found no great diificulty in 



For the New England Farmer. 



RECLAIMING SWAMP LANDS. 



BY DR. JOSEPH REYNOLDS. 



This subject is beginning to arrest the atten- 

 tion of Now England cultivators. No subject 

 connected with farming can more properly occu- 

 py the thoughts of the farmer, who has such 

 land, still unreclaimed, upon his farm. The 

 frequent droughts to which we are subjected, are 

 teaching us to set a higher value upon such lands, 

 than we have hitherto done. Experience is show- 

 ing us that they are the most productive and the 

 most reliable lands which wo cultivate. It was 

 formerly supposed that potatoes grown upon such 

 lands were more liable to disease, than those 

 grown upon uplands. But I think the experi- 

 ence of the last two years h.as shown that pota- 

 toes grown upon peat lands, are as little liable to 

 rot, as those grown upon any kind of soil what- 

 ever, while the yield was much larger than upon 

 any other soil. 



One of my neighbors, the past season, realized 

 a clear profit of ninety dollars an acre from a 

 peat swamp cultivated in potatoes, which three 

 years ago would not have sold for 20 dollars per 

 acre. Now the land is worth a hundred dollars 

 per acre. One of the finest pieces of reclaimed 

 land which I have seen is situated near the cen- 

 tre of Carlisle, on the road from Concord to 

 Lowell. I think it contains not less than 20 

 acres. A few years ago, it was an unsightly 

 swamp, filled with stumps hassocks and bushes. 

 The water stood upon a large portion of it, most 

 of the year. It was the favorite resort of bull- 

 frogs and tortoises. The bluberries were the only 

 product of any value that it yielded. The only 

 pleasant memory associated Avith it is the song 

 of the blackbirds that sported and whistled 

 around its margin in the spring time. By skil- 

 ful and indefatigable labor, it has been convert- 

 ed into one of the most level and beautiful 

 meadows to be found in Massachusetts. It al- 

 ways rivets my attention when I pass by it, and 

 I don't cease to look at it, while any jDortion of 

 it is in sight. Immense quantities of roots have 

 been extracted from it, which have l)cen used for 

 fuel. Its surface has been smoothed by the bog 

 hoe and the plow. It has been dressed witli a 

 compost of barn manure, and gravel mixed to- 

 gether upon its margin. Small portions of it have 

 been reclaimed annually in this way, principally 

 by the lal)or of the owners, until it has now been 

 converted from an offensive blotch upon the bo- 

 som of mother earth, into a spot of beauty, that 

 delights the eye of every beholder. I have been 

 informed that a portion of it cultivated the two 

 past years in potatoes yielded a clear profit of 

 $100 per acre. INIost of it is in grass, and 

 yields from two to three tons per acre of fine hay. 

 This land, a few years ago, was not worth $10 

 per acre, now it is worth $200. The secret by 

 which $100 has thus been converted into $4000, 

 is throu";h draininj:. The fuel which the owners 



