SECRETARY'S REPORT. . 63 



A method ■which is found to be immediately profitable is 

 stated on the forty-sixth page of the Agriculture of Massachu- 

 setts for 1853. It requires, first, one or more main open drains, 

 if the swamp is large and very wet, to receive and carry off the 

 water at once. A thin coating of stable manure is then spread 

 upon the surface of the grass in spring, and on this potatoes 

 are dropped. Small ditches are then made, five or six feet 

 apart, the muck being thrown out upon the potatoes, to cover 

 them. This leaves the whole in long beds, some five or six 

 feet wide, on which the potatoes grow luxuriantly, no matter 

 how tough the sod with which they are covered. In the autumn, 

 when the potatoes are dug, the vines are thrown into the small 

 trenches, the whole surface is again levelled off, and grass seed 

 is sown. Some of the largest yields of grass ever known 

 have been obtained in this way. The drought never troubles 

 such land ; while, on the other hand, no injury can happen in a 

 wet season if the number of drains is sufficient in the begin- 

 ning. A thin coating of gravel, hauled upon the grass in the 

 fall or winter after it is sown, will be of great service. On 

 this subject, I must refer the reader to the section on reclaimed 

 land in the Report of last year. 



Such lands can ordinarily be bought very low ; and if they 

 can be reclaimed at a trifling expense in the manner described, 

 or in any other way, they will not fail to pay a very large profit, 

 and that, too, year after year. They require less manure than 

 the light uplands, and [retain it longer. In fact, such swamps 

 are generally natural muck beds, being composed of the vege- 

 table growth of many ages, and are thus made up of the richest 

 mould, often extending to the depth of many feet. This is the 

 first and one of the most important practicable methods of 

 preventing suffering from droughts, and one which is within 

 the easy reach of nearly every farmer in Massachusetts. 



The next mode is by irrigation. This is so dependent upon 

 circumstances, however, that it is not practicable for all j yet 

 many lands in this State are so situated as to make it not only 

 judicious, but truly economical. It has never been attempted 

 to any extent by the farmers of Massachusetts; but the few 

 instances which have come under my observation have been 

 successful and remunerative. 



