36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



swamp six inches wide, eighteen inches long, and 

 four inches thick; then, commencing in tl.e narrow 

 trench, four inches lower than the bottom of the 

 ditch in order to prevent the undermining of the 

 work; and following up the slanted sides with 

 rme course thick of sods, and breaking joints in the 

 upward course the same as is done in laying 

 brick, and laying the sods grass side down, the 

 wall or sodding was carried up nearly to the sur- 

 face of the swamp; a sufficient portion of the sur- 

 face was pared down to a level with the wall to 

 mlrait of a sod on top, laid grass side up, and level 

 with the surrounding swamp, and resting on the 

 sod wall and on the natural ground; the face of the 

 banks was then trimmed smooth with a spade, the 

 temporary dam moved further up tlie ditch, and so 

 on, till the whole line was completed. The grass 

 immediately started from the edges of the sods, 

 and before winter, the whole surface of the banks 

 was well covered with grass. These banks have 

 etood perfectly for 9 years. 



In draining the bog meadows, a ditch has been 

 dug three feet deep and four feet wide, the whole 

 length of the border between the uplands and the 

 meadows. In this a stone drain was first made, 

 then the ditch filled with stones, and a stone wall 

 built on top for a fence, by which three purposes 

 have been accomplished; the stones from the up- 

 lands have found a resting place, out of the way of 

 the operations of tillage; the springs flowing into 

 the swamps from the uplands have been cut ofl'; 

 «nd the earth taken from the ditch is pist the 

 thing for a covering for the meadows. When the 

 drainage is completed, those parts of the meadow 

 that have dried off enough to bear up a team are 

 plowed, and those that are still too wet and miry 

 are turned over with a bog-hoe. When the sur- 

 face of the meadow is frozen, clay, loam or gravel, 

 whichever is handiest, is carted on and spread one 

 and a half inch tiuck, or at the rate of about an 

 ox-cart load to each square rod of ground. On 

 the top of that a good coat of compost made of 

 loam and manure is spread, and then a half bushel 

 each per acie of herds-grass and red-top seeds 

 »iwn. After this, most of the land can be plowed; 

 and as often as the cultivated grasses need renew- 

 ing, the sod is turned in September with the plow, 

 nianure applied on top, and grass-seed sown. — 

 Forty tons of hay have been cut in a season, on 12 

 acres of reclaimed meadow. 



Mr. Stone plows and manures about twenty-five 

 arres of his ujjland, yearly. A part of this, 'how- 

 ever, is not cropped at all, but is kept open for the 

 benefit of the trees growing thereon. The bal- 

 ance is devoted to the growing of vegetables for 

 market, the raising of carrots and other roots for 

 the stock, and the cultivation of field crops. For 

 the land that grows vegetables, he purchases horse 

 manure from the city stables and mixes it with 

 compost naade by the hogs, in order to start the 

 crops early. Foi all other crops, the manure used 

 is wholly made on the farm, and is applied at the 

 rate of thirty loads, of twenty-five bushels each, 

 per acre. Mr. Stone is in favor of deep tillage! 

 He plows his land as deep as the soil will admit, 

 gradually increasing the depth, until, on some of 

 the fields, his largest sod plow will go no deeper. 

 He thinks that any land may be advantageously 

 deepened by turning .small portions at a time of the 

 subsoil to the surface, to be converted by sun, air, 

 frost, and manure, to productive loam. Under this 



system of deep ploughing and high manuring, his 

 crops are all luxuriant, and when those portions of 

 the land devoted to a rotation of crops are laid to 

 grass, he thinks they give him an average of two 

 tons of hay to the acre, at a first cutting. Two 

 hundred loads of first crop hay have been put into 

 the barns this season, 50 of which, with the row- 

 en crop, the corn, fodder, roots, &c., will keep his 

 own stock, and leave the balaiice for market. 



A good deal has been done with excellent effect 

 in the admixture of the different soils upon the 

 farm. Four horses and four oxen are kept for farm 

 work, and at leisure times they are employed in 

 exchanffinsf soils. The muck from the low mead- 

 ows is drawn to the yards for compost, and from 

 thence to the upland fields. As before remarked, 

 the lowland meadows receive a coating of clay, 

 loam, or fine gravelly subsoil, the latter of which 

 is found to be the best, for it supples, in greatest 

 quantity, those matters that give strength of stem 

 to the cultivated grasses, and which are deficient 

 in the peaty soils. In various places on the up- 

 land stiff soil, the underlying clay comes through 

 to the surface, and the land retains too much mois- 

 ture, in some seasons. On all such places, from 

 one to three inches of sandy or gravelly loam are 

 spread, with an effect upon the crops that is appa- 

 rent to the observer in a moment. So, too, on the 

 dry, gravelly knolls, an application of two or three 

 inches of clay from the stiff lands changes the 

 whole aspect of the vegetation growing there. 



The most important production of the farm is 

 fruit; the average annual yield of Baldwin and 

 Russet apples being about 1,000 barrels. Other 

 varieties are raised, but these t\\o are the princi- 

 pal. The old orchards are manured and plowed 

 each year, but no crop is taken except that afford- 

 ed by the trees. In younger orchards, the open 

 space between the rows of trees are devoted to 

 vegetables for market. The apples are carefully, 

 picked from the trees by hand, packed in barrels 

 and stored in a dry, airy fruit cellar under one of 

 the barns. The farm produces a variety and 

 abundance of other fruits, such as pears, peaches, 

 plums, cherries, quinces, and summer and fall 

 apples. 



About ten acres are devoted to market vegeta- 

 bles, in all the varieties. The details of theif 

 cultivation would be a repetition of those already 

 civen in the account of Mr. Pierce's cultivation- 

 While at Mr. Stone's I saw a market wagon 

 loaded, and had the curiosity to take an account of 

 the various articles sent off. They were as follows: 

 tomatoes, onions, beets, summer squashes, cucum- 

 bers and mangos, and string beans for pickling, 

 potatoes, green corn, pole beans, apples, peaches, 

 and pears. 



Mr. Stone has a farm of OG acres a mile or two 

 from home, which he rents for $600 per annum. 

 He remarked to me that his tenant jiaid his whole 

 rent last year from the sale of the cucumbers rais- 

 ed on five acres — leaving the proceeds of the re- 

 maining 55 acres at his own disposal. 



Mr S. keeps about 20 head of cattle and horses, 

 and from 40 to 50 hogs Shoats weighing from 

 100 to 120 pounds each, are purchased at Brighton 

 market, spring and fall, fed six months, then 

 slaughtered and taken immediately to market. — 

 At killing time, they averatre from 275 to 300 lbs. 

 each, dressed. All the refuse fruits and vegeta- 

 bles of the farm are fed to tl>em. A kettle or 



