MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. Ill 



I have reclaimed about fifteen acres of rough stony land, that 

 was nearly worthless, the stones being so thick in some parts 

 of it, that, when dug, they would more than cover the ground. 

 It now produces good crops, some of it more than two tons of 

 hay to the acre. Twenty acres of meadow land, Avhich was 

 so wet when I bought it, that I had to carry on poles to the 

 hard land, nearly the whole of the hay that grew upon it, and 

 that of a very poor quality. I have ditched, bogged and burnt, 

 so that the quality and quantity of hay have nearly doubled, 

 and on some parts more than doubled, I can rake and cart 

 nearly the whole of it with a horse. I have also grafted such 

 of the old fruit trees as were suitable for this purpose, and set 

 out new trees of the different varieties of fruit. 



The farm now produces twice as much as it did when it 

 came into my possession, the greatest income being from the 

 sale of milk, which amounts to between ^700 and $800 a 

 year. But still I am in debt about $1000, having expended 

 my profits in improvements on the farm, it being my object to 

 make the rough places smoother, and two spears of grass 

 grow where but one grew before. The help that I have hired 

 on the farm, was, for the first six years, a boy fifteen or sixteen 

 years old, and a man through haying. Since then I have hired 

 a man for eight months in the year, and some years a boy. I 

 have now on the ground five acres of corn, one and a half acres 

 of potatoes, and have harvested three and a half acres of oats, 

 which has been about my usual quantity for years past. 



Bedford, Sept. 2d, 1851. 



Abel Rice^s Statement. 



My farm contains fifty acres, and was formerly an old pasture, 

 descending from one generation to another down to 1840, when 

 it was purchased by a young man for a farm. He commenced 

 building upon it, and remained four years, when he became 

 discouraged and offered it for sale. I bought the farm, and 

 removed to it in 184-5. Since that time, I have done upon it 

 all that I could do, without running in debt. Some of the 

 improvements made by me are the following. I have finished 

 the house, enlarged my barn and dug a cellar under it, built 



