CEOPS IN SALT-MARSHES. 221 



consequence of a rapid disintegration of the organic matter 

 below the surface, and subsequent breaking up of the original 

 sward, — a change which the severe drought of the present and 

 previous years has generally favored. Most lands which have 

 yielded thus far, annually, good returns, are liable, for similar 

 reasons, to fail at any time. 



The best results with grass have been obtained with " red- 

 top " seed (Agrostis vulgaris, With.), although "herdsgrass" 

 (Phleum pratense, L.) has been sown to some extent. A 

 measured acre of " red-top," grown upon harrowed land, pro- 

 duced during the late season nearly three tons of hay. Six- 

 teen rods of land, sown three years since, yielded during the 

 past summer at the rate of over three tons and a half ; the 

 grass was three feet high when cut. These returns may not 

 'be superior to those in other cases ; they are stated in detail, 

 because pains had been taken to ascertain exact figures. Mr. 

 Thomas B. Williams of Boston raised about twenty tons of good 

 English hay ; other parties have harvested from one to fifteen 

 tons. The entire hay crop in the marshes has, the past year, 

 amounted to fifty tons of English hay. 



Very little of the ploughed land has yet been sown to grass. 

 A lot of about one acre, ploughed and harrowed thoroughly, 

 which was sown during the past year, looked remarkably green 

 and well before the snow covered it. This is the first attempt 

 in that direction. In the last report it has been stated that 

 Mr. Williams and others had ploughed during the autumn of 

 1875 about fifty acres of the former marshes, and proposed to 

 use them for the cultivation of grain. Some of that land was 

 sown at once to grain, the larger portion had been reserved 

 for the past spring to be used mainly for oats. Rye, oats and 

 garden vegetables are the main crops upon the ploughed lands, 

 and the results have been, on the whole, very encouraging. 

 Mr. Williams raised one hundred and eighty bushels of rye, 

 three hundred and fifty bushels of oats, besides some wheat ; 

 Mr. Edward White raised about fifty bushels of oats. An 

 island in the river, about one-half an acre in size, has proved 

 a very profitable garden in the production of melons, squashes, 

 cucumbers, beets, potatoes, corn, beans, pease, etc. No fer- 

 tilizers of any description have been, thus far, applied. The 

 rye and oats were, at the close of July, in every respect equal 



