.■>4« 



NEW ENGLAND F A R iM E R , 



MAY 4, 1641 



From Ci.lmaii's Fourth Report. 



<IECLAIMING OF PEAT LANDS BY B. 



PIIINNEY, ESa, ABEL MOORE, AND 



OTHERS. 



Mr Phiniiey'g Stntimtnt. 



" I consider my poat ^rmind's by far llie most 

 vniUiaMe part of my fnnn. They are more vnliia- 

 blc llinn my ivond lots for f'U-1, more Ihan double 

 the value ^f an efpiul number of acres of upland 

 for the purposed of cultivation, and in addition to 

 these, they furnish an inexhaustible supply of llie 

 most essential ingredient for the compost heap. 

 Some years since, I occasionally sold to my neigh- 

 bors a few rods of my peal land, annually, to be 

 cut out far fuel, at $'i per rod square, heinj at the 



admit the oxen or horses upon it, then follow with Abel Moore, of Concord, Middlesex county, whoi • 

 the hoe and roller, and make such parts smooth as I improvements iiave been reni'^rkablc and in tH '■' 



may be left uneven by the plow, and late in Novcm 

 ber, cart and spread on not less than twenty cart- 

 loads of r.ompost to the acre, m;\<le of equal parts 

 of loam or vegetable mould iind stable dunj, then 

 sow the grass seed, and bush, and roll down. 



"If after all requisite draining, the laud still re- 

 mains so wet and miry as to render the use of the 

 plow impracticable, the bog-hoe must be resorted 

 to, and the whole turned over by hand, the top- 

 dressing carried on in the winter, and the grass 

 seed sowed in the spring; ond if done before the 

 frost is all out, it may be bushed and rolled down, 

 otherwise it must be raked in by hand. The cost 

 of turning over witii the hoc, will not exceed $20 



rate of i6-180 per acre, but finding this'sum to be per acre, at the usual prices of labor, 

 less than its value for cultivation, especially when » This mode of culture, completely subdues the 

 laid to grass, I have declined making further sales natural grasses and wild herbage, and gives a com- 

 Bl that price.' ! have raised upon my reclaimed I pact, rich surface of vegetable mould, winch will 

 meadows, 75 bushels corn, 500 bushels potatoe.-), [ give an abundance of crop of the best hay for four 

 and from 4 to 5 tons of the best hay, at the first or five years, without the aid of more manure. If 



m 



and second cutting, to the acre, at a less expense 

 of labor and manure than would be required to pro- 

 duce half this crop upon my uplands. 



"To render these lands productive, they should 

 be thoroughly drained, by cutting a ditch around 

 the margin of the meadow, so as to cut oif the 

 springs and receive the water that is continually 

 flowing in from tiie surrounding uplands. If the 

 meadow be wide, a ditch through the centre may 

 be necessary, but this will be of no use without 

 the border ditches. This being thoroughly done, 

 iind the surplus water all drawn off, the next stop 

 is to cctcriiiinate the wild grasses and herbage of 

 every kind that grow upon the surface. To effect 

 this, the method heretofore, anil now iy some pur- 

 sued, is to cover with sand or gravel from three to 

 aix inches deep, top-dress with manure, sow the 

 grass seed, and rake or busli it over. This, for 

 tfie first year or two, will give a good crop of hay. 

 I5ut after this, I have invariably found that the 

 more hardy and coarse kinds of wild grass would 

 Avork their v\ay through the sand and gravel, and 

 completely supplant the cultivated grasses, when 

 the whole must have tmother covering and another 

 top-dressing, or be abandoned as worthless. If to 

 be planted with corn or any of the root crops, my 

 course has been to turn over the turf or sward, 

 with a plow having n wrought iron share and coul- 

 ter, both ground to a sharp edge, in the driest sea- 

 son, s.Ty in the month of September, roll down as 

 hard as possible, carry on the following winter a 

 sutlicient top-dressing of compost, about 20 cart- 

 loads to the acre, and in the spring spread the same, 

 and |)laut with corn or routs, wiihciit disturbing the 

 sod. When the corn or root crop is taken off, the 

 surface is made smooth with the cultivator or hoe 

 and harrow, and late in November, or just before 

 the severe frosts set in, sow with herdsgraas and 

 rod-top seed, half a bushel of the former and a 

 bushel of the latter, to the acre ; the field is then 

 rolled, which conipJetes the process. If iho plow 

 docs not turn ti.e sward entirely over, it will be 

 necessary to follow with the bog-hoc, to level the 

 uneven places. Uy keeping the sid undisturbed 

 during the cultivaiion, a more firm and compact 

 surface is formed, upon which oxen or horses may 

 walk, gonerolly without danger of miring. If the 

 ground be intended for grass without the interven- 

 tion of a hoed crop, the turf is turned over or be- 

 fore stated, in August or September, or as early in 

 the season ai the surface becomes dry enough to 



the sod be disturbed and attempted to be pulverized 

 in the course of the cultivation, the surface when 

 laid to grass will be loose and spongy, an extra 

 top-dressing ot compost will be required, and after 

 all, the surface will never become so couipact, nor 

 the produce by any means so great. 



"Should meadows be found too soft and miry to 

 admit of being plowed in the summer or autumn, 

 and the expense of turning with the hoe be thought 

 too great, I would rccomiueiid plowing in the ."-spring, 

 when the frost is out to the depth of three or four 

 inches, carting on the manure and then sowing or 

 planting at a convenient and [iropcr season. 



"The most important part-i of the busine-'S in 

 recl.iiming these meadows, consist in taking off all 

 the surplus water by judicious draining, and in 

 thoroughly exterminating the natural herbage and 

 grass. This being efiected, we have our rich bot- 

 toms equally as productive as the deep alluvions of 

 the west, and obtained at a cost and sacrilice very 

 much less. 



" In answer to your inquiry whether I have turn- 

 ed over green sward and sowed it directly down to 

 grass without manuring, I reply that I have not: 

 my course has been to top-dress the inverted sward 

 with compost. With reference to the ultinnte im- 

 provement of the soil, I plow deep, which brings 

 to the surface a considerable portion of the poor 

 subsoil, requiring to he mixed with manure to ren- 

 der it productive. That land may be greatly bene- 

 fited by turning over the greensward after the crop 

 of hay is taken ofi", and iiumediately sowed to grass 

 without manure, I have no question ; but for pre- 

 sent profit, as well as with a view to future im- 

 provement, it may be well to dress with miiuirc. 

 My best crops of grass are, however, from fields 

 which have been planted, the season of turning 

 over the green sward, with corn or roots^ and sow- 

 ing to grass the next spring without disturbing the 

 inverted sward. I have found that when grass seed 

 is Bowed upon the sward without cultivating it for 

 one season, the poorer kinds of natural grasses 

 spring up between the furrow slices, and in the 

 course of o year or two, entirely supplant the bet- 

 ter kinds of cultivated grasses. This is a great 

 object with farmers who raise hay for the market. 

 The qunntily grown upon an ocre, without putting 

 on a hoed crop tor the t'lrst season after turning 

 over, may be quite as great, but of inferior quality." 



highest degree productive. The land, which ht 

 thus been renovated, before his improvement 

 though almost in the centre of the beautiful villa^ 

 of Concord, would scarcely have brought a rent 

 25 cents to the acre. Those who would see whi 

 magic power there is in skillful cultivation, woil, 

 find a high gratification in comparing a part of th 

 meadow which now remains in its oricfinnl stat 

 with that which, I had almost said, Mr .Mnore hi 

 raised from the dead and adorned with lit'-' and bea 

 ly. The mode in which Mr Moore forms tl ^^ 

 ditches, by making them so wide at the lop tit 

 the slope to the bottom is so gradual that they nu 

 be crossed in the summer eeason with a team wifi 

 out a bridge, deserves particular attention. He 

 is no heaving of frosts and caving in of banks, 

 undermining of the edges of the ditch ; and t) 

 slope of the bank is so easy that grass mayl , 

 gronn and mowed to the very bottom 



Mr Moon's Slalcnienl. J 



" in the winter of 1S20 I begun to cut ofT t i 

 brush from about 20 acres of my farm, lying bi 

 tween the old county road and the turnpike Icadiif 

 from Concord to Boston. In the summer of 18i) 

 I commenced ditching this meadow land by cuttii 

 ditches through the same about 4 feet wide, a 

 from 3 to 4 feet deep. In the fall of the sat 

 year, I commenced gravelling about two acrea 

 the same land by carting on about 500 loads 

 sandy loam to the acre. In the spring of l.S2f 

 sowed these two acres down with oats and gre 

 seed, and had a large crop of oats. I have c» 

 since had a largo crop of grass twice every ye 

 without any depreciation. On about one half 

 this land, I have never put any manure since it * 

 first sowed down, but it has the wash of the roi 

 which Aoes it considerable good. I have conl 

 ucd reclaiming more or less of this land every yi 

 since, and have already finished about 32 acres, 

 am doing more at this time, and shall continue 

 reclaim tliis land until I gel the greater part of 

 done. 



" Yon ask me if I have ever pared and burnt I 

 land. Answer, I have not: but I have a pari 

 machine which I have run through both ways 

 as to cut it in junks about five inches deep, 

 have then turned it over, rolled it down, add 

 sandy loam and compost, and sowed it down w 

 oats and grass seed. This I did two ye.ui a 

 last spring, and had the best crop of oats 1 ei 

 raised, and 1 have had since as large crops ol gn 

 on this as on any other laiiil. I have plowed fo 

 or five acres of the land since I fixed it, and ha 

 raised the frtst year large crops of potatoes, t 

 then laid it down the next spring with oats, whi 

 and grass seed. In e\ery inslaiwe I have notfa 

 od of having a large crop. 



" Vou ask me how often it requires top-drcssir 

 Answer : About once in two or three years. I I 

 ways put on the dressing in the fall, if couveuiei 

 I spread it, then harrow it well, and roll it do» 

 " You ask me if I have measured any of I 

 meadow land ond weighed the hay. Answer; 

 I caused a small square piece between two ditchet 

 bo measured. It contained S4 rods. The gn 

 was well dried in two days of as good hay wcatb 

 as we hod last year, ond weighed 'M hundred ti 

 5 lbs. I cut a good second crop on the siff 

 which I did not weigh. 



The next account which I shall give is that of 1 "I have never kept any particular account 



