FARMS. 15 



Statement of Lewis H. Hildreth. 



The improvements on my farm, which you first visited in 

 the fall of 1852, have been so gradual, that when you were 

 here, I, being unwell at the time, did not call your attention to 

 them as I could wish to have done. One of my young apple 

 orchards, the trees of which were stunted by witchgrass in 

 1852, has since then made a good growth. Another, which 

 you did not see, has grown very thriftily, with the exception of 

 two rows on one end, the ground of which has not been kept 

 so constantly cultivated, showing conclusively to my mind that 

 if a man wishes to eat of the fruit from a young orchard, set 

 out by himself, he must either set it out while very young, or 

 keep his grounds cultivated. 



Besides former ditching, I have dug another this fall, about 

 forty-five or fifty rods long, eight feet wide, and five feet deep. 

 This I dug for a threefold purpose : first, to obtain the mead- 

 ow mud, or peat, which is convenient to my barn and very valu- 

 able ; second, to drain the moist ground on either side, which, 

 I think, it will do thoroughly ; third, and not the least impor- 

 tant, to make a receptacle for the stones lying on the surface 

 of my land, of which I have a superabundance. 



My mode of making covered ditches is to dig to a suitable 

 depth, from three to five feet, according to the amount of stones 

 which I wish to dispose of; these I haul to the bank of the 

 ditch, lay cobbles in the bottom at the distance of eight inches 

 apart, place over them flat stones, and on top of these fill in 

 with small stones to within fifteen inches of the surface ; I 

 then level up with the dirt dug from the ditch, and either spread 

 the remainder or cart it to my barn yard. I have found great 

 benefit from this course. The work of the farm has been done 

 out of doors by myself and two young boys, thirteen and ten 

 years of age, and in doors by my wife and daughter, five 

 years old. 



I planted about five and a half acres of corn, including that 

 for fodder, which promises a good crop. I sowed about four 

 and a half acres of oats, all good, and one field very heavy. 



My hay crop has been gradually increasing for the last nine 



