MExiDOW AND SWAMP LAND. 105 



In the spring of 186G I ploughed and harrowed tlie remaining 

 part, and planted it with two and one-half bushels Jackson 

 White potatoes, applying two loads of manure of twenty-five 

 bushels each. The potatoes were hoed twice, and pains taken 

 to work over the tough places faithfully. The yield was twenty- 

 five bushels. The rye yielded nine bushels of grain and eighteen 

 cwt. of straw. 



In December, from a hillside near by, I carted and spread 

 seventy-five loads, of twenty-five bushels each, of coarse sand, 

 varying the depth of the application as the condition of the soil 

 seemed to require. The bogs were all cut away and other 

 obstructions removed, so as to leave the surface entirely level. 



In the spring of 1867 I harrowed down the rye stubble, and, 

 without ploughing, furrowed it out, and putting one-half shovel- 

 ful of compost in the hill, planted corn upon all except the 

 toughest part. Upon the latter part I planted, after ploughing 

 as well as I could, one and one-half bushels of Jackson White 

 potatoes. The crop was hoed twice, grew rapidly, and yielded 

 ten bushels of potatoes, eighty baskets or forty bushels of corn, 

 and one and one-half tons of stover. 



After taking off the corn and potatoes I ploughed and har- 

 rowed, raked the corn-roots into low places and covered them 

 with peat, and sowed grass seed. As the seed was of my own 

 raising, I cannot state the quantity accurately, but my estimate 

 is one-half bushel of redtop and one peck of herd's-grass. 



The grass came up thick and looked well early in the season, 

 but the unusually large amount of rain proved unfavorable to a 

 heavy crop of hay upon wet lands, and the yield (eighteen cwt.,) 

 was not as large as may be expected in ordinary seasons. The 

 second crop is looking well. 



In the selection of farm help, I have been successful in secur- 

 ing young men at a price not exceeding $1.50 per day, and this 

 is the basis upon which I calculate the expenses of this exper- 

 iment. 



EXPENSES. 



1865. One acre land, $20 00 



Tax of improvement commissioners, . . 5 00 



20 rods ditch, at 50 cents, . . . . 10 00 



Three-fourths bushel seed rye, . . . 1 50 



Eight and two-thirds days' labor, . . . 13 00 



14* 



