52 ^ ESSEX SOCIETY. 



roweii from the above pieces. During the present year, 1851, 

 from the whole piece nine tons of good Engh'sh hay have been 

 taken, with the exception of one half acre not seeded down 

 till last March. From the whole piece, I have taken this fall, 

 not far from one ton of rowen. 



The principal top dressing for the laud consisted of the 

 ashes obtained from the burning of the top surface. On the 

 turf ditches gravelled over, I put fifteen cart loads of compost 

 manure. During the last winter, I put twenty cart loads of 

 compost manure, principally upon the piece first seeded down. 

 I have applied no other and no more manure. On the whole 

 five acres I sowed two bushels of timothy and five of red-top. 

 The proximity of the meadow to my barn, (within forty rods 

 distance,) makes it, in its present state, exceedingly valuable; 

 and my neighbors concur in the opinion that originally, the 

 now beautiful meadow was a very unsightly, uneven, and un- 

 profitable piece of land and water. 



BoxFORD, Oct. 18, 1851. 



Horace Ware, Jr.^s Statement. 



The piece of meadow that I offer for inspection, contains two 

 acres and two thirds, and was purchased by me in January, 

 1849. It was considered at that time worthless, as for the crop 

 produced, being a foul swamp of briers and bushes, with the 

 margin cut full of holes and ditches ; the water standing nearly 

 level with the surface of the land adjoining it, being a pond 

 containing five acres. 



My first step was to clear the brush from off" the land, which 

 was done that spring. In May I made a ditch from the pond 

 and took away about three feet of the water. In September, I 

 dug a ditch around the margin of the meadow, about four feet 

 deep and two wide, and filled it up two feet with stones, which 

 cut oft' the high springs most eff'ectually. 



I next j.loughed it by means of a long rope attached to the 

 plough, with the cattle on the high land ; the swamp being too 

 soft to bear them. I then removed the roots and hassocks, use- 

 ing them to fill up the ditches and holes, and also to build out 

 the edge of the meadow into the pond, to make it even and fair. 



