43 



MR. E. W. ROBINSON S LETTER. 



Dorchester, Nov. 10, 1858. 



Gentlemen, — I have had considerable experience in reclaim- 

 ing low lands, where rush and wild grasses were the principal 

 growth, and my usual practice has been as follows : If the slope 

 of the land was only moderate, I ploughed it, by back furrows, 

 into beds varying in width from two to five rods, so as to make a 

 good ditch where the dead furrows came together. I then rolled 

 down the furrows, spread the manure, and harrowed the ground 

 thoroughly. After this preparation, I sowed about half a bushel 

 of herdsgrass seed with an equal quantity of redtop, and covered 

 it by using a bush or brush harrow. I then picked oflE" the stones 

 and rolled the ground again. When this was done in September, 

 I could reasonably expect a good crop of grass the next Summer. 



Where the slope of the land is such as to allow the water to 

 pass off freely, I have usually dug a trench two or more feet deep, 

 laid a drain eight or twelve inches wide, and covered it, ]iartly 

 with small stones, and partly with loam above them. I j^refer 

 this sort of ditch wherever it will answer the purpose. The cost 

 of one will depend very much on the nature of the soil through 

 which it is to run. In some cases it may be made by using a 

 common plough, attached to the hind part of a cart, so as to let 

 one wheel run in the ditch. 



My land has a clay, gravel or hard-pan subsoil. Water re- 

 mains on its surface quite late in the Spring. I have been accus- 

 tomed to plough greensward in August or the latter part of July, 

 with a Michigan double plough — which I consider the best plough 

 for such use. I then spread manure and sow turnip seed, or har- 

 row the ground, and suffer it it to lie until the next Spring, when 

 it is ploughed crosswise, and prepared for planting. In breaking 

 up land I plough nine inches in depth. For ploughing crosswise, 

 I use the Connecticut River Valley plough — formerly sold by 

 Prouty k Means, or the Sod plough (letter B), sold by Ruggles, 

 Nourse & Co. I prefer, for all kinds of ploughing in my land, a 

 large-sized plough. It stirs the ground much more thoroughly, 

 and to a greater depth. 



In preparing ground for any early crop, I like the practice of 

 ploughing in coarse green manure, in the Fall. Land prepared 

 in this way v/ill become dry much earlier in the Spring, and be- 

 sides the advantage of having the work of ploughing and manur- 

 ing done in the Fall, the work of planting may be attended to 

 many days sooner than otherwise. 



Jiotation of Crops. It has been my custom to plough the land 

 in the latter part of Summer, or after harvesting a crop of hay, 



