Januar y, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



addition to tliese, they funiisli an inexhaustible 

 supply of tljo most essential ingiedient for the 

 coiiniost heap. Some years since, I occasionally 

 sold to uiy neiglibors a few rods of my peal land, 

 annually, to be cut out for fuel at §3 per rod 

 square, "iiLJiig at the rate of $480 per acre, but 

 tinding this sum to be less than its value for cul- 

 tivation, especially when laid to grass, I have 

 declined making further sales at that price. 1 

 have raised upon my reclaimed meadows, 75 

 bushels corn, 500 bushels potatoes, and from 4 

 to 5 tons of the best hay at the lirst and second 

 cutting, to the acre, at a less expense of labor 

 and manure than would be required to produce 

 hall this crop upon my ujjlands. 



"To render these lauds productive, they should 

 be thoroughly drained, by cutting a ditch around 

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

 springs and leceive the water that is continually 

 flowing in tiom the surrounding uplands. If the 

 meadow be wide, a ilitch through the centre may 

 he necessary, but this will be ol' no use without 

 the border ditches. This being thoroughly done 

 and the surplus water all drawn off, the next 

 step is to exterminate the wild grasses and herb- 

 age of every kind that grow upon the surface. 

 To effect this, the method heretotbre, and now 

 by sotrie pursued, is to cover with sand or gravel 

 from three to six inches deep, top-dress with 

 manure, sow the grass-seed, and rake or bush it 

 over, 'i'liis, lor the first year or two, will give a 

 good crop of hay. But alter this, I have invari- 

 ably tbund that the more hardy and coarse kinds 

 of wild grass would work their way through the 

 sand aud gravel, and completely supplant the 

 cultivated grasses, when the whole nmst have 

 another 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 plough 

 having a wrought-iron share and coulter, both 

 ground to a sharp edge, in the driest season, say 

 in the month of September, roll down as hard 

 as possible, carry on the following winter a sut- 

 ficieut top-dressing of compost, about 20 cart- 

 loads to the acre, and in the spring spread the 

 same, aud plant with corn or roots, without dis- 

 turbing 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 Novem- 

 ber, or just betbre the severe frosts set in, sow 

 witii herdsgrass and red-top seed, half a bushel 

 of the former aud a bushel of the latter, to the 

 acre ; the field is then rolled, which completes 

 the process. Jf the plough does not turn the 

 Bwurd entirely over, it will be necessary to follow 

 with the bog-hoe, to level the uneven places. 

 By keeping the sod undisturbed during the culti- 

 vation, a more firm and compact surface is form- 

 ed, upon which oxen or horses may walk, gener- 

 ally without danger of miring. If the ground 

 be intended for grass without the intervention of 

 a hoed crop, the turf is turned over as before 

 stated, in August or September, or as early in 

 the season as the surface becomes dry enough 

 to admit the oxen or horses upon it, then follow 

 with the hoe and roller, and make such parts 

 smooth as may be left imeven by the plough, and 

 late in November cart and spread on not less 

 than twenty cart-loads of compost to the acre, 

 made of equal parts of loam or vegetable mould 

 and stable dung, then sow the grass seed and 

 bush and roll down. 



"If, after all requisite training, the land still 

 remains so wet and miry as to rentier the use of 

 the plough impracticable, the bog-hoe nuist 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, and if done be- 

 fore 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 with the hoe 

 will not exceed $20 per acre at the usual prices 

 of labor. 



"This mode of culture completely subdues 

 the natural grasses and wild herbage, and gives 

 a compact rich sin face of vegetable mould, which 

 will give an abundance of crop of the best hay 

 for four or five year^ without the aid of more 

 tiiauure. If the sod be disturbed and attempted 

 to bo pulverised in the course of the cultivation, 

 the surface when laid to grass will be loose and 

 spongy, an extra toi)-dre.ssiiig of compost will 

 be required, and after all, the surface will never 



become so compact, nor the j)roduce by any 

 means so great. 



" Should meadows be found too soft and miry 

 to admit of being ploughed in the summer or 

 autumn, and the expense of turning with the hoe 

 be thought too great, I would recommend plough- 

 ing in the spring, when the frost is out to the 

 depth of three or four inches, carting on the ma- 

 nure and then sowing or planting at a conven- 

 ient and proper season. 



"The most important parts of the business 



reclaiming these meadows, consist 



takii 



oft 



II the stirplus water by judicious draining, and 

 in thoroughly exterminating the natural herbage 

 and grass. This being ef}"ected, we have our 

 rich bottoms equally as productive as the deep 

 alluvions of the west, and obtained at a cost and 

 sacrifice very much less. 



"In answer to your inqinry whether I have 

 turned over greensward and sowed it directly 

 down to grass without manuring, I reply that 1 

 have not ; my course. has been to top-dress the 

 inverted sward with compost. With reference 

 to the ultimate improvement of the soil, I plough 

 deep, which brings to the surface a consiilerahle 

 portion of the poor subsoil, requiring to be mix- 

 ed with manure to render it |)roductive. That 

 land may be greatly benefitted by turning over 

 the greensward al>er the crop of hay is taken off, 

 and immediately sowed to grass without manure, 

 I have no question ; but for present jirofit, as 

 well as with a vi?w to future improvement, it 

 may be well to dress with manure. My best 

 crops of grass are, however, from fields which 

 have been planted, the season of turning over 

 the greensward, with corn or roots, and suwing 

 to grass the next spring without disturbing the 

 inverted sward. I have found that when grass 

 seed is sowed upon the sv'ard without cidtivaling 

 it for one season, the poorer kinds of natural 

 grasses spring up between the fun-ow slices, and 

 in the course of a year or two entirely supplant 

 the better kinds of cultivated grasses. This is a 

 great object with farmers who raise hay for the 

 market. The quantity grown upon an acre, 

 without putting on a hoed crop for the first sea- 

 son after turning over, may be quite as great, but 

 of inferior quality." 



5. 1 ho next account which I shall give is that 

 of Abel Moore, of Concord, in this county, whose 

 improvements have been remarkable and in the 

 highest degree productive. The land, which has 

 thus been renovated, before his improvements, 

 though almost in the centre of the beautiful vil- 

 lage of Concord, would scarcely have brought a 

 rent of twenty-five cents to the acre. Those, 

 who woidd see what magic power there is in 

 skilful cultivation, would find a high gratification 

 in comparing a part of this meadow which now 

 remains in its original state, with that "hich, 1 

 had almost said, Mr. Moore has raised from the 

 dead and adorned with life and beauty. The 

 mode in which Mr. Moore forms his ditches, by 

 inaking them so wide at top that the slope to the 

 bottom is so gradual that they may be crossed in 

 the siinmier season with a team without a bridge, 

 deserves particular attention. Here is no heav- 

 ing of frosts and caving in of baidis, or under- 

 mining of the edges of the ditch ; and the slope 

 of the" bank is so easy that grass may be grown 

 and tTiowed to the very bottom. 



" In the winter of 1836 I began to cut off the 

 brush from about twenty acres of my farm, lying 

 between the old county road and the turnpike 

 leading from Concord to Boston. In the summer 

 of 1827 I commenced ditching this meadow land 

 by cutting ditches through the same about four 

 feet wide and from three to four feet deep. In 

 the fall of the same year I commenced gravelling 

 about two acres of the same land by carting on 

 about 500 loads of sandy loam to the acre. In 

 the spring of 1828 I sowed these two acres down 

 with oats and grass seed, and had a large crop of 

 oats. I have ever since had a large crop of grass 

 twice every year without any depreciation. On 

 about one half of this land I have never put any 

 manure since it was first sowed down, but it has 

 the wash of the road which does it considerable 

 good. I have continued reclaiming more or less 

 of this land every year since, and have already 

 finished about twenty-three acres. I am doing 

 more at this time, and shall continue to reclaim 

 this land until I get the greater part of it done. 



" You ask iTie if I have ever pared and burnt 

 the Innd. Au?wr. I h'lve not; Lut I h-ive a 



paring machine which I have run through both 

 ways so as to out it in junks about five incheii 

 deep. I have then turned it over, rolled it down, 

 adiled sandy loam and compost, and sowed it 

 down with oats aud grass seed. This I did two 

 years ago last spring, and had the best crop of 



oats I ever raised, and I have had since as largo 

 crops of grass on this as on any other land. 1 

 have ploughed four or five acres of the land since 

 I fixed it, and have raised the first year large 

 crops of potatoes, and then laid it down the next 

 spring with oats, wheat, and grass seed. In 

 every instance I have not failed of having a large 

 crop. 



"You ask me how often it requires top-dress- 

 ing. Answer. About once in two or three years. 

 I always put on the dressing in the fall if con- 

 venient. I spread it, then harrow it well, and 

 roll it down. 



" You ask me if I have measured any of my 

 meadow and wei^ghed the hay. Answer. I 

 caused a small square piece between two ditches 

 to be ineasured. It contiiined eighty-four rods. 

 The grass was well tlried in two days of as good 

 hay weather as we had last year, and weighed 

 thirty-eight hundred and five pounds. I cut a 

 good second crop on the same which I did not 

 weigh. 



"I have never kept any particular account of 

 what it costs me to redeem my meadow. But 

 I am sure the two first crops have amply repaid 

 all expense for the whole labor. 



" In ditching my meadow of late, I have lefl 

 no raised hanks, but have levelled it back, so as 

 to have grass to the very edge of the bank, and 

 to prevent the banks from caving in." 



6. My next account is from Amos Bancroft, 

 M. D. at Groton, whose method will be found to 

 be in some respects different from that pursued 

 by others. The ap|)earance of bis mowing fields 

 and the amount of his potatoe crops certainly 

 speak well for his husbandry. 



" 1 will give you a concise account of my me- 

 thod of reclaiming the peat meadows. I have 

 tried ploughing, paring, and planting with pota- 

 toes. I think ploughing in the beginning does 

 not answer. I first drain the ground by ditching, 

 if it requires it. Then 1 bog and cut off the has- 

 socks, stack them and burn them on the ground 

 or remove them to the upland. Part of our peat 

 meadow has no hassocks or bogs. My practice 

 has been to plant before breaking the surface. I 

 place a shovelful of manure and earth, or any 

 good compost, in hills on the ground about three 

 feet apart for my potatoes, and in dressing them 

 with bog hoes, cover them fro.ii the surface sods 

 and make potatoe hills of a suitable size ; they 

 require but little more attention until they aro 

 dug. After this, if the surface is sufficiently rot- 

 ten or pulverized, I give it a dressing and sow 

 with timothy and redtop ; if not, I plough and 

 plant another year. The more gravel or loam I 

 carry on the better. The first crop of potatoes I 

 think pays for the labor. After it is sown down 

 it will require to be ploughed or dressed every 

 three or four years. My meadow gives me two 

 tons of hay to the acre. Where the ground is 

 too wet to be ploughed I cart on gravel and ma- 

 nure, and repeat every three or four years. Po- 

 tatoes and hay are the only crops I have suc- 

 ceeded in bringing to profit. Oats will grow 

 rank, but are liable to be blasted and fall down. 

 Wheat and rye, I think, will do no better; but I 

 have experimented on a very small scale on the 

 two latter. Lime, plaster and ashes I have never 

 tried. The reason I plough my ground on the 

 meadow, instead of letting it lie and dressing it 

 every few years, is because I raise my potatoes 

 on it easier than on the upland. I thmk likewise 

 the process of ploughing and harrowing improves 

 the soil by pulverizing and warming the surface. 

 The annual quantity of potatoes raised on the 

 meadow is from three to five hundred bushels." 



Dr. Bancroft's crops are excellent. Two win- 

 ters since his grass was entirely killed out by 

 severe freezing, the meadows being covered with 

 ice. The gravel which he speaks of applying is 

 from a clay bank in the neighboriiood, and con- 

 tains a large portion of alumina. 



The meadows in Groton are quite extensive to 

 the cast and west of the town : in the former 

 case a tract of one hundred acres ; in the latter, 

 of one hundred and fifty aeref. The soil is peat ; 

 but of fill" jrrnin. not' alvoui^ding eo much in 



