92 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
That the best method of using them, when broadcast, is previous¬ 
ly to mix them in a compost with earth, dung, or other manures, 
and let them lie to ferment. 
That if used alone they may be either drilled in with the seed 
or used broadcast. 
That bones which have undergone the process of fermentation 
are decidedly superior (in their immediate effects) to those which 
have not done so. 
That the quantity should be about twenty bushels of dust, or 
forty bushels of large, increasing the quantity if the land be impo¬ 
verished. 
That upon clays and heavy loams, it does not yet appear that 
bones will answer. See No. 55 Farmers ’ Series. 
And where, it will be asked, are we to obtain bones to enrich our 
lands ? Every farmer, we admit, cannot obtain them; but those 
who are located in the neighborhood of villages and cities may ob¬ 
tain a considerable supply. There are two bone-mills already es¬ 
tablished on Long Island, and it is understood the proprietors find 
a ready market for all they can crush. During the last year we 
purchased sixty horse-cart loads from one man. We had them 
crushed in a plaster mill; and when about to use them, mixed 
them with house ashes, and wet the whole plentifully with water. 
In 48 hours, fermentation having sufficiently progressed, they were 
applied to turnips, barley and corn; and though we cannot yet 
speak of their ultimate benefit, they so far confirm the highest 
opinion entertained of their utility. 
We have had some years experience in the use of horn shavings 
and horn piths, which are procured from the comb manufactories. 
The first, of which we have used many hundred bushels, are equal, 
if not superior, to bone dust. The piths are cut into pieces, upon 
a block, and buried with the plough. Of these we used fifteen 
loads last spring, upon coin ground, and we think we have not 
seen a finer crop than is now growing there. 
CO R RESPONDENCE. 
Erie County, July 28, 1834. 
Being one of your subscribers, and having been much instruct¬ 
ed by the perusal of the Cultivator, I take the liberty of address¬ 
ing you on a subject of great importance to many of the farmers 
and land-holders in the western parts of our state. We find large 
tracts of land composed of vegetable matter only, and covered with 
a dense growth of alders, with here and there a soft maple. This 
vegetable matter is generally from four to six feet deep, and cover¬ 
ing old logs, trees, roots, &c. in a good state of preservation.— 
These lands were once no doubt covered with water, and are at 
this time more or less overflowed in the spring and fall freshets, 
especially those lands in the vicinity of the Tonawanda creek, and 
known as the “ Tonawanda Sivamp.” 
My great object in this communication is to respectfully solicit 
from you an answer to the following questions: 
1. I would ask information in regard to the best manner of drain¬ 
ing those lands, and the width and depth of the drains 1 
2. The most approved plan of clearing those lands, having in 
view the expense, and also the burning off the growth of alders, so 
that the soil, or vegetable matter may not be burned? 
3. Whether manure, lime, or sand is necessary to be mixed with 
the vegetable deposite, in order to bring about decomposition ; which 
is the most preferable, and the quantity of each per acre ? 
4. What crops can be cultivated to the best advantage on these 
lands, having in view the greatest profit? 
I fear I am trespassing too much upon your patience by my nu¬ 
merous queries ; but all hough they may seem trifling to you, they 
are of great importance to some of our western farmers and pro¬ 
prietors of many acres of these lands now lying idle, and which, if 
brought to a state of cultivation, might be very productive. 
The reason why these swamps continue to remain in their sivamp 
character, may with great truth be attributed to the ignorance of 
the farmers in regard, not only to the value of those lands, but to 
the manner and mode of clearing and cultivating them. Among 
these illiterate swamp owners, I freely acknowledge myself one, 
and my pride does not prevent me from confessing my ignorance, 
nor my delicacy from asking information of the experienced and 
scientific. 
While I am on this agricultural subject, permit me to congratu¬ 
late you on the success and encouragement attending the circula¬ 
tion of the Cultivator; and much more may I be permitted to con¬ 
gratulate my brother farmers that an opportunity is afforded them 
of reading the pages of your valuable paper, and of laying up in 
store a vast fund of information in no other work to be found. 
I am truly yours, TONAWANDA. 
REMARKS BY THE CONDUCTORS. 
Our correspondent has imposed upon us a difficult task,—be¬ 
cause we feel incompetent to answer his queries satisfactorily, 
without a local knowledge of the grounds to be improved, and of 
the quality of vegetable matter, whether, peat, moss or bog-soil, 
—of their extent, and the nature of the subsoil, &.c. which we do 
not possess. If we succeed, therefore, in suggesting any useful 
hints, or in eliciting such from better informed sources, we shall 
be amply repaid lor our labor. With this apology, we shall pro¬ 
ceed to remark upon the several queries, in the order they are put 
to us. 
1. The vegetable matter described, is manure, calculated, under 
a proper system of management, to afford an almost inexhaustible 
supply of food for cultivated crops. But in order to render it the 
food of vegetables, decomposition must be induced, first, by a com¬ 
plete drainage; and should this prove insufficient, second, by the 
admixture of such matters as will bring about the desired result. 
Heat and air are essential to the decomposition of these vegetable 
matters. While the vegetable matter continues saturated with 
water, these agents are in a measure excluded : For had they ex¬ 
erted their accustomed agency, this vast quantity of peaty matter 
would not have gone on accumulating to the extent it has perhaps 
for centuries. The first object, therefore, is to get rid of the sur¬ 
face, or the surplus water, by draining, Open drains can alone be 
depended on, till decomposition has somewhat progressed, and the 
ground become more firm and compact. If there is any fall, by 
which the water may be carried off, the lowest point should be se¬ 
lected for their outlet. If there is not sufficient fall, the drains 
must be of a capacity to receive and contain the surface water.—- 
Many of the grounds in Holland are lower than the surface of the 
ocean, the waters of which are excluded from them by embank¬ 
ments. The waters which collect in these grounds cannot be 
drained off, but are received into canals or ditches which intersect 
the grounds at convenient distances. In these the water rises 
nearly to the surface, and yet they afford some of the finest pas¬ 
tures in the world. In Flanders, and in this country, large tracts 
ot marsh have been reclaimed from the ocean by embankments, 
which are of great fertility and value. In the case under consi¬ 
deration, the principal drain should pass through the lowest ground, 
or centre of the piece intended to be improved, if no inequality of 
surface exists; and its size should be proportioned to the area of 
the surface to be drained, and the quantity of water which it may 
at any time be required to receive or convey. It will require to be 
from 6 to 20 feet broad on the surface, according to the extent of 
the swamp and the abundance of water, and from 2 to 8 feet at 
bottom, the sides sloping 45 deg. or more, to prevent their falling 
in and obstructing the water, or filling up the drain. It should be 
sunk down to the solid earth under the vegetable matter, if practi¬ 
cable, and it were better to penetrate this a foot or more. The 
earth taken from the drain should be thrown back, and not suffer¬ 
ed to press upon the sides. Having completed the centre drain to 
the extent required, proceed to cut drains round the parts to be 
improved, terminating them in the main drain, to prevent the ac¬ 
cess of water from adjoining grounds, of such dimensions as shall 
answer the intended purpose, but never less than four feet broad 
at the surface. Experience has taught me, that to make shallow 
or narrow drains in grounds like these, is a waste of labor. The 
water coming from adjoining high grounds, may in most situations 
be collected by cutting a horizontal ditch above the level of the 
swamp, so as to intercept all the hill springs, and conducted into 
the main drain. If springs exist in the swamp, they must be in¬ 
tersected by drains, which may be covered, leading to the open 
drains. If found necessary, after the ground is cleared, lateral 
drains must be made at such intervals as will completely free the 
surface from too much moisture. Where the fall will permit it, 
the outlet is often dug 15 or 20 feet deep, when found necessary to 
draw off the surplus water. When grounds are compact, under 
drains may be substituted for open lateral ones, in a tenacious sub¬ 
soil. For these stones are the best material; the most approved 
method of constructing which, we have noticed in another column 
of the Cultivator, under “ draining .” 
