128 APPENDIX. 



The second and third autumns after the dyke was built, I sowed 

 herds-grass and red top. A small part of the herds-grass vegetated and 

 grew very luxuriantly. The third and fourth years, I had herds-grass 

 three feet high, with heads from four to eight inches long. 



In November of the fourth year after building the dyke, in conse- 

 quence of a very high tide, it gave way and the meadow was flowed all 

 winter with salt water, which of course killed all the herds-grass. I 

 repaired the dyke in the spring, and the second and third year after, I 

 sowed the meadow with the above grasses, and in addition with white 

 clover. But very little of either kind of grasses vegetated, and what 

 did live, did not thrive The herds-grass and red top, entirely run out 

 by the second and third years after sowing. The white clover lingered 

 along, but has never flourished well. 



The third year after dykeing, I covered two rods of the meadow 

 with loam, about one half inch deep, and sowed it with flax. It grew 

 a foot and a half long, bore seed, and had a tolerable good hurl. 

 Thistles, mullen, and other kinds of weeds, have come up spontaneously, 

 and grown much larger than the same kinds of weeds on the upland. 



About three years since, I repeated my experiments of sowing grasses 

 and flax. I chose the time in the spring, when the frost was out about 

 the depth of three inches. I found the top of the ground peat, with a 

 very small mixture of earth even at that little depth, and very tough. 

 I succeeded in making the ground tolerably fine by tearing it to pieces 

 with hoes and rakes, and sowed it as above mentioned. They all came 

 well, but grew feebly until July, when the top of the ground became 

 very dry, and they all died. 



Notwithstanding these several failures, I think I have been well paid 

 for all my expenses. The first three or four years after the dyke was 

 built, I had a larger burthen of salt grass and of a better quality than 

 before the salt water was excluded ; as the salt grass died out, others 

 came in and supplied its place. There were several patches of black 

 or pigeon grass when the dyke was built. These have maintained 

 their ground and rather increased, although they have been fed very 

 closely. I have used most of the lot as a pasture ; a small part I have 

 mowed. For the two or three years while it was changing from salt 

 to fresh grass, the quantity did not increase. Excepting those years 

 there has been a gradual gaining from year to year to the present time. 

 I should say on an average that the produce had been double what it was 

 before dykeing. 



From my experience and observation, I am led to conclude that 



