RECLAIMIN^G LAKD. 143 



to hold up a horse, we were obliged to put sand on it, as we 

 had done on other pieces. It is a curious fact that although 

 we had been to all this expense of plowing, this land is not 

 so productive, — will not grow grass as well as the other por- 

 tion of the land that has not been plowed. Whether it is 

 because we turned up sour material from the bottom, I do not 

 know, but the result shows that on land of that character it 

 is advantageous to put on your sand first. The sand has 

 left that land so that horses can mow it by machinery, rake 

 up the hay, cart it, and do anything of that kind. If you 

 sow your grass seed on that plowed land without the use of 

 sand, what do you find? You find that there is not silicate 

 enough in the stalk to hold it up ; it falls doAvn when it is 

 about eighteen inches higli ; you cannot get any sort of a 

 crop ; you cannot do anything with it ; it will run l)ack to 

 wild grasses. I do not expect to live long, but I have got 

 about ten acres of that kind of land left yet, and I want to 

 see that under cultivation before I leave. I am doins: it 

 pretty fast. Now, that is reclaiming land, and reclaiming it 

 in such a way that you will get some money out of it. 



Question. About how near the surface of the land do 

 you keep the water? 



Captain Moore. I get it down three or four feet, if I 

 can ; but if I have not fall enough to do that, I have to con- 

 tent myself with getting it down two feet. There is a brook 

 runs through my land all the way from two to five feet deep. 

 The land is like a sponge. You cut a drain through it and 

 draw out the water, and when you have lowered the outlet 

 perhaps two feet, you will be astonished to find you have 

 not gained more than eight or ten inches by your digging. 

 Your soil simply settles and compacts by its own weight. 



I do not like to take up the time of this meeting, Mr. 

 Chairman, but if any gentleman would like to ask me any 

 questions, I shall be happy to answer them ; otherwise, I 

 will give some other person the floor. 



QuESTiox. Do you prefer sand to gravel ? 



Captain Mooee. Sand is better. You do not want any 

 gravel stones. The late Elias Phinney, who was quite an 

 intimate friend of my father, and who was engaged in re- 

 claiming land at the time my father was, had no sand on his 



