VOL.. XVU N >. 44. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



347 



physical as v.ell as intellectual resources of our 

 country may l)c developed, and that in view of all 

 the consiilerations which have been addressed to 

 the pride of the farmer, he may be led to aim at a 

 standard better calculated to elevate him in 

 public regard ? 



In contemplating the causes which in our own 

 country have led to the low estimate heretofore 

 placed upon the pursuits of agriculture, we cannot 

 fail to ascribe the principal agency to the disrepute 

 in which manual labor is held by those who 

 have been educated for the so called learned pro- 

 fessions. Even the merchant considers himself as 

 occupying a higher grade in society, although he is 

 but the teamster who is employed in transporting 

 and exchanging the surplus products of the farmer, 

 who creates the raw material, and in bartering the 

 articles of the mechanic and manufacturer who ex- 

 erts his labor in preparing the raw material for the 

 market. The standard of the farming character 

 suffers injury from the common opinion which at- 

 taches to his profession, the want of any intellect- 

 ual culture or any refinement in manners ; and al- 

 though we may deplore and condemn this unworthy- 

 prejudice towards the employment which is intrin- 

 sically the most respectable, we have reason to con- 

 fess that too large a portion of those engaged in 

 the cultivation of the soil seem by their conduct to 

 attach little importance to these requisites of char- 

 acter. If as a profession we do not occupy in the 

 community, the attitude of intelligent farmers and 

 accomplished citizens, we have to ascribe the result, 

 in a great degree, to our neglect of the means 

 which would elevate us in society. We have, 

 heretofore, discarded all connexion between science 

 and art as applied to agrioilturc, and by the neg- 

 lect of general education, have allowed other pro- 

 fessions to assume and to occupy the position to 

 which we are entitled. We have disregarded, 

 even, the proper measures for training our sons to 

 the e-xercise of their most exalted privileges as 

 citizens; and to the apathy and ignorance of farm- 

 ers, in reference to the fundamental principals of 

 public policy, we may trace most of the political 

 disorders in the state. It is often said when a 

 young man is supposed to be too dull for what are 

 called the learned professions, that he is then ft/or 

 the plough. lie it our high aim to establish the 

 converse of this proposition; and were the standard 

 of intelligence among farmers as elevated as their 

 employment is honorable, the day may not be dis- 

 tant when the youtli who should be found to want 

 the intelligence and energy necessary to make him 

 a successful farmer, will then be pronounced fit 

 only for seeking his fortunes in some one of the 

 "unproductive"— less dignified — learned profes- 

 sions. With this high object constantly in view, 

 and by the adoption of the means which will be 

 adverted to in the further discussion of the subject, 

 the cultivator of the soil may hope to resume the 

 proud attitude which the nature of his profession as 

 well as the approbation of ages has assigned to him. 

 In attempting to examine the subiect with a view 

 to legislative encouragement, I find myself sur- 

 rounded by a multitude of imposing facts in our 

 own history and in that of other nations in relation 

 to this great interest, all calculated to deepen con- 

 viction as to the necessity of arousing the apathy 

 of farmers, of vindicating the dignity of their pro- 

 fession, and of guiding public sentiment to an ap- 

 preciation of the fundamental cause of national 

 prosperity. 



(Concluded next week.) 



REPORT ON RECLAIMED MEADOWS. 



We have the pleasure of presenting to our readers 

 from the "Transactions of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society for 183H," the report of the committee on 

 reclaimed meadows ; in which will be found inter- 

 esting accounts of some spirited improvements. Of 

 Mr Brown's extraordinary improvement, a partial 

 account was given in the First Report of the Agri- 

 culture of Massachusetts. Tlie completion of the 

 experiment shows a result in the highest degree 

 creditable to his industry and indefatigable perse- 

 ve.ance. II. C. 



In submitting their report for the current year, 

 the conmiittee have great pleasure in remarking 

 that they have reason to believe that there is an 

 increasing attention paid to these improvements. 



The number and length of the statements that 

 have been furnished to the committee, and which 

 are annexed, seem to render it proper that they 

 sliould abstain from a report any more detailed than 

 is absolutely necessary. 



They have viewed the premises described in the 

 several statements, and have e.xamined with atten- 

 tion the claims mace for the improvements. 



They award the first premium of twenty dollars 



to Timothy H. Brown, of Saugus, and tlie second 



of ten dollars, to William Osborn, jr. of Salem, for 



his land in Saugus. 



For the Committee, 



N. W. HAZEN. 



N. W. Hazen, Amos Sheldon, Asa ) -^ 



fn i\T 1 11 T> • 1 r> . i Committee. 



T. Newhall, Daniel Putnam, ) 



TIMOTHY H. BROWNS STATEMENT. 



To the Committee on the Improrement of Wet Meadoto 



and Swamp Lands : 



Gentlemen — The improvement that I submit to 

 yonr examination, has been made upon between 

 five and six acres of swamp land, situate in the 

 town of Saugus. The mud or soil varies from two 

 to twelve feet in depth. Two years ago, it was so 

 thickly covered with briars and bushes, that a dog 

 would have found difficulty in passing through it. 

 These bushes I mowed and burnt on the ground. 

 There were so many stumps and logs that it was 

 impossible to plough ; so I commenced cutting the 

 surface into squares about fifteen inches each way, 

 and then with forked hoes made very strong, pulled 

 off the sods, and cleared out the stumps and logs. 

 Then using the same hoes, cleared out all the small 

 roots, levelled the surfjce, and placed back the sods 

 the other side up. This part of the work I did in 

 strips of about one rod in width. In August, 1837, 

 I commenced this. In 1836 I mowed the bushes 

 and dug one ditch. Tiie stumps and logs I took 

 out without the help of oxen. Some of the stumps 

 I should judge had nearly half a cord of wood in 

 them. There were a considerable number of trees 

 that had blown down, and the meadow had formed 

 over them. Many of them were perfectly sound, 

 and some measured sixty feet in length. The 

 stumps were very numerous. I found three tier 

 deep, and under the bottom lay a pine log, tiiathad 

 some time or other been on fire. After going over 

 the surface and clearing in the manner 1 have de- 

 scribed, I found the expense to have been, at a fair 

 estimate for the labor, $.504. 



In the winter I hauled off the wood and piled it 

 up for coaling. The largest of the small roots I 

 selected for my own fire ; the smallest I burnt up- 

 on the ground. I commenced harrowing with an 

 iron tooth harrow, as soon as the frost began to 



come out of the ground. The sods being fastened 

 down by |he frost, and the harrow passing over the 

 upper side, they mouldered away as fast as the frost 

 would admit ; and when the harrow had gi.t to the 

 depth of the sods, they were worked up pretty fine, 

 the frost below making a bridge for the team to 

 pass on. About the first of last May, I began 

 planting with potatoes, witliout any manure. 1 cut 

 the seed very fine, and planted the parts near to- 

 gether. I merely marked the hills with a hoe, then 

 a man followed after with the seed, and then anoth- 

 er man to cover it. So I made speedy work in plant- 

 ing. I calculated to have the seed when covered, 

 one inch from the surface. I use sixtynine bushels 

 of seed, that is, about fourteen bushels to an acre. 

 I should not have seeded so light, had I not felt an 

 uncertainty about obtaining a crop, without the use 

 of manure. There was but one man among those 

 I consulted, who gave me any encouragement. 

 Many said I should lose my labor. To their as- 

 tonishment I harvested 997 bushels of excellent po- 

 tatoes. The expense incident to planting, hoeing, 

 harvesting, &c., including the seed, I estimate at 

 $1 17. The land is now in a state that I can plough 

 it at pleasure. On a small piece of the land I plant- 

 ed corn, and" It ripened well. On a small piece I 

 sowed wheat, but itcame to no perfection, either in 

 the straw or grain. 



The wood was converted into charcoal. In 1837 

 I coaled 1201 bushels, which sold in the market for 

 .f IG6 40. In 1838 I coaled 4200 bushels, which 

 sold on the hearth for $.333 33, and I ascertained 

 from the purchaser that it sold in Boston market 

 for $G30. I sold wood to the amount of $.50, and I 

 estimate that which I used for my own fire wortli 

 .$50 more. ' I have on hand one hundred cart-loads 

 of the bottom oP-the coal pits, which I value at $75, 

 having had sonife knowledge of its virtue as a man- 

 ure. The account may be thus stated : 

 Proceeds of coal in 1837 .$106 40 



do. do. in 1838 333 33 



Value of crop of potatoes at 50 cts. a bu. 463 50 

 Value of ashes for manure, &c. 75 00 



Value of wood sold 50 00 



Value of wood used 50 00 



Increased value of the land, it being now 



worth $125 an acre, and originally 



thought, to be worth only $12 an acre 565 00 



$1702 23 



Labor, ^c. 

 Levelling and clearing the land, &c. 

 Carting the wood and roots 

 Harrowing, &c. 



Plantinff, hoeing, harvesting, &c. 

 Coaling in 1837 

 Coaling in 1838 



$808 00 

 Balance in favor of the experiment $894 23. 

 I have about two acres more of similar land, that 

 I am managing in the same way- It requires much 

 hard labor, but it yields a fair reward. 

 Yours with respect, 



TIMOTHY^ H. BROWN. 

 Saugus, Dec. 7, 1838. 



WILLIAM OSBORN, JR S STATEMENT. 



The subscriber presents the following statement 

 to the Committee on Reclaimed Meadows: 



The piece of meadow land reclaimed and culti- 



