Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1843-08-09
GRICULT U RAJ.
NOW FOR THE WET MEADOWS
AND swAMPS.

AMI y w AmESs
AS soon as The haying is over and op-
nortun;ty comes 10 do something for The
permanent improvement OF the farm, take
n look al the. sunken and miry parts Of
YOUR land, which now, yield you only
water grasses OF little value, upon which
YOUR cattle, possibly, may live, but upon
which they cannot thrive. These beds OF
vegetable matter, partly Of meadow growth,
and partly toe wash from the surrounding
uplands, are the very best OF our soils. for
mos; Of the crops that are produced on the
farm. THE root crops. perhaps, DO not
generally flourish as well there as on the
1nlands. or those Of them at least which
like 10 root, deep. as the carrot. Though
the soil OF the reclaimed land be'deep, we
have found that the roots OF plants upon II
like to keep near the surface. AND Inc
carrot there will have large foliage and a
Iaroe crown 10 the root, but when harvest
ed i will be found very prongy. and lis
form shows that it has been unwilling to
90 down into the cold peaty soil. BeetS
and ruta bagas will grow large upon sue o
lands. but are usually coarse and many oil
them unsound But corn. potatoes, beans,
souashes, and especially grass, do well.
If you have any OF these wet lands,
look at them now, and see whether you
cannot pro6tab.y reclaim them. Should
Won ask whether we refer to those place:
,vhare the vegetable deposite is six, eight
or nm unkpown number OF feet deep, and
,ba surfaces oS which are very loose and
lipht when you come 10 work them, Q,
whether we mean those that have the mud
moi more than q foot or two deep, ana ina
are and will be rather moist ana neavy :
should you ask US this, we should answer
we mean either or both. For general til.
lare, the deep and loose meadows are best
hui for grass, the shoal and more tena-
cious ones are best, especially if they lie
upou q hard bottom. The shnal ones are
generally the easiest to reclaim, and we
think them rather the must valuable.
But how reclaim p what are the proc
esses2 The first step. and an essential Is
20 drain thoroughly. You must get com
maud of the water II this remains stag
mani within foot and half OF your surt
ace. the water grasses will soon reappea
md usurp the place OF those you hav
sown. But how drainl Do not trus: L
d;,cbes through the center, or distant iron
,hs shore. This will not accomplish tn
nrrnose. Much Of the water IN our we
,msadows. oozes out from the surrouitiln
highland. Therefore all the space ,:1
tween The shore aud the ditch Is ever ~
HE 10 be too wet, even though the dIstar
ditch should be deep and free. Al N
shore, is the place for ditch. and the oo'
tom Of il. If not the whole OF It, should .
dug in the firm land-the gravel. sand
CLAW which forms the basin In which IN
meadow lies. We know il is hard ORG
ging in the firm ground-and yet the mo-
profitable place 10 dig generally y wne !
The meadow mud is not more than b, O.
10 inches deep. Go 10 work there, oPe
n ditch three feet wide at the top, loot
the bottom, and two feet or more deel
The clay, gravel, or sand that comes GU
is 10 be spread directly upon the surface
the meadow, and you cannot 90 yo'
meadow 90 much service in any olht
way at the same expense, as by taking y
clay or gravel here, where. without ca
or wheelbafrow, we can put il where 4
wanted. II the digging be hard. n,
dollars worth ofslabor in that ditch wi
benefit yonr ground nearly as much, IN Il
,rav of praUslliag merely, as the san
vor,h az labor would ia carting grav
from The bill, where you can Dig easit
But the strongest reason for gong in'o
hard pan with your dhch IS that you
this way effvcta much more lhorouI
draining than you can if you only
down 10 The pan.
The dil-hes opened in the central pa
Of ,he meadow. will furnish meadow N
or muck, that you may work into
compost heap. And i IS best 70 take 4. =
for this purpose wherever you can 60.
rectIy to il with the team. 6uI