114 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



thoroughly loosened with spade or pick, should receive the 

 small stones, brush, horn piths, or any rubbish at hand, and then 

 the sod or surface soil of the next section should be shovelled 

 over. It may be necessary to vary the depth according to the 

 condition of the subsoil. If hard strata of sandy or clayey 

 loam are met with, they should be broken up for the free trans- 

 mission of water. In decidedly clay bottoms through which 

 water will not pass, we construct drains a foot below the grade 

 of the trenches, and twenty-five feet apart, and, if the inclina- 

 tion of the land will admit of it, at right angles with the latter. 

 After a trench is finished, these bits of drains are sunk, corre- 

 sponding with those of the preceding trench. 



A man will trench about two square rods in a day, which, at 

 a dollar per day, amounts to eighty dollars an acre. But many 

 laborers are hired by the year, say at an average of thirteen 

 dollars per month, or at the rate of fifty cents per day, includ- 

 ing board, thus lessening the expense about one-half. It may 

 also be done early in spring or late in the fall, when other 

 work is not pressing, or at any intermediate leisure time. 

 This may be thought too expensive for common farming crops, 

 where other means and modes can be extensively employed ; 

 but it is indispensable for all garden purposes, for ornamental 

 grounds, and for trees of all kinds ; once done, it is done for a 

 lifetime. To us the expense is balanced by the gratification 

 in doing it, and in witnessing the subsequent increased growth 

 and produce of every thing cultivated. With what satisfaction 

 do we see " dog grass " plunged to the bottom of a trench, 

 never again to rise, along with the seeds of innumerable weeds, 

 accumulated by years of neglected cultivation, nevermore to 

 vegetate ! In fact, we think the time saved by thus obviating 

 the necessity of destroying weeds on many pieces of land 

 would, in half a dozen years, equal the time spent in trenching; 

 the soil in the former case not being permanently improved, 

 while the value of the trenched increases annually. 



As the operation progresses, all the manure that can be 

 spared may be mixed with the soil or carted upon the new sur- 

 face after the ground is frozen. We also spread on limo or 

 ashes to neutralize any acids that may be in the yellow virgin 

 soil, already richer to us than if colored by the golden sands 



