RECLAIMED LANDS. ^ 29 



it. Thus, and thus only, can ho avoid the dilemma of either 

 cultivating his land without manure, which is a grievous wrong, 

 or of buying manure when the means of making it are within 

 his reach, which is, at least, unwise. Thus only can he secure 

 for himself a fair interest for his capital, reasonable remunera- 

 tion for his labor, and ever improving condition of his land. 



The fact that thirty-five bushels of wheat, forty-five bushels of 

 rye, fifty bushels of barley and one hundred bushels of corn, 

 per acre, have been raised in Plymouth County, shows conclu- 

 sively that its soil is not wholly barren or unproductive, and 

 that its many exhausted fields, its too scanty and ill fed stock, 

 and its too often meagre crops, scarce worth the harvesting, are, 

 in part, at least, due to other causes than its inherent sterility. 

 For its generally unfavorable reputation as an agricultural 

 county, a corrected public opinion will, in due time, arraign the 

 improvidence or cupidity of its husbandmen, and dare 



*' To blame the culture, not the soil." 



Alden S. Bradford, Supervisor. 



RECLAIMED LAN^DS. 



ESSEX. 



Statement of Henry L. Moody, of the Burleigh Farm, Danvers. 



The reclaimed waste land, which I offer for premium, consists 

 of about fourteen acres, of a light, gravelly soil, thickly filled 

 with stones of various sizes. Previous to being broken up, it 

 was used as a pasture, until it became covered vdtli wood-wax 

 and bushes, and of course, worthless for pasture. 



When I came to the farm, April 1st, 1864, seven of the four- 

 teen acres had been ploughed. Three acres had been planted 

 with potatoes, corn and fodder corn ; the remainder had been 

 harrowed and left without planting. 



My first work was to take off the loose stones ; then I ploughed 

 and planted the whole seven acres with potatoes, after manuring 



