THE CULTIVATOR. 
271 
RECLAIMING WET LANDS. 
August and September are the best months for reclaim¬ 
ing boggy and wet lands. The first object should be to 
get rid of the surplus water. Uplands, situated on a 
hill-side, or where there is some declivity, are some¬ 
times too wet, and in many instances may be under¬ 
drained to advantage. In such cases a good mode is to 
dig ditches, two to two and a half feet deep, and if there 
are plenty of small stones at hand, fill the drains with 
them to within twelve or fifteen inches of the surface— 
put on a few hemlock or pine boughs, or turf with the 
grass-side down, and fill the ditch with earth. Drain- 
tiles, made of clay and burnt in a kiln, are made and 
extensively used in England, and we do not see why 
they might not be made and used to good advantage in 
this country. We have a great deal of land in our hill 
districts, where under-draining might be practiced with 
great profit. Its effects in many instances would be to 
render those lands which now produce only a sour, wa¬ 
tery herbage, suitable for cultivated crops and artificial 
grasses. Loosening the sub-soil of such lands by the 
sub-soil plow, has proved of great utility. It has been 
practiced very extensively in Scotland by Mr. Deanston, 
the inventor, (as he has been called,) of the sub-soiling- 
system, and so far as it has been tried in this country, its 
effects have been equally satisfactory. 
In draining bogs, the first step should be to cut off the 
spring water, which will generally be found to proceed 
from the surrounding high-lands. Cut the ditches in 
such a manner as to intercept this water, and convey it 
to the general outlet. When this is done, it may soon 
be seen whether transverse ditches, and how many, will 
be required. 
After the ditches have been completed, and the land 
has had time to settle, the next business will be the ex¬ 
termination of bushes, or any wild growth there may be 
in the way. If there are (( tussocks” or hassocks, they 
must be cut up with a sharp, strong hoe, made for the 
purpose, called at the implement-stores, a “ bog hoe.” If 
there are alders and other bushes, as is often the case, 
they had better be pulled up by the roots. If the drain¬ 
ing has been well done, the land will be solid enough the 
succeeding season to bear a team, and a pair of good oxen, 
with two men, and proper tools,will make rapid head-way- 
in clearing out the roots. A large iron claw, called a 
root-puller, is very useful for this business. It is a bar of 
iron, say an inch and a half square, bent round so as to 
form two large prongs, sharpened at the ends, and with 
an eye at the upper part to admit the hook of a chain. 
This claw is fastened into the stools of bushes, and the 
cattle soon jerk them out. 
If the land is free from large roots and tussocks, it may 
be brought into a fit state for sowing grass-seed, mostly 
by the use of the plow and harrow. In some parts of 
the country, a plow is fitted expressly for the purpose. 
The share is cast in such shape as to admit of a plate of 
steel being bolted on, which constitutes the point and 
edge, the whole fitting nicely together. This plate of 
steel is ground to a sharp edge, and with a sharp steel 
cutter or coulter, and a wheel at the beam, the plow cuts 
the furrow with as much exactness as a carpenter would 
cut shavings with a jointer from the edge of a board. 
Much of the prairie land in the western country might 
Oe worked with such a plow to excellent advantage. 
After the ground is plowed, care should be taken in 
narrowing, and all the subsequent working, that the fur¬ 
rows do not get broken, and the wild grass brought to 
the top. The ground should be made fine and level be¬ 
fore the grass seed is sown. 
These lands, though they sometimes produce good 
crops of grain and vegetables, are generally most profit¬ 
able for grass. The kinds of grass which usually suc¬ 
ceed best on reclaimed bogs, are timothy, (called herds- 
grass in New England,) and red-top. There are several 
kinds known under this latter name. One is quite small 
and comes into bloom considerably earlier than timothy. 
It is best to sow those kinds of grass together which are 
fit to cut for hay about the same time, and for this rea¬ 
son we should prefer the larger and later kind of red-top 
for sowing with timothy. 
We prefer August, (though if the weather is favora 
ble the first of September will do,) for sowing thesp 
lands to grass—indeed we believe that for the advantage 
of the grass merely, this is the best time for sowing i* 
on any land. When sown at this time, it escapes the 
drouth of the first season, has all the benefit of the firs’ 1 
rains of autumn, and gets sufficient root to sustain i { 
against the frost of the succeeding winter. Itisnotrea 
dy for the scythe quite so early but will give about as 
good a crop even at the first mowing, as if sown in the 
spring. Grass sown in spring, with grain crops, is over 
powered and kept feeble by the grain, and if the weather 
is dry about the time the grain fills, or at the time it is 
taken off, a large portion is sure to be killed, and the 
consequence is weeds occupy the ground, and the hay- 
crop is poor in quality and deficient in quantity. 
Many reclaimed bogs produce grass of very good qua¬ 
lity, in great abundance for several years, without any 
outlay of expense, except to keep open the ditches, 
which must always be done. It should be made an ob¬ 
ject to get a close, thick sward as soon as possible, be¬ 
cause this will tend to prevent any foul growth from 
springing up. When the grass begins to decline, as it 
will after some time, and rushes and wild stuff begin to 
come in, take the plow, with the share and cutter as 
sharp as they can be made, and when the ground is suffi¬ 
ciently dry in August, turn over the sward so smoothly 
that not a single spire of grass can be seen. Harrow 
lightly, (lengthwise the furrows,) with a light harrow, 
sow it again to grass, and pass a roller over the land. It 
will produce as good crops as before, until, from the na¬ 
tural decline of the grass, it may be necessary to go 
through the same process again. Experience has proved 
the success of this plan. 
Sometimes the burning of the bushes, roots, and turf of 
these bogs, has a good effect in preparing the soil for 
cultivated crops. The alkali is thought beneficial in 
neutralizing the acids contained in peat. A dressing of 
common wood ashes has been seen to have a very stri¬ 
king effect in renovating the declining grass on this de¬ 
scription of lands. 
CURING GREEN CORN-STALKS. 
The difficulty which has sometimes attended the cur¬ 
ing of corn-fodder, has been considered quite a draw¬ 
back to the advantages of sowing corn for winter feed. 
In curing hay from grass, we prefer the sweating mode 
as it is called, having practiced it with success. We 
have never tried this mode for green corn, but a writer 
(F. M. Butler) in the N. Y. Farmer and Mechanic says 
he has practiced it with corn to as good advantage as with 
grass. He recommends to cut the green corn and let it 
lay in the swar'th to dry off the dews or moisture and to 
become a little heated. As soon as this is done put it up 
in large cocks or rather into shocks, trample it down 
close; let it remain in the shocks until it wilts and sweats 
or ripens, then dry off the sweat and remove the fodder 
to your barn. He says, <e I remember a lot of green corn 
which for ten days baffled the skill of the farmer to cure 
if, and which was finally handed over to my care as be¬ 
ing incurable. Feeling a firm reliance in the principles 
that should govern the curing of succculent vegetation 
for fodder, I proceeded to dry off the dews, and as soon 
as this was done formed the green com into large cocks, 
trampling it down close, although a fine warm sun was 
pouring down its heat upon the field. The cocks be¬ 
came heated, the corn stalks wilted, but were suffered to 
remain until the next day, when towards afternoon the 
sky becoming clear, and a fine breeze blowing, the heaps 
were throv/n open, the stalks dried and taken into the 
barn perfectly cured. It kept well, and in the winter the 
cattle preferred it to hay.” 
Sensible men and women never sneer at mechanics 
and others who earn their living by their labor. But 
self-styled gentlemen and ladies not unfrequently do. 
We have heard of a “ lady” who once left a ball-room 
because a mechanic entered. She married a basket-ma¬ 
ker, and died a wash-woman.— Exch. paper. 
