14 MR. iiunttngton's address. 



eighty one acres, is adapted to a most profitable cul- 

 tivation. 



The amount of unimproved land in the county 

 somewhat exceeds that of English and upland mow- 

 ing, and is more than double that in tillage. A large 

 portion of this land, consisting of low, bog, mud, and 

 peat meadows, is capable of being drained. It is 

 now absolutely worthless, or nearly so. These 

 tracts are distributed through the whole county. 

 Scarcely a farm can be found, which does not contain 

 some land of this description. If susceptible of drain- 

 ing at a moderate expense, these lands, in their pre- 

 sent condition, though producing nothing except 

 what is offensive alike to the eye, and a just agricul- 

 tural taste, are intrinsically worth more than the 

 average of the first class of upland tillage bottoms. 

 They are virgin soils, and contain vast accumulations 

 of vegetable deposites, furnishing the best aliment 

 for most kinds of plants, and especially for grasses. 

 When drained of the exuberant moisture, and the 

 soil has been sufficiently exposed to the action of the 

 atmosphere, they become extremely productive, and 

 may be kept so at a very inconsiderable expense. 

 This is not matter of speculation, theory, or book 

 learning, but of actual and repeated experiments, 

 made by practical farmers, who have shown us the 

 results, the processes, and the expense of the ope- 

 ration. The transactions of our society, as published 

 from year to year, contain splendid and most en- 

 couraging examples of this kind of husbandry. Among 

 the most recent, I refer you to those of Mr. Osborn, 

 of Lynn, and Mr. Brown, of Saugus. If any farmer 

 doubt, as to the expediency of this mode of cultiva- 

 tion, I would ask him to visit these reformed mea- 

 dows, as I have done, and see them producing every 

 variety of crop, in the greatest richness and abun- 

 dance. For three successive years past, in the month 

 of June, I have seen one of these reclaimed mea- 

 dows, containing about twenty acres, under the cul- 

 tivation of Mr. Phinney, the gentleman before refer- 



