1860 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



303 



recollection of his devoted and honoraljle exertions to 

 improve the agriculture and horticulture of our coun- 

 try ; and especially of that frankness of character and 

 kindness of heart, which had gained him the confidence 

 and respect of a large circle of friends. 



Resolved, That these resolutious be entered on the 

 records of the Society, and that a copy of the same be 

 transmitted to the relatives of the deceased as a tribute 

 to his memory. 



I^or the New EnglaiuJ Farmer. 

 DBAININQ AND STUMP EXTRACTING. 



Mr. Editor : — Supposing' that farmers would 

 like to hear of actual experiment in this depart- 

 ment,' I will give my experience. Occupying a 

 central position in my farm lands, was as forbid- 

 ding a swamp, of about fifteen acres, as can be 

 found in New England, with bushes and bunches 

 of maples growing as thick as they could stand, 

 perched on stumps of a former growth, around 

 which water stood the most of the year. When 

 the water overflowed this, it found its M-ay across 

 a twenty-five acre lot, through an open ditch 1000 

 feet in length, and emptied upon the surface of a 

 large cedar swamp. 



A few years ago, the desire to subdue the swamp 

 first mentioned began to come into action. First, 

 I wanted the geography of the bottom ; to get at 

 that, I took a light iron rod, twelve feet long, and 

 creeping in among the thicket, thrust it down 

 where there was an opportunity. In these explo- 

 rations I found a depression of the bottom, of 

 about two acres, in which my rod would sink its 

 length in the middle. Here was a grand deposit 

 of peat, the muck in the rest of the swamp being 

 thin, generally- To obtain some of this peat de- 

 posit, I continued the ditch in the valley, through 

 the bushes, 4O0 feet, which took off the surface 

 water; then, by clearing away the bushes and 

 stumps, and making a piank road to the shore, I 

 managed to get out 1500 horse-loads, by digging 

 as in clay holes, leaving a dam of undisturbed 

 peat between the cuts. 



In the meantime, I was reading the Farmer, 

 and there saw Judge French's letters and la- 

 mentations, as he travelled about, to see so many 

 places worse than useless, that could be made into 

 the most valuable land by the use of tile drains. 

 B}' those readings, my mind was opened to see 

 things in a more intelligent light. I then con- 

 ceived the plan, by laying a drain, of getting clear 

 by one operation of the ugly swamp, getting at the 

 great deposit of peat, which I found was of ex- 

 cellent quality, and making a grand reservoir for 

 sudden floods, and filling the nuisance of a ditch 

 that kept the valley below so cold and wet that 

 no useful thing could grow, besides being in the 

 way of all farm operations. A survey was taken, 

 and it was found that the swamp to be drained 

 was six feet above the cedar swamp, and by dig- 

 ging five foet on an average, one-fourth of a mile, 

 through a concrete of iron, clay and gravel, al- 

 most as, hard as stone, I should get four feet of 

 peat clear of water. It was a formidable looking 

 job, especially as we had to excavate under a rail- 

 road, beneath a culvert, and get almost every inch 

 of earth by hard blows of well sharpened picks. 



I ordered 1400 pieces of five inch tile of Messrs. 

 Shedd & Edson, of Boston. In the summer of 

 1858, I -put down 1000 feet, and this last season, 

 put ill the remaining 400 feet, to the reservoir 



from which the peat had been taken, and which 

 was full of Avater, holding about 10,000 cubic feet. 

 Having taken proper precaution to protect the 

 pipe from being filled, the last barrier was cut 

 away at five o'clock in the evening, and as the 

 stagnant waters suddenly sprang for the open 

 pipe, I flung my hat into the air, and the half 

 dozen spectators gave three cheers, sympathizing 

 with me, knowing what obstacles I had surmount- 

 ed in the attainment of so desirable an end. The 

 next morning, I visited the place, to see how much 

 the water had lowered, and to my surprise, it had 

 all gone, and everything appeared as though it 

 had been so for half the night! That is, 10,000 

 feet of water had gone one-fourth of a mile, in a 

 few hours, through a five inch tile, with a descent 

 of two inches to 100 feet. 



Could I have seen the result of actual experi- 

 ments like the above, before I bought the tile, I 

 should have considered myself Avell paid in taking 

 the Farmer five years, to find it. Next I cut aa 

 open ditch through the swamp, above the reser- 

 voir, to let out all the surface water, and waited 

 to see the result when the next flood came. It 

 came in September, and it was a flood ; the sur- 

 face of the earth being dry, the water rushed in 

 from the surrounding hills, and filled the reservoir 

 and ditches, bank full. The rain ceased on Sun- 

 day afternoon. The next Wednesday morning, 

 all was dry as before. We have had quite a body 

 of snow go off this January, but it made but lit- 

 tle gain in the reservoir ; so it sums up thus : the 

 drain is a perfect success. The whole cost was 

 about $200. 



Now I have the foundation laid for improving 

 the swamp and upland simultaneously, by carting 

 out the peat to the sandy lands, and making them 

 fertile. Then by having all the small drains con- 

 verge to where the peat is dug out, I can get a 

 thorough drainage in any direction in the swamp. 



While going on with the work of draining, I 

 have also cleared oflf the bushes from a few acres. 

 The bushes are cut at the most convenient season. 

 August is the time to burn. If the bushes are 

 cut in winter, which is the best time, all things 

 considered, we pass over the fallen brush in Au- 

 gust with a scythe, and clip the shoots that grow 

 up through ; in a few days they become good kind- 

 lings to make the fire run. When it has been 

 dry weather about two weeks, I set fire at one 

 o'clock ; at that hour in a clear day a fire will run 

 briskly, and make sure death to most of the 

 bushes. 



While approaching the point at Avhich I arrived 

 last fall, I had my eyes open to find in the papers, 

 patent office reports, agricultural fairs, ware-hous- 

 es, and other places, some machine to pull stumps, 

 that was cheap, portable, and not at all particular 

 what kind of a place it had to stand on. I found 

 windlasses and capstans on frames, with and with- 

 out wheels and runners, some requiring anchors, 

 some standing on their own work, lifting, as a 

 man would lift himself by his boot-straps; others, 

 twisting, with cattle ; all of which may be good 

 in some places, but would not apply to my swamp. 



The pictures of these represented them as pull- 

 ing little stumps from surfaces that appeared like 

 a gentleman's lawn, having no more resemblance 

 in the size of the stumps and condition of my 

 ground, than a farthing candle has to the orb of 

 day. So I set to work, myself. First, I made a 



