1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
75 
outer sides, is from two to three feet deep, gradually 
lessening towards the centre, where it is from six to 
twelve inches deep,—the whole resting upon a clay 
bottom. The increased depth of the muck on the mar* 
gins, is owing to the greater wetness of the land, ari¬ 
sing from the in-flowing springs. This induced a great¬ 
er growth of swamp plants, as, rushes, reeds, mosses, 
ferns, ho., whose annual partial decomposition, in suc¬ 
cessive layers, formed an accumulation of vegetable 
matter greater than that nearer the centre, where the 
moisture was less. 
Allow me to introduce, in this place, an extract from 
that excellent work, “ Low’s Elements of Practical 
Agriculture,” which gives a very concise and satisfac¬ 
tory account of the formation of this kind of soil:— 
“ Peat consists of vegetable matter which has under¬ 
gone a peculiar change. Under a degree of tempera¬ 
ture not sufRciently great to decompose the plants that 
have sprung up upon the surface, these plants accumu¬ 
late ; and aided by a certain degree of humidity, are 
converted into peat, which is either found in strata up¬ 
on the surface of plains, or accumulated in great beds 
on the tops and acclivities of mountains, or in valleys, 
hollows and ravines. Successive layers of plants being- 
added to the mass, it continues to increase, under cir¬ 
cumstances favorable to its production,. Water is a ne¬ 
cessary agent in its formation, and we may believe, too, 
a peculiar temperature, since it is only in the cold and 
temperate, and not in the warmer regions of the earth, 
that it is found to be produced. The plants which form 
it have not entirely decayed, but still retain their 
fibrous texture,- and from the action of certain natural 
agents, have acquired properties altogether distinct 
from those which, in their former condition, they were 
possessed of. They have now formed a spongy, elastic 
inflammable body, and so .different from the common 
matter of vegetables as to be highly antiseptic. 
“ The plants whose progress towards decomposition 
has been thus- arrested, are very various. Over the 
greater part of the surface of the primary and transi¬ 
tion districts of colder countries, the peat is chiefly 
formed of cryptogamic plants, mixed with the heaths 
and other plants which had grown along with it. Some¬ 
times the peat has been found in swamps and lakes, 
and at other times the humidity of the climate has been , 
sufficient to form it in one continued bed, covering the 
whole surface of the Country.” 
The first object in attempting the drainage and im-' 
provement of this meadow, was to surround it with a 
main ditch, 3 feet wide and 3 deep, thus cutting off all 
the springs flowing in from the uplands. The water 
was all collected into one channel at one end of the 
meadow, and conducted off the field through a cut 
made in the upland, which at this point is less elevated 
than elsewhere, and after going a short distance, a suf¬ 
ficient natural descent was> found to dispose of it with¬ 
out farther digging. Two cross ditches, at right an¬ 
gles to the marginal ones, and two rods apart, were 
then opened, 15 to 18 inches deep, and 2^ feet wide on 
top, by 18 inches at the bottom. This gave a sufficient 
slope to the sides to prevent their caving in and filling 
up the ditches. The mud taken from them was scat¬ 
tered over the surface between. Two lands of two rods 
wide, each, were thus made containing about four acres. 
The hassocks and bushes were then cut and rooted out, 
and before the frost heaves the ground in the spring, 
the land w T as covered with one hundred loads per acre, 
of a fine, yellow, micaceous subsoil, obtained from the 
adjoining upland. This fine gravel in a measure com¬ 
bines with and neutralizes the acid properties existing 
in the surface soil; and the mosses and other wild 
coarse herbage covered up, are decomposed. The co¬ 
vering was immediately spread, a light dressing of 
©ompost—made of manure and loam, in about equal 
parts, with the addition of lime,—was applied, the 
whole thoroughly harrowed, and clover and herds-grass 
seeds thickly sown and bushed in. 
Although, with Judge Hayes’ ample means, this 
meadow might all have been reclaimed before this time, 
he has yet preferred to conduct his operations in this 
department, as he always has done in all his farming, 
by proceeding with- a small piece, and a moderate and 
judicious expenditure annually. He has constantly 
been working up towards the bushes, by taking up 
each year one land of two rods wide, from its wild and 
wet state, and converting it into productive mowing in 
the manner described. The year previous to taking up 
a new land, the cross ditches are cut, which renders it 
drier, and facilitates the operations which are to follow. 
All the necessary bridges for crossing these ditches 
with teams are built of stone, it being deemed the 
cheapest mode of construction, in the long run. 
For the first four or five years, these reclaimed lands 
invariably produce from 2 to 3 tons of good hay per 
acre. In five or six years, they need th® operation of 
plowing, manuring and reseeding. The plowing is 
usually done in August or September, by ‘back-furrow¬ 
ing,’ as it is commonly called, and the ditches are then 
dug and smoothed off, scattering the mud over the sur¬ 
face between. Late in the fall, 10 to 1-5 loads per acre 
of fine compost are evenly spread over the surface, the 
ground harrowed until it becomes perfectly fine and 
mellow, and then rolled. It i S'thus well prepared for 
a new seeding, which is done the following spring, up¬ 
on a late snow. The lowlands and pastures are inva¬ 
riably sown with grass seeds at this season, it being 
found, after a trial of all ways, the surest time to se¬ 
cure a good “catch” of grass. 
Over thirty acres are now reclaimed by this course 
of management. Judge Hayes doubts not but covered 
stone drains would be better than open ditches-, as they 
would simply conduct off the water underneath without 
that loss of surface wash, which is always, to some ex¬ 
tent, experienced with open ditches. He has conclu¬ 
ded, however, that it will be fully his part to place this 
land in a state of productiveness and profit in the way 
he is proceeding; leaving it to those who come aftei 
him to perfect the drainage. 
As I stood in the midst of this meadow, viewing 
with much delight the improvement which the hand of 
skill and perseverance had made, I could not but feel 
that here had been so much solid wealth added to the 
country. A gloomy and impassable morass, filled with 
worthless bushes and wild, noxious herbage, had been 
converted into a most verdant meadow, covered with 
an exuberance of fresh valuable grasses. And what 
added particularly to the pleasure of the prospect, was 
the fact that the investment had been so gradually and 
advantageously made, that any enterprising and sensi¬ 
ble farmer in the vicinity might do the same. 
There is quite a general spirit of improvement in 
progress among the farmers of New-England, in many 
branches of their business; but improvements by drain¬ 
ing apd reclaiming wet lands are by no means as gene¬ 
ral as they might advantageously be. These lands, 
when made dry, are the most productive in grass of 
any; and they require much less manure to keep them 
so, than is necessary to bring our worn-out uplands in¬ 
to any thing like the same productiveness. I would, 
therefore, confidently urge my brother farmers to at¬ 
tempt the redemption of their wet lands. 
In conclusion, I have to remark, that the great fun¬ 
damental idea in Judge Hayes’ farming has been t© 
make his lands, of every description, yield good crops 
annually;—not to be followed by exhaustion, but by 
constantly increasing production. Here lies the secret 
of good husbandry. The eventual success of our far¬ 
mers must ordinarily depend upon adopting a mode of 
