358 



Jis^riculture of Esse.r County, Mass. 



Vol. III. 



high rank among the agricultural publica- 

 tions of the day. 



5. Journal of tfic American Silk Society 



AND Rural Economist, published at iJalti- 

 more, by the American Silk tSociety, in 

 monthly numbers of 32 pages eacii. Price two 

 dollars per year. J. S. [Skinner, Esq. editor. 

 Tlie Journal is confided to able hands, and so 

 far ns editorial talent and industry are con- 

 cerned, will prove all its friends can reason- 

 ably expect. 



O. The Farmers' Rcc;ister, l>y Edmund 



Rlffin, Esq. editor and proprietor, Peters- 

 burg, Virginia, monthly, 64 pages, large oc- 

 tavo. Five dollars per year. This useful 

 work is more particularly adapted to the south- 

 ern and south-western states. It is conducted 

 with great ability, and we are gratified to 

 Jearn that its circulation is steadily extend- 

 ing; we hope it may be generally patronised 

 in the middle and western states. The editor 

 is the author of several interesting works on 

 agriculture, one of which is known to most 

 of our readers — Ruffin's Essay on Calcareous 

 Manures. 



7. Boston Cultivator, pul)lisl»ed -weekly 



in the newspaper form, price two dollars per 

 annum. It is edited by William Buckmin- 

 STER, Esq. Mr. B. is known in New Eng- 

 land £is an intelligent and successful farmer, 

 and an able writer on agricultural subjects. 

 The Cultivator is devoted to agriculture, news 

 of the day, miscellaneous reading, advertise- 

 ments, &c. 



Agriculture of Ksscx County, Blassi 



We are indebted to the Rev. Henry Col- 

 man for a copy of the " Transactions of the 

 £sscx Agricultural Society for the year 1838 

 — Vol. II. No. 8. Published by order of the 

 Society." This is a beautifully executed 

 pamphlet of 126 pages. It is well done, and 

 reminds one forcibly of the old adage, " what 

 is worth doing at all is worth doing well." 

 This is the secret of the success of our New 

 England friends — the principle upon which 

 they act — And in no department of business 

 is it more necessary than in that of agricul- 

 ture. Every farmer knows that thirty acres 

 thoroughly and perfectly tilled and cultivated, 

 will produce a greater yield, and that of a 

 better quality, than a hundred imperfectly 

 and carelessly managed. 



The pamphlet before us contains an address 

 delivered before the Society, at their annual 

 Cattle Show, held at Topsfield, Sept. 27, 1838, 



by Leonard VVithington: Al-so a paper on 

 Essex Agriculture, addressed to the Farmers 

 of Essex County, by Rev. Henry Colman. 

 An Anniversary Hymn, written by a Lady; 

 together with a number of interesting " Re- 

 ports," one of which we subjoin, and may 

 probably give the substance of others liereaf- 

 ter. We copy the statement of Timothy H. 

 Brown, to whom the Committee on Reclaimed 

 Meadows, awarded the first premium, of 

 twenty dollars. Mr. Brown it will be per- 

 ceived, adopted no half way measures, but 

 determined that what he did should be well 

 done. The following is the account, and we 

 urge our readers who may own swamp lands 

 like those described, to follow the example. 



RECLAIMING WET MEADOWS AND SWAMP 

 LANDS. 



To the Committee on reclaiming Wet Mea- 

 dows and Swamp Lands: 



Gentlemen, — The improvement that I sub- 

 mit to your examination has been made upon 

 between five and six acres of swamp land, 

 situate in the town of Saugu.s. The mud or 

 soil varies from two to twelve feet in depth. 

 Two years ago, it wassothicJily covered with 

 briars and bushes, that a dog would have found 

 difficulty in passing through it. These bushes 

 I mowed and burnt on the ground. There 

 were so many stumps and logs that it was 

 impossible to plough ; so I commenced cutting 

 the surface into squares about fifteen inches 

 each way, and then with forked hoes, made 

 very strong, pulled off the sods, aud cleared 

 out the stumps and logs. Then using the 

 same hoes, cleared out all the small roots, 

 leveled the surface, and placed back the sods 

 the other side up. This part of the work I 

 did in strips of about one rod in width. In 

 August, 1837, 1 commenced this. In 1836 I 

 mowed the bushes and dug one ditch. The 

 stumps and logs I took out without the help of 

 oxen. Some of the stumps I should judge 

 had nearly half a cord of wood in them. — 

 There were a considerable number of trees 

 that had blown down, and the meadow had 

 formed over them. Many of them were per- 

 fectly iround, and some measured sixty feet in 

 length. The stumps were very numerous. 

 I found three tier deep, and under tiie bottom 

 lay a pine log, that had some time or other 

 been on fire. After going over the surface 

 and clearing in the manner I have described, 

 I found the expense to have been, at a fair 

 estimate for the labor, $504. 



In the winter I hauled off the wood and 

 piled it up for coaling. The largest of the 



