'lO ON RECLAIMED MEADOW. 



this report his own particular account of tlic improvement ef- 

 fected. 



The amount of meadow recovered exceeds ten acres ; the ex- 

 periment is successful and the improvement and advantages ob- 

 vious ; the land, which was before worthless, is now productive ; 

 the work has been accomplished at a very moderate expense, 

 which by the produce of the land has been much more than re- 

 munerated. The whole has been effected with judgment and 

 skill ; and your Committee agree in au'arding to him the premi- 

 um of twenty dollars. Your Committee do not say that the ex- 

 periment of Mr. Newhall is susceptible of no improvement ; but 

 it was very satisfactory. They are of opinion, that it would have 

 been, in respect not less to convenience than utility, a great ad- 

 vantage, if the main ditches had been perfectly straight and the 

 side ditches precisely at right angles with the main drain ; the 

 side ditches and the drains at the foot of the rising ground where 

 such occur, may often times be covered to advantage ; and it 

 would be an improvement in all cases, where it is practicable, to 

 construct at the outlet of the meadow a dam with a sluice way 

 and gate so that the water may be retained or let off at pleasure. 

 In all cases, where such an improvement is designed or attempt- 

 ed, it would be useful to have a plan of the ground previously 

 formed with all the drains intended to be made, whether open 

 or covered, distinctly laid down. This would be a great saving 

 of labor in the beginning ; and if, afterwards, the drains should 

 become choked or filled up, it would render it a much easier 

 matter to open or repair them. 



An experiment in reclaiming wet and bog meadows is now 

 being carried on in England near Liverpool, at a place called 

 Chat-Moss, under the direction of a Mr. Reed. It is represented 

 as being eminently successful. The particular details have not 

 yet reached us ; but it is understood to have been effected first 

 by removing as far as practicable the water by a wnde main ditch 

 and by frequent lateral ditches at right angles with the main 

 ditch and running into it ; and then carrying on to the meadow 

 large quantities of limestone gravel and quick lime; and after- 

 wards cultivating it with the following course of crops ; potatoes, 



