258 HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY. 



tify. He and each of the five have presented examples to 

 the public, of great value, which it is to be hoped will be fol- 

 lowed. Were the society to appoint a committee ivhose duty it 

 should he to learn what number of acres of loiuland has been 

 recently reclaimed, and what numher of acres might be advan- 

 tageously reclaimed in Hampshire county, and report to the 

 society, it would probably call the attention of the public to 

 the subject, and encourage the practice of reclaiming meadow 

 lands. 



Finally, the process of reclaiming meadow lands is profitable. 

 In proof of this, we rely upon the following statements. 



Your committee have been exceedingly gratified in the ex- 

 amination of the several pieces of meadow land, which were 

 entered for the bounty of the society. In each and all we saw 

 animating evidence of skill, perseverance, and success. In that 

 success, whether we regard the change from deformity to 

 beauty, from barrenness to fertility, from loss to profit ; in that 

 skill in the application of the rules of agricultural art, founded 

 upon the principles of agricultural science, we see a pledge and 

 an earnest of similar improvements to be extensively adopted 

 elsewhere in this vicinity by other intelligent farmers. 



We assign the first premium, of ten dollars, to John Ship- 

 man, of Hadley ; and the second premium, of six dollars, to 

 Leonard Barrett, of Belchertown. 



WILLIAM C. FOWLER, Chairman. 



John Shipman^s Statement. 



I present to you my experience in reclaiming swamp land. 

 Although more than twenty years have passed away since I 

 commenced, I will endeavor to give you as correct a statement 

 as possible. 



In April, 1825, 1 came into possession of fifty acres of swamp 

 land with which I had been familiar from my earliest youth. 

 Forty acres of this land is a peat swamp. Being perfectly 

 level, it had in some former years been covered with a large 

 growth of timber, of pine, maple, oak, &c., which had been 

 destroyed by frequent burning. I well recollect fifty years 



