IMPROVEMENT OF SALT-MARSHES. 219 



barn-cellar. This will furnish a supply for top-dressing ready 

 at all seasons of the year. 



Another source of income is the apple, pear and peach 

 orchard, which requires close attention and careful treatment. 

 Pigs may run in the orchard during the fall, when they can 

 obtain their own living from the fruit that falls. The pigs 

 will keep the soil loose around the trees, and destroy the 

 grubs and worms that infest an orchard. 



Farmers, to avoid the expense of too much hired labor, 

 should avail themselves of all needful improved agricultural 

 implements to expedite their work, not only in the hay-fields, 

 but in the corn-fields, and in the cultivation of the root crops. 

 If the land is not already cleared of stones and rocks it 

 should be done at once, so that the machines will work in 

 every corner. 



Daniel D wight. 



The essay led to discussion, in which Messrs. Chadbourne, 

 Smith and others participated, when it was laid over. 



Professor Goessmann then presented his Third Annua! 

 Report — 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF SALT-MARSHES. 



The recent progress in the cultivation of the reclaimed salt- 

 marshes in the town of Marshfield, has been, on the whole, 

 quite encouraging, in spite of an unfavorable season. The 

 dike has done its business thoroughly during the past year, 

 and is in good condition. The water in the river has stood, 

 most of the time, from five to six feet below the surface of 

 the meadows, and has risen only in exceptional cases — after 

 freshets and heavy rainfalls — to within two feet of the latter. 

 No general system of drainage has yet been adopted, and but 

 little has been done during the past season in regard to a 

 more extensive draining, beyond the clearing out and. the 

 deepening of old ditches. The character of the spontaneous 

 vegetation has, for this reason, varied but little, in many local- 

 ities, from that noticed during the preceding year. 



The unusual drought of last summer caused a more exten- 

 sive destruction of the indigenous, worthless surface-growth, 



