HAMPDEN SOCIETY. 193 



above the surrounding swamp as to be perfectly dry of itself, 

 although surrounded by water. Its soil was also of an entirely 

 different nature from the rest of the meadow, being of a fine 

 heavy loam, but from its nearness to the dead swamp water, 

 was entirely without life, so that the crop of corn and pota- 

 toes, which were planted upon it, did not flourish much, al- 

 though the land was manured well in the ordinary way. I 

 therefore concluded that barnyard manure was not adapted to 

 the nature of the soil, and so resolved to make some experiments 

 upon it, in order to discover the mode of treatment which it 

 required. 



In the fall of 1849, I made a pile of about 100 loads of com- 

 post, by digging peat from the swamp, to which I added 100 lbs. 

 of saltpetre, 30 bushels of ashes, and between 400 and 500 lbs. 

 of plaster, and spread it evenly over the surface of the whole 

 heap. The next spring I carted the compost upon the lot, and 

 spread it over the whole field at the rate of 30 loads to the 

 acre, the expense of the whole operation being from twenty-five 

 to thirty cents per load. I then planted it to corn, and applied 

 five loads of manure per acre in the hill, for the purpose of 

 starting the crop. I soon found this way of treating the land 

 to be eminently successful ; for it enabled me to gather a har- 

 vest of forty bushels to the acre. 



At the last hoeing, in July, I sowed the ground with clover, 

 herds-grass and red-top seed, and the following year (1851) 

 mowed a fine crop of the best quality of hay, and it now pre- 

 sents a favorable appearance for future productiveness. The 

 great difficulty with this piece of land in years past has been, 

 that it was so subject to be thrown up by the frost as to render it 

 difficult for seeds to take root. But this seems to be obviated 

 by a free use of compost, and by following this course I hope 

 entirely to do it away. 



Hadley, Oct. 20, 1851. 



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