MANAGEMENT OF GRASS LANDS. 353 



good, or is rendered so by artificial means, for which purpose 

 that is, to bring them up to a high state of fertility ample 

 supplies of manure are requisite; the best mode of application 

 is by way of top dressing. Upland meadows require much 

 more care and attention than those of the valleys, which we 

 have here denominated river meadows. In manuring upland 

 meadows, the farmer will act with great caution much is left 

 to his judgment, as he alone is determined by the state of the 

 season, the kind of manure to be used, the quantity and fre- 

 quency of its application. 



J3og meadows are the least esteemed of any. The term in- 

 cludes marshes, swamps, or bogs, producing naturally only 

 rushes, sedges, and the larger and coarser grasses. These 

 marshes are of every degree of natural fertility. The marshes 

 along our extended sea-board are frequently rendered highly 

 productive and of great value. The lowest for the most part 

 in the scale of fertility of these wet lands, and yet of great im- 

 portance in elevated districts where they abound, are those 

 which consist of a thick bed of peaty matter. These lands are 

 generally susceptible of improvement by draining, and may be 

 rendered very valuable, and from producing a scanty, coarse, 

 unpalatable herbage, may be made to yield an abundance of 

 fine, sweet and nutritious grass. See Experiments in Reclaim- 

 ing Wet Meadows and Bogs. 



As the soil of these wet lands improves, so for the most part 

 does the natural produce which it yields. It is frequently a 

 question of expediency whether a marsh shall be broken up 

 for tillage or allowed to yield its natural plants. It may pro- 

 duce a great deal of manure, without requiring any; and it 

 may furnish a valuable resource for wintering stock yet it 

 may not be capable of being fitted for cultivation but by a very 

 large expenditure of capital. The manner of preparing the hay 

 of these grounds, is similar to that of preparing the hay of the 

 grasses. See article Hay-making. 



A very great diversity of opinion has prevailed with respect 

 to the breaking up grass lands, with a view of restoring them 

 afterwards, or remaining permanently under cultivation. So 

 important was this subject considered, that the British Parlia- 

 ment, a few years since, requested the Board of Agriculture to 

 institute an inquiry as to its influences and effects, both in a 

 national and individual light. We find the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, in compliance with a requisition from the House of Lords, 

 instituting in the year 1800 a very particular and extensive 

 inquiry "into the best means of converting certain grass lands 

 into tillage, without exhausting the soil, and of returning the 

 same to grass, after a certain period, in an improved state, or 

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