Reclaiming Swamps and Stony Land.—Letter from Mr. L. F. Allen. 
34 f 
water, from four to six feet deep in the centre; the 
more shallow parts were covered with swamp alders, 
pond willows, and other shrubs. The pond had 
never been known to be entirely dry. The remainder 
of the two acres was pretty much covered with stones, 
many of them loose on, the surface, and many firmly 
imbedded in the ground. At that time not one-quarter 
of the two acres was considered capable of being plow¬ 
ed, and a man would have been in great danger of 
barking his shins who attempted even that. 
Mr. Seeley began his operations on the pond-hole, 
where first of all he dug a ditch of about 30 rods in 
length, which let off the water, and then cut all the 
bushes which grew there. Leaving the pond, he then 
drew off the loose stones which covered the remainder 
of the two acres, and deposited them on the line where 
the fence enclosing the lot was to be made. He then 
got an instrument called here, a “ stone eradicator,” 
and also the two strongest yokes of cattle he could find. 
He worked this tool, (which requires three men to 
manage it,) about two days, in getting the fast stones 
out of the ground ready to draw off; and then drew 
them to the same place as the rest. Some of the stones 
were so large, that it was necessary to blast them after 
they were out of their beds, before they could be drag¬ 
ged off. This was done in the summer of 1837. 
The following October being very dry, he resumed 
his labors on the pond-hole, from which the water had 
been entirely discharged by the ditch. He now dug 
the ditch still deeper, and laid an underdrain about 15 
rods long—the remaining 15 rods were left open. With 
a yoke of cattle, he then drew out the roots of the bush¬ 
es from the pond-hole, and ploughed the bottom of it 
in all directions, and with a scraper, scraped out the 
muck, so that the bottom was three feet lower in the 
centre than the bottom of the ufiderdrain, which form¬ 
ed the outlet. In the spring of 1838 he ploughed the 
hard land, manured it with about thirty cart loads of 
barn-yard manure, and planted it with corn which gave 
promise of a good crop, but was mostly cut off by an 
early frost. The season being wet, he did not work at 
the pond-hole, but planted the margin with potatoes 
without manure, and got an excellent crop. During 
this summer he inclosed the two acres with a heavy 
stone wall. 
In the spring of 1839, he sowed that part of the lot 
where he had corn the preceding year, (about one and 
a half acres) with oats, and seeded with a half bushel 
of timothy seed, and a peck of clover seed, and again 
planted the margin of the pond-hole with potatoes, ma¬ 
nured in the hills, and had capital crops. As soon as 
the potatoes were dug, in order to rid himself of the 
stones yet remaining on the lot, he drew them into the 
pond-hole, so as to raise the bottom above the under¬ 
drain forming the outlet; and having thrown over them 
a sufficient quantity of shavings and brush, to prevent 
the dirt from falling down between the stones, he scrap¬ 
ed back the muck over the brush to the depth of two 
feet. He had now finished the pond, which you will 
observe was in a manner underdrained throughout, and 
got rid of the stones on the remainder of the lot. 
As soon as these operations on the pond-hole were 
completed, and late in the same autumn, Mr. Seeley 
carried about ten cart loads of barn-yard manure on to 
the now reclaimed pond-hole, plowed and cross-plowed, 
and sowed it with rye, and seeded it with one peck of 
timothy seed. In 1840 he mowed two large crops of 
clover from the upland part of the lot, and had a great 
crop of rye on the former pond-hole; and in the fall of 
the same year he mowed a very heavy crop of timothy, 
where but a few weeks before he had a crop of rye. 
In the same fall he sowed a quarter of a ton of plaster, 
which cost $6 per ton in the lot, on the two acres. 
About the 20th of June, 1841, he mowed a very heavy 
crop of timothy from the whole lot, but did not take 
particular notice of the amount of product. Immedi¬ 
ately after mowing, he sowed another quarter of a ton 
of plaster on the lot, and during the same season mow¬ 
ed another large crop of grass. In the autumn of the 
same year he gave the meadow a top dressing of 15 
cart loads of barn-yard manure. In the summer of 
1842, the crop was so large that he took particular 
pains to ascertain the amount—it was four to7is per 
acre , and the meadow was mowed but once that sea¬ 
son, and this was as early as the last of June. As 
soon as the grass had started again, two cows and a 
horse were turned into it; it furnished them with good 
pasture during the greater part of the remainder of the 
season, and they were pasturing there when the snow 
came in December. At that time, the upland part af¬ 
forded good feed, and the pond-hole part would have 
mowed a good swath. 
Mr. Seeley calculates that the crops he obtained from 
the lot while under tillage, together with the first crop 
of grass, paid him for all he had laid out on the land, 
leaving him the lot in its improved condition, at its 
original cost. He estimates its value, even in these 
times of reduced prices, at $100 per acre. 
These improvements on this small lot have been ef¬ 
fected at an expense of $125— or $62 50 per acre. 
Your own skill and experience will enable you to say, 
whether the money has been wisely expended. It may 
be that others have obtained an equal product from the 
same extent of land, but it may well be doubted wheth¬ 
er the same results have been in many instances, pro¬ 
duced on a spot so unpromising. The remaining nine 
acres of Mr. Seeley’s original purchase are undergoing 
the same process of amelioration, and bid fair to afford 
a satisfactory result. 
In conclusion, I would assure you, that you may rely 
on the truth of the foregoing statement—for nothing 
has been asserted which cannot be proved. 
With much respect, 
Your ob’t serv’t, T. 
We make no apology to our readers, for 
givingthe following familiar letter in extenso, 
just as it was addressed us. It is gene¬ 
rally known that the writer of it is an 
elder brother, whose communications have 
appeared previously from time to time, in 
this paper over his initials. He now con¬ 
sents, in accordance with our request, that 
his name shall be affixed in full. 
As some are at a loss about our respective 
names, we deem it proper to add, that it was 
Mr. L. F. Allen, who wrote with so much 
effect and popularity several years ago, for 
the Genesee Farmer, under the signature of 
Ulmus , and not either of ourselves; and we 
trust his communications will not be received 
with the less favor by an indulgent public, 
now that he abandons the unbrageous shade 
of the Ehn , and appears under that of his 
own proper person. He is a man of large ex¬ 
perience in farming and stock breeding 
where he is situated, and the public may rely 
upon his statements as those of a thorough¬ 
going practical man. After this explanation 
