RECLAIMED SWAMPS. 177 



RECLAIMED SWAMPS 



ESSEX. 



Report of the Committee. 



Only a single entry for the premium for reclaimed meadows 

 was made. Oliver P. Killam, of West Boxford, called the 

 attention of the committee to about two and one-half acres of 

 meadow land, upon which he has been making improvements 

 during two or three years past. 



The chairman notified the committee, consisting of five, to 

 inspect the meadow on the tenth day of July, while the grass 

 was standing*; but the committee neglected their duty, with the 

 exception of Benjamin Dawson, of Ipswich ; and we, being a 

 minority of the committee, can only say that in our judgment 

 the improvement is such as to entitle Mr. Killam to the society's 

 first premium. From an unproductive and partially submerged 

 swamp, we found a fine level and dry field, with a heavy growth 

 of Timothy and redtop. The premises were well drained, which 

 is the first consideration in improvements of this kind, and a 

 sufi&cient quantity of gravel had been spread upon the surface 

 to afibrd silex to the grass and give firmness to the meadow. 



In improvements of this kind, there is a double advantage 

 gained, for while the meadow is converted from an unsightly 

 waste to the value of at least one hundred dollars an acre, the 

 vegetable matter removed from the ditches, in thorough drain- 

 ing, would add an equal value to an acre of gravelly and worn 

 out land. 



If it be the wise economy of nature to reconstruct future 

 harvests from the decomposition of the past, what treasures of 

 fertilizing materials lie dormant in these partially decomposed 

 bodies of vegetable matter, of which the farmer might avail 

 himself with great advantage. 



Although the society heretofore has offered its premiums, and 

 many valuable improvements have been made, still, considering 

 that within the limits of the county there are twelve or fifteen 

 thousand acres of these unproductive lands, a large portion of 



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