DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1851. 



NO. 17. 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 

 Proprietors. 



OFFICE, aUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



RECLAIMING WET LANDS. 



There are in many parts of New England nu- 

 merous swamps or wet meadows, of various ex- 

 tent, from one acre or less, to hundreds of acres; 

 which are almost entirely level, and are covered 

 with water during the wet season. In these swamps 

 vegetables have been growing for ages, which have 

 decayed, forming a vast accuiimlation of peat, mud 

 or muck, which may be made a rich mine to the 

 farmer. When these lands are properly improved 

 they furnish large crops of excellent grass, which 

 may be relied on in case of a severe drought, when 

 high lands fail; for if they are drained deeply and 

 thoroughly, so as to make them sufficiently dry in 

 a wet season, the mam drain may be dammed in a 

 dry time, so as to furnish a sufficient supply of 

 moisture, by keeping the water tolerable near the 

 surface. As a small amount of manure will keep 

 these lands in a very productive condition, and as 

 they furnish materials enough for a large an)ount of 

 manure, there will be a considerable surplus to aid 

 in keeping the upland in good condition. 



This month is generally a good season for re- 

 claiming wet lands. In the first place clear up all 

 buslies, and remove the wood, such as old logs, 

 stumps, &c.; if it be too soft to remove these at 

 the present season, or if there be a very large quan- 

 tity on the meadow, and it be not convenient to re- 

 move it in the summer, pile it up and remove it in 

 the winter, when the ground is frozen. 



In draining, make a main drain through the mea- 

 dow, to carry off the stream, if there be one, or the 

 water from the springs. This drain must vary in 

 depth, according to the amount of water to be con- 

 ducted off, and the descent and length of the mea- 

 dow. In some cases, where the meadow is long 



ny persons neglect this in the beginning, and have 

 to make them afterward, to complete their draining. 

 If there be not marginal drains, and drains are made 

 twenty or thirty feet apart, running directly from 

 the highland to the main drain, the water will run 

 out of the banks and extend down a number of rods 

 between the drains, as may be seen by the worth- 

 less plants growing there. 



Make cross drains from the marginal drains to 

 the main ditch, sufficiently near to drain the mea- 

 dow well. They should be twenty, thirty or forty 

 feet apart, according to the depth of mud, the de- 

 gree of moisture, the descent of the drain, &c. We 

 have seen meadows two acres in extent, of an ob- 

 long form, completely drained so as to be dry 

 enough for tillage merely by a marginal drain, for 

 there was no water on them except what run from 

 highlands; as that was cut off by a marginal ditch, 

 the draining was thorough. 



The depth of drains should vary according to cir- 

 cumstances. Generally the drains should extend 

 thiough the peator mud, into the hard soil, unless the 

 mud extends to a great depth; and in this case the 

 drains should be pretty deep, generally two-and-a- 

 half to three feet deep. Drains may be made with 

 the sides slanting, and these sides covered with sods 

 of grass, which gives them a beautiful appearance, 

 and they will yield grass even to the bottom of the 

 drain. If the sides are quite slanting, a team can 

 pass over them conveniently. Some persons fill 

 the drains with small stones to the surface, so that 

 they can be passed over conveniently. Others fill 

 them with small stones till within a foot of the sur- 

 face, and then fill up with earth, so that grass will 

 grow over the drain. These modes will aiiswer 

 where there is a good descent, and the drains are 



and nearly level, and a large amount of water is tojshort. ]3ut if the drains are long and the descent! 

 be dischartred, it is necessary to cut the drain four small, the water will pass along sluggishly and 



or five feet deep at the foot of the meadow. After 

 making the main drain, make marginal drains 

 around the meadow at or near the hiThland. to car- 

 ry off the water that oozes ofTof the hiolihuid. Ma- 



clog, and the drainage be imperfect. This evil 

 may be avoided by making channels in the bottom 

 of thedrai[i. Hut if the mud is deep, so tiial the 

 drain does not extend tiown to the liard soil, flat 



