HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY, 259 



ago it was literally covered with fallen decayed timber. At 

 that time there were but few living trees, and but little brush 

 on the land. There grew annually rushes, or as it is called by 

 some, bull grass, to the height of six or seven feet, and very 

 thick. This grass, during autumn and winter, fell to the earth, 

 and in spring and often in midsummer, the land was covered 

 with water to the depth of two feet, so that not a particle of 

 the ground could be seen. 



The land is situated about one mile north-east of Hadley. 

 It is bounded on the east by a steep hill, from which run large 

 and numerous springs. At the time I bought the land, it had 

 grown up to brush and small wood. I did nothing towards 

 draining it the first year. 



In August, 1826, it being a very dry season, I commenced 

 work with six men, and dug a drain north and south through 

 the centre, six feet at the top, four feet at the bottom, and 

 three and a half deep. As the lot was forty rods in width, I 

 thought it best to have a large drain through the centre. We 

 then commenced on the outlet, which is about one mile to 

 where it enters the Connecticut river ; one hundred and sixty 

 rods of this was through higher ground. We had to go from 

 six to ten feet in depth. It was a sandy loam very easy to 

 shovel, but being so deep, it was an expensive job. We got a 

 fall of three feet in the one hundred and sixty rods. We then 

 commenced at the foot of the hill to cut off the springs. Here 

 we dug a drain three feet at the top, three feet deep and 

 eighteen inches at the bottom, with several cross-drains three 

 feet six inches deep, three feet in width at the top, and eighteen 

 inches at the bottom. The water passed off freely through all 

 the drains, and I felt confident of success. 



In the next spring, 1827, as soon as the ground was bare of 

 snow, but the frost not out, I went to view the ground. I 

 found it worked well, beyond my expectation. The deep cut 

 was partly filled with snow that had drifted in during the win- 

 ter, yet the water passed freely under it. There was but 

 little water in the drain that cut off the springs at the hill, 

 and there was no water on the surface of the land. But 

 there were difficulties to come, that I did not then for^i 



