AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST* 
3S9 
LAWNS. 
RECLAIMED MEADOW LAND. 
I was invited a short time since, to visit a 
lot of reclaimed meadow land, belonging to 
Mr. Silas Ball, and Timothy Putnam, of 
Long Plain, Leverett. The lot contains 
about thirty-six acres, and is situated at the 
upper end of the plain, a high mountain 
bluff arising on the north, and the road from 
Montague to Amherst, bordering it on the 
south. Long Plain brook runs through the 
northern part of the whole premises. Six 
years ago it was almost worthless, bearing a 
little sedge grass, Mush Squash weed and 
clumps of bushes. It was worth from eight 
to sixteen dollars per acre. It was so wet 
that it could not be plowed, nor could any 
team be driven on the ground without sink¬ 
ing into the mud. What could be done with 
it, that was the question. Messrs. Ball and 
Putnam were not long in solving the prob 
lem. They found on examination, that the 
mud, or muck, was from two to fifteen feet 
deep, and black and rich, and extremely fer¬ 
tilizing. We will reclaim it, said they, and 
set themselves about in this way. Begin¬ 
ning half a mile below, in the bed of the 
brook, they dug down and lowered it the 
whole length, nearly three-fourths of a mile, 
more than three feet. This did the business 
in part, for it enabled them to ditch the re¬ 
mainder, and to dig it up, and plow it in time, 
as you will shortly see. They began to cul¬ 
tivate and subdue by digging up a portion 
with the bog hoe and hook. The sods were 
turned over and after sprinkling on a little 
horse manure, in rows about three feet apart 
potatoes were planted, about one foot being 
left between each potato. In fact the po¬ 
tatoes were sowed in rows. They were 
covered with the shovel and hook, making 
ridges and trenches in regular order. The 
crop came up finely. It required no hoeing. 
The growth of vines was enormous, being 
when extended, seven or eight feet long. 
And the yield was great, eight or ten hills 
making a bushel of potatoes. Corn, oats, 
vegetables &c., have also been tried as the 
land grew drier, and yielded well. These 
were never planted or sowed at first, pota¬ 
toes always being the first crop. After the 
land was subdued, it was seeded down with 
herdsgrass. The yield of grass has been, 
and continues to be great. I can safely say 
that I saw one piece that would yield more 
than three tuns to the acre, of excellent hay. 
What has it cost you, gentlemen, to reclaim 
this land, I asked 1 Nothing, they answered! 
The muck and crops have more than paid us 
for all the labor we have done. 
They value their land at from fifty to one 
hundred dollars per acre, which is probably 
a very moderate valuation. 
Now, there are thousands of acres of simi¬ 
lar land in Massachusetts, that might be re¬ 
claimed with the same results. Will the 
farmers be wise and do it, rather than dig 
away on the dry, rocky, barren soils of the 
highlands, spending their strength aqd labor, 
without an equivalent return.—R., in Farmer. 
To Keep Milk Sweet. —A Boyd, a cor¬ 
respondent, informs us, that he has prac¬ 
ticed a peculiar method with much success 
of preserving milk sweet in the pans. It 
simply consists in placing a piece of new 
hammered iron, or three twelve-penny nails 
in each tin pan, then pouring the warm milk 
on them. He believes that electricity has 
something to do with producing the result. 
He had tried many experiments before he hit 
upen this one, which he found to preserve 
the milk sweet for a longer time than other 
plans tried by him. 
[The above, from the Scientific American, 
has a taste of iron if not of “fish.”—E d.] 
The smooth uniform evergreen “velvet 
turf,” which constitutes the chief beauty of 
the English lawn, is rarely found in this 
country. For this there are several rea¬ 
sons ; our variable climate, our hot suns, the 
frequent drouths of our Summers and our 
dry soils, are serious difficulties in the way, 
when we attempt to form a lawn. But these 
natural obstacles may be overcome, in a great 
measure at least, by skill and attention. 
Nothing valuable can be accomplished with¬ 
out these in any department of industry. 
Even in the moist climate, and clayey soils 
of England, a good lawn can not be made 
without labor and skill. In many of our 
public and private grounds, attempts are 
made to form lawns where the soil is wholly 
unsuitable for the purpose. An uneven sur¬ 
face is leveled down, on the more elevated 
parts, the ground is cut down perhaps sever¬ 
al feet, the soil is carried off to fill up the 
hollows and depressions, and nothing but the 
dry gravelly subsoil is left. Not unfrequent- 
ly the whole plat which it is desired to cov¬ 
er with a thick smooth turf, is of this char¬ 
acter. Would a farmer expect to raise a 
good crop of hay or anything else on such a 
soil! Perhaps an inch or two of mold and 
a slight dressing of manure are spread over 
the surface, and a mixture of Phleum Pra- 
tense, (Timothy) Trifolian Pratense (Red 
Clover,) and Agrostis Vulgaris, (Red Top) is 
sowed and harrowed or raked in. Others 
will sow some variety of the Lolium (Rye 
Grass) or Dactylis, (Cocks-foot) in addition 
to these, and along with them a crop of bar¬ 
ley or oats, to shade the grasses from the 
sun. 
A worse plan, or one more unlikely to 
succeed, could not well be devised. If the 
seeds take root, the coarse grasses, the tim¬ 
othy and clover choke out the red top, the 
only one of them that is capable of making a 
firm turf. When the herds grass and clover 
are mowed, instead of the velvety surface, 
we have a stubble field. The coarse grass¬ 
es are wholly unfit for this purpose. Their 
roots are too coarse, and they are disposed 
to grow in bunches. They belong to vege¬ 
tables of too large a growth. We need fora 
smooth lawn finer and more delicate plants. 
In forming a lawn that will be smooth and 
even, and retain its greennesss through the 
season, and bear to be frequently shaven— 
these things must be attended to—First, the 
preparation of the soil; second, the kind of 
seed to be sown, and the third, time and man¬ 
ner of sowing it. Such a lawn as we have 
described can be formed only on a deep rich 
soil. When the surface on which we would 
have such a turf formed is made artificially, 
if it consists mostly of gravel and sand, or 
clay even, it must be covered at least nine 
inches deep with good black loam; a foot will 
be still better; a good dressing of fine com¬ 
post manure should be spread upon this, and 
the whole well mixed with the harrow or a 
light plow, and well raked until it is perfectly 
fine and smooth. The next step is to select 
the seed. We have already said that the 
coarse grasses do not answer well for the 
purpose, and one essential reason is, that they 
do not bear frequent mowing, well. Their 
roots and especially those of the clover, de¬ 
pend so much upon the leaf for their nourish¬ 
ment and growth, that three or four cuttings 
in one season will kill them out. The best 
seed we can find in this country is the com¬ 
mon red top or bent grass. That which we 
find at the seed stores usually consists of 
several varieties mixed together. Often the 
poa or meadow grass is found mixed with 
it. 
But if the grasses are all of the fine kinds 
there is no objection to the mixture. They 
have similar habits of growth, and none is 
sufficiently luxuriant in its growth to root 
out the rest. If we examine the product of 
a handful of the common red top seed of the 
shops, we shall find perhaps a dozen kinds 
of grass Some of these grow larger in the 
season than others. Some bear the drouth 
better and some the frost. So that if they 
have the same habit of growth, the mixture 
is an advantage. 
The best time for sowing the seed is about 
the middle of August. The seed should be 
evenly sowed, and well worked in with a 
rake, and the land thoroughly and evenly 
rolled. If the autumn is mild, there will 
sometimes be quite a luxuriant growth, but 
it should not be cut. It should be left to pro¬ 
tect the roots from the frost. The rolling is 
very important to prevent the ground from 
being washed by the winter rains. If the 
subsoil is moist the roots will sometimes be 
thrown out by the frosts of winter. When 
this is the case, the roller should be again 
applied as soon as the frost is out, in the 
spring, and the whole surface rendered even 
and compact. Even if the subsoil is grav¬ 
elly or sandy, it will be found advantageous 
to use the roller in spring, to render the sur¬ 
face smooth and even. 
Unless the season is very moist, the grass 
should not be cut more than twice the first 
year, as the roots need the aid of the leaf to 
acquire their full growth and strength. The 
use of the roller for two or three succeeding 
springs, will assist in giving firmness and 
compactness to the turf. A lawn formed by 
carefully observing these directions, and 
dressed with wood ashes, plaster or fine 
compost, as soon as the frost is out in the 
spring, will soon possess a thick turf that 
will preserve its greenness through the en¬ 
tire season.—R., in Country Journal. 
Operation on a Horse while under the 
Influence of Chloriform and Sulphuric 
Ether. —The subject of this operation was a 
bay gelding, the property of Messrs. Prince, 
Express Agents, in this city. He was labor¬ 
ing under a form of vaculous tumor in the 
region of the joint of the left elbow, on the 
off fore leg. The operation was performed 
by Dr. G. H. Dadd, V. S., assisted by S. M. 
Burnham of this city. 
The patient being cast in the usual manner 
and tetherised by Dr. B., (which occupied 
about three minutes,) an incision was made 
over the region of the tumor; on exploring 
the same it was found to be an enlarged 
fibrous sac, containing half a pint of a thick 
straw-colored fluid, mixed with coagulums 
of albumen. The whole of the foreign matter 
being evacuated, the parts were dressed in 
the usual manner. The skin being very 
pendulous, forming a sort of pouch, a portion 
of the same was amputated, for the purpose 
of preserving the former symmetry of the 
parts. 
On the interior of the cavity was found a 
large nervous ganglion, a sort of solar net 
work, emanating apparently from a branch 
of the ulnar nerve. 
The pressure on the same by so large a 
tumor must have been a source of great pain 
and annoyance to the noble animal. The 
wound was finally sutured by means of a 
needle of silk. An orifice at the lower end 
of the sac was left for the subsequent dis¬ 
charge of pus, &c. 
The rationale of cure is this : Adhesive 
inflammation takes place between the in¬ 
terior surfaces—granulation follows, and 
thus the cavity is obliterated. The external 
textures finally unite as in the case of a 
common wound .—Chicago Democrat. 
A certain Secretary of State being asked 
why he did not promote merit, aptly replied, 
‘ because merit did not promote me.” 
