284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JirNE 



Having drained the meadow perfectly, and 

 stocked it down with the cultivated grasses, you 

 can probably keep it in good grass by occasional 

 top-dressings of compost. Or, if after a time the 

 wild grasses come in too much, you have only to 

 plow in August, manure, and re-seed as before. 

 Thus you will doubtless make the meadow very 

 valuable grass land. 



7. "I have, in another place, a few acres of what is 

 called bog-meadow, which I wish to improve for mow- 

 ing land, it being desirable to make all the hay I can 

 for winter use. This piece of meadow was imperfectly 

 drained years ago, but the muck being in some places 

 quite deep and the cultivation ditlicult, the produc- 

 tions have now become mostly the coarse water 

 gi'asses. I have already dranicd the meadow thor- 

 oughly, cutting offthc spring? that (lowed in from the 

 higher land. I now wis^h to introduce upon it a better 

 quality of grass. How shall I manage to convert this 

 land into good mowing by the quickest process ?" 



The imperfect drainage of the meadow, hereto- 

 fore, made it difficult of cultivation, and led to 

 the ultimate supremacy of the water grasses. The 

 first important operation in order to tame the 

 land, is to drain it completely, which you say you 

 have already done. The next thing is to plow it, 

 which can generally best be done in August, or 

 near that time. Turn the sod over eight to ten 

 inches deep, so as to effectually smother the wild 

 grass, and have a plenty of loose soil on top, to 

 convert into a mellow seed-bed. For this pur- 

 pose you will need a large plow, rigged expressly 

 for such work. You can do nothing at all eff"ec- 

 tive and satisfactory towards the subjugation of 

 your meadow with a common green sward plow. 

 The bog-meadow plow is rigged with a wide steel- 

 edged share, having a sharp cutting edge, and 

 kept so duiing use, by frequent applications of a 

 file, 80 as to cut the wild grass roots completely 

 to the extent of the entire width of the furrow- 

 slice, and thus permit it to turn over surely. You 

 cannot turn the boggy sward unless its roots are 

 severed on the under side of the furrow-slice ; if 

 a portion of them are left uncut, they will pull 

 the slice back into its original place again in spite 

 of you. The best modern plows, for. such land, 

 have a circular cutter, of steel, attached by its 

 axle to a shank or stem of wrought iron, which 

 is clasped to the plow-beam in the same place 

 and manner as a common cutter ; and the circu- 

 lar plate of steel, revolving like the wheel at the 

 end of the beam, makes a clean, eff'ective incision, 

 cutting the slice surely from the main land, and 

 rendering it impossible for the sod to peel and 

 roll up in large masses, as it is wont to do before 

 a common cutter, because the revolutions of the 

 circular cutter naturally hold the turf down in its 

 place while being cut. The bog plow has a large 

 side wheel to guage the depth of furrow, and hav- 

 ing a wide rim to prevent it from rutting into the 

 spongy sod. Then, too, the plow has a draft rod 

 of iron, passing through a clevis on the end of 

 the beam, of such construction as to admit of very 

 wide variations in the landing of the plow, so 

 that the point of draught, where the chain or 

 evener is hitched to the plow, may be swung to 

 the left, or landward side of the beam, as much as 

 twelve inches, or any distance less than that 

 which the particular case may demand. Thus the 

 entire team may be allowed to walk upon the sod 

 or unbroken land — the off" oxen or horses travell- 

 ing in about the place the near ones would, if the 



team were attached to the plow by the common 

 hitch. This line of draught may be so nicely ad- 

 justed, that while the off" oxen travel on the un- 

 broken sod, the plow will nevertheless run per- 

 fectly true and natural in its work. It is an ar- 

 rangement quite essential in plowing all such 

 deep, mucky meadows as yours, where the off" 

 oxen would mire to their bellies if compelled to 

 travel in the soft furrow. I have seen bog-mea- 

 dows superbly plowed in this way, the plow turn- 

 ing furrows two feet wide, and laying them in 

 side by side so truly, as to completely bury the 

 swamp grass, and present a clean surface for cul- 

 tivation. In bog-meadow plowing, a very wide 

 furrow-slice will turn more surely and perfectly 

 than a narrower one, provided you have a wide- 

 cutting share, because the weight of the wide slice 

 itself helps materially to carry the sod over after 

 the plow has cut it, and raised it from its bed. 



Having plowed the land, you can perhaps 

 plant and cultivate it a year or two, or you can 

 stock it to grass at once. I notice that you say 

 you wish "to convert it to good mowing, by the 

 quickest process." Perhaps you can hardly get 

 on to the meadow with loads of manure immedi- 

 ately after plowing — though a few years hence, if 

 it is kept well drained meanwhile, it will become 

 sufficiently dry and settled down together, to al- 

 low of that, if you can cart over the land as soon 

 as it is plowed, then spread about thirty loads of 

 compost per acre, made of one-third part manure, 

 and two-thirds good upland loam, harrow it in, 

 and seed to grass — sowing a half bushel of herds 

 grass and a bushel of redtop per acre, or, what is 

 better, if you can get it, one and a half bushel of 

 fowl meadow seed per acre. But if you cannot 

 get manure on to the land in August, or have 

 none to spare for it, sow say 500 pounds per acre 

 of guano or superphosphate of lime, harrow it in, 

 and sow the grass seeds, and that dressing will 

 stimulate the grass to take root well, make a vig- 

 orous early growth, and choke down wild stuff. 

 Two years afterwards, you could top-dress with a 

 compost of loam and manure. Or you can plow 

 and prepare the land in August or after, and as 

 soon as the ground is frozen, cart on and spread 

 the compost manure, and sow the grass seeds on 

 the manure. It is quite customary, where bog- 

 meadows are too soft and loose in texture to ad- 

 mit of much tillage, or to take to tame grasses 

 well, to cover them with a coating of an inch or 

 more in thickness of loam or fine gravelly subsoil, 

 carting it on to the meadow when the land is 

 sufficiently frozen to bear up the team. On top of 

 that a dressing of compost manure is spread, and 

 grass seeds are sown on the manure. This coat- 

 ing sweetens and gives body and consistency to 

 the surface soil, and for several years promotes a 

 large growth of the tame grasses. But bog-mea- 

 dows differ considerably, partly from natural tex- 

 ture and partly from the condition arising from 

 superficial or very complete and thorough drain- 

 age. I could point you to several bog-meadows 

 that have been reclaimed with complete success 

 without the expense of a coating of loam or grav- 

 el. I have now in mind a meadow, embracing 

 about sixty acres in one body, that has all been 

 reclaimed to excellent mowing land without such 

 coating, but with the application in December 

 of thirty loads per acre of compost made of ma- 

 nure and upland loam. Not having seen your 



