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with great rapidity, having attained, in several instances, the 

 height of tAvo or three f'oet. Lesser shoots spring from' the joints 

 of the main stalks. These voung stalks or suckers are tender, 

 have numerous blades or leaves, and would probably make good 

 winter fodder for cattle. 



As to the value of the grain as food for stock, I can form no 

 particular opinion. Fowls are very fond of it, eating it as soon as 

 it is in the " milk." But I know no reason why it should be 

 better than broom-corn, except that it is free from the tough husks 

 of the latter, which renders it more palatable, and more easily 

 masticated and digested. The seed of the Chinese sugar-cane 

 has also the same objection as broom-corn ; but some of the 

 Imphee seed separates easily from the husk. 



On the whole, I see nothing in this Egyptian corn to justify the 

 idea that it could be made an article of profit, as compared with 

 Indian corn, in any part of the country, though it might be worth 

 while to try it on some of the deep, rich soils of the West. 



IMPROVING MEADOW AND SWAMP LANDS. 



It has been well said that the man who can make two blades of 

 grass grow Avhere one grew before, is a benefactor to his country. 

 This applies with particular directness and force to the man Avho 

 is successful in reclaiming sunken swamps and wet meadows and 

 miry bogs, and by skill and industry, as if by the stroke of an 

 enchanter's wand, converting them into fertile fields, bearing 

 heavy crops of edible roots, grass or grain. 



The introduction of railroads, which, avoiding the rural villages, 

 hamlets and cultivated farms, on the old highways in New Eng- 

 land, run through pathless forests, lonely valleys, unfathomable 

 bogs, and almost impenetrable swamps, brings to view and causes 

 a keen observer to realize the vast amount of unproductive land — 

 nearly a million of acres to the share of Massachusetts — which is 

 now to be found in New England, and which, if brought into 

 cultivation, would greatly add to the wealth of the country, and 

 increase the population, by keeping at home a great number of 

 enterprising and able men, who have heretofore wandered abroad 

 in search of an opportunity to exercise their energies. 



It should also be taken into consideration that a large portion of 

 these sunken swamps and drowned meadows, unlike the Great 

 Dismal Swamp of Virginia, or the Everglades of Florida, can be 

 drained with comparatively little difficulty; and by labor judi- 

 ciously applied, may be transformed into tracts, not only suitable 



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