682 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



in the same proportion, will the rapidity of the cur- 

 rent increiise. As the work advances, it would 

 be advisable always to let the sluice doors be open 

 to admit the tide into the marsh, and to keep up a 

 pressure on both sides ot the dam as nearly equal 

 as possible. 



Ditches. 



The marsh being perfectly enclosed, and the 

 tide excluded, it is now necessary to have it divi- 

 ded into lots of such size as may be most easily 

 fut into and kept in a dry and improveable state. 

 n whatever number of acres the owner may 

 choose to have his lots, they should be so laid off, 

 as that the ditches dividiui]^ them should run per- 

 pendicularly Irom the bank tovvards the centre of 

 the marsh and be not more than from twenty to 

 thirty roods distance from each other in good mud; 

 but where the mud is of a liirht fibrous texture, 

 (such as is vulgarly called horse dung, or peat,) 

 the ditches should not be more than twelve roods 

 apart. The reason I would assign for such a di- 

 vision is this, that in irrio-ating such grounds the 

 water can pass with facility aloug the ditches, and 

 spread its fertilizing qualities Ihrouffh all parts of 

 the meadows; and also by such distribution, the 

 lowest and the poorest parte would receive the 

 greatest proportion of the sediment. Another 

 reason, I even assign, is, that the drier your mea- 

 dow and better the mud, the finer and more nutri- 

 tious will be (he quality of the grass. It is inva- 

 riably the case, that you will find the loose or 

 peaty soil in the lowest parts of .all marshes, and 

 althouffh it may sometimes produce a tolerable 

 quantity of coarse herbage, or, by good cultivation, 

 a prolific crop of the improved grasses — still none 

 of those productions will be half equal innutrition, 

 to that grown on good mud. in the divisions of 

 the marsh, let all the ditches be cut eight feet wide 

 by three teet deep ; a narrow ditch would be un- 

 Bafe lor the cattle. 



Seeding of Meadows. 



As soon as possible after the marsh has been 

 enclosed, and while the ditches are cutting, set to 

 work in good earnest to have your ijrass seed sown. 

 It is all important to have it sown as speedily as 

 practicable. Often have I seen the good effects of 

 early and expeditious seeding of a new marsh, 

 and frequently have I known that a delay for a 

 year or two, has cost a length of time and labor 

 to put in the seed, and even then to very little 

 purpose. Should the marsh have on it a great 

 quantity of wild herbage, no-matter, be not dis- 

 mayed : sow among them, throw on the seed 

 plentifully, and you will in a year or two see your 

 account in it. If any part should remain not 

 seeded when the winter sets in, you may burn off 

 tlie rubbish, (if you think best,) and commence 

 sowing your seed in February ; and that it may 

 be evenly scattered over the surface of the marsh, 

 sow the lots twice, by crossing the first with the 

 second sowing. The roller is always to be pre- 

 ferred lor the purpose of beating down the rub- 

 bish, rather than destroy it by. burning. It is the 

 practice here to sow the grass seed among the 

 reeds, flajis and wild oats, disregarding their 

 height. I have been credibly informed a man a 

 few miles from nie sowed timothy among a most 



extraordinary growth of such plants, and who, 

 when the seedinir was finished, took a common 

 gate (not havinir a roller,) and dragged it over the 

 rubbish until it was flattened down; the rubbish 

 soon rotted upon the moist surfiice, and afforded an 

 abundant nutriment jbr the tender sets; the con- 

 sequence was an extraordinary crop of grass the 

 following j'ear. 



I would wish to be distinctly understood, that 

 the seed should be sown on the marsh, while it is 

 yet in its wet state, and before the frost of winter, 

 or heat of summer, should either pulverize or dry 

 thesurliice; for both these natural causes operating 

 on the surface after the seed has been sown, will 

 do more for the embroy seed just springing into 

 existence, than (in large bodies of marsh,) hun- 

 dreds, nay, I might sny, thousands of dollars 

 worth of labor could efi'ect. After the seed shall 

 have been sown, (and lro»m long experience I can 

 assert,) that the best and only sure way o!" spee- 

 dily o:ettino; your meadow into grass, is to pasture 

 it, as severely as possible, for the first and even 

 second year. The wild herbage being kept down 

 by the number of cattle continually leeding there- 

 on, will afford the tender grass an opportunity to 

 take root ; while at the same time their continued 

 trending of the soil, tends to bury the seed among 

 the loose and decaying rubbish, and to render the 

 surface more compact ; for on that depends the 

 growth of the artificial grasses, and the destruc- 

 tion at the same time of the wild plants. I con- 

 sider as the truth, that the mellower a marsh is 

 made, the less liable are grass seeds to take root, 

 (althoiiorh directly the reverse is the case in up- 

 land,) or, if they should happen to take root, they 

 miizht vegetate for a while; but, when the heat 

 and droughts come on, they will most assuredly 

 perish. 



Different marsh soils require different kinds of 

 seed. The firm blue mud is best adapted for 

 green grass, timothy and the clovers, particularly 

 the white. The light spongy marsh (called horse 

 dunor or peat,) is fitted lor none other than the 

 herdgrass. Immediately after the bank is com- 

 pleted, this kind of soil should be sown with herd- 

 grass, while it is j^et new and in its Tvet state, and 

 before it has time even to exhibit dryness on the 

 surface. While it is yet wet, a sward of herd- 

 grass may be formed upon it, and by pasturing it 

 closely ibr some time, it will then be useful ibr 

 mowing tor many years. I would never recom- 

 mend the sowing of herdgrass on good mud, be- 

 cause the timothy, clovers and green grass, are all 

 far preferable, much more nutritious, and bear 

 pasturing until quite late ; on the contrary, the 

 herdsrass is not so good Ibr pasture, nor will it re- 

 sist the cfi'ects of a late frost in the spring, nor an 

 early one in the flill. Besides, it has a wonderflil 

 tendency to root out all the other grasses, with its in- 

 numerable long and very fine roots, and from the 

 production of such an immense quantity of seed, 

 which are so easily shattered out and wafted by 

 the wind every where ; that should but a very 

 small portion of the seed be mixed with the 

 other grasses and sown on blue mud, it would be 

 discovered in a very tew years, that the herdgrass 

 had obtained the complete ascendancy. The herd- 

 grass is admirably adapted lor the salt marshes. 

 It is wonderful how easily it can become the com- 

 panion of even the red salt grass ; and in propor- 

 tion as it acquires strength and root, so in the 



