93 



good garden every year, helped ourselves liberally to the best, 

 and if any was left over we sold it or gave it away. 



Yours respectfully, 



Chas. W. Mann. 



WET MEADOW AND SWAMP LANDS. 



The committee on improving wet meadow lands was com- 

 posed of the following gentlemen : David Stiles, chairman; 

 W. C. Sleeper, Methuen, John N. Kent, Newbury, John W. 

 Blodgett, Saugus, and John L. Colcord, Peabody. Th^ two 

 latter with your chairman were present to view the land of 

 Mr. Alfred Green of Salisbury, June 28th, 1880. 



The day was one of the hottest and dryest of the season. 

 We found ourselves after leaving the cars in Newburyport 

 and riding about three miles over a dusty road passing the 

 chain bridge, in a valley on the left bank of the Merrimack. 

 At the lower end of this valley was the land we came to view. 

 The plot contained considerably over an acre as we judged, 

 and had then upon it, in our opinion, about three tons of 

 herds grass to the acre. 



Mr. Green was with us and gave a verbal statement for 

 1880, which was, that the land had received no dressing since 

 the first year, or three years ago, and his former statements 

 we had no reason to doubt, in fact, we thought that he fell be- 

 low the fact in his estimate of the two former hay crops, as he 

 said they were about the same as the present one. 



The soil is a mixture of clay, sand, and fine gravel ( we 

 should judge) which for ages had been flowed by the backing 

 of the water from the Merrimack by the tide. The water at 

 this point of the river is salt or fresh, depending upon the 

 high tides or freshets. And certainly a large amount of salt, 

 together with refuse matter from the ocean and river must 

 have been deposited upon this land. What influence they 

 have had, your committee are unable to say. It is a remarka- 



