60 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



produced but little hay, and that of poor quality. He often 

 said it was an eyesore to him, and that he would gladly 

 give it away, if it could be removed, and his hill land (as he 

 called it) could be moved to take its place. The most of the 

 year it was covered with stagnant water ; in winter it was 

 covered with ice, where the boty-s congregated to play and 

 skate ; in spring it was made hideous with the croaking of 

 frogs and paddocks, and in summer the blackbirds built their 

 nests in the tall grass. In the year 1827 (I think it was), my 

 father being feeble, I concluded, with his consent, to take one 

 step at least toward removing the nuisance, which was to dig 

 across the road six or seven feet deep, make a new bridge, 

 and thence into the land of my neighbor, to drain off the 

 water. This work I accomplished, and spread the contents 

 taken from the road on the borders of the meadow, which 

 produced large crops of hay. 



The next year, the water having drained off, I dug a ditch 

 across the deepest part of the meadow, and found the greatest 

 depth of mud about three and a half feet, but the outlet 

 across the road was not sufficiently deep to draw the water 

 more than about three feet from the surface. I also dug 

 some ditches in the other direction, as circumstances seemed 

 to require. 



In the spring of 1829, my father died, and I came into 

 possession of the farm, by purchase from my brothers and 

 sisters. Now, in regard to the meadow, thus far I had been 

 successful ; the stagnant waters had been drawn off, and the 

 noxious reptiles had abandoned it ; and the question now was, 

 How can it be improved and made profitable ? 



I attempted to plough it, but was unsuccessful, as sedge- 

 beds were scattered over the meadow, which, in addition to 

 cranberry-vines, made it impervious to the plough. Again, 

 the question came back, How can I improve the meadow? 

 There was no precedent, to my knowledge, as draining and cul- 

 tivating meadows were entirely a new thing, and my neighbors 

 were like Job's comforters, — had no faith in my success, and 

 thought it had better go to cranberries, although they were 

 of but little value. The next two years, I did little to the 

 meadow, except draining it more thoroughly, as circumstances 

 seemed to require, by cutting off the cold springs on every 



