Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-09-17
From the American Asricul,uul;.t.

uearu something ABOUT JAKE frlhh, anu now
he took the premium on carrots over me. at
the lIookcrtown Fair. Perhaps they would
like to hear something abou, a horscPond
that Jake used 70 own, about half way be-
tween my house and his II was full
quarter OF a mile from his house, hut as il
was the nearcs, water that nature had pro.
yiicd, 1t had always Teen used to water
Jakc's horses and cattle, when they were not
In the pasture |, lay nv the roadside at
the foot NJ gentle Hill, aud tho water for
all the we, part Of ths year hlwoi oiT over
the nd0ining lot. making it a sort Of quas,
mire. except in times Of drouth. An ami.
nal would mire in any part Of the lot up to
hi' knees. l, never occurred 10 him that
he could bring water into hs yarlata little
expense and save hi. daily journey Of hi,
cattle to the pond. lie never thought how
much manure was wasted along the road,
and what nuisance his cattle became 10
his ncighbors, as they were often turned in.
20 the road to get wa,er, and 10 take care OF
themselves. lls never thought the horse
pond spoiled two acre, Of the b., land up.
On hi' farm. and that il co., him At least
twenty dollars year to keep up this water.
en-, place. The guncmirc dii not Iay him
the interc,, on twenty dollars a year. II
oush, to have paid him ten per cen, on two
hundred.
The hore.poni | dill not care anything
about, but J,kr'- cattle, geese and pigs, al.
way. drawn up my way BY thiswater, wero
aperpetunl torm'ntt, m, aud my nelshb5r.
thought hal a right q abAtc the pui.
.anc,. 81 hllcl u,shhsr Frink one dag,
last Fall, abou, selling the two-acrc lot near
the horse pond. IL was before th, Fair, Tor
since my remarks about stimulating the car.
Tot crop with horse manure he ha, b,cn
rather o.E,h. Ever since put down the
,ilc drain in my gtrisn have formed
great idea of curing wet land, and | thought
,his pi,c' OF sour. unproduM, pasture
might easily b' turned into productive mca.
dow
says I, Mr. Frink, what will You ;lkc
tor that b.t of swamp Land, a; the 100, Of
the hle"
"ls Il. worth about twenty dollars an
acre, supp,s'. You hold note asain',
me lor about what the lanl would come to.
Give mo the note, aul will give You
d.cl
That Is rather hard bargain ncishbor,
the land docs no, pay you tho intcres; On
halt that sun. But as want the land.
will take IT,"
The deed was given, and took possession
Last November wc had a wonderful mild
Fall and Winter. Nnl went right 20 work
up1a the land The old broken down wall
by the road side that had always been an
eycs5ro to me, | Immediately dropped into a
four foot ditch, making covered culver, Of
tho stone. There was fall enough 10 take
. al the water clean irom the bottom Of the
ditch, aud carry 1t of at the lower side Of
the aIpininc lnt leut four bitches at right
angles t. the ditch by the roadside. and put
7 in tilc. az tho bottom. Tho depth 10 which
they were laid varied from three TO lour fcot
as the surlac, was no, exactly even. | had
no sooner cut the main drain than the
h,r-cpoud all ran away, leaving the bo,-
tom a, least two feet above the watcr.hnc in
the adjoining drain. The change in the
looks Of the land this Spring, ia astonishin:
even 20 myself Here. where cattle have al
ways mirrd a. they went out to crop the
fir, gras, in May, there i now firm foot
hold. have already plowoi the most Of it.
and have put IN crop Of early potatoes.
The drains are Jus, thirty feet apart, and
the tiles at the lower endIconstan,ly dis
charge water, and will probably continue to
: do -, until midsummer
i But my astonishmcnt was nothing COM
pared with Jake Frink's, when he came
along and saw bis horse. pond entirely evaP.
Grated.
My goodness, Squire Bunker, what docs
tai, mean? What au I going to DO for a
place to water my cattle in?"
Hold, ncishbor Frink. Did You sell
me siis piece Of laul?'
- did"
"Did promise you would not improve
IT."
"No, you did not, ,bu, who'd have thought
You wa. going to knock hole in the bot
tom Of my horse-pond in this siyle?"
"watcr will run down hill, neighbor
Frink, and can't help it, The same law
that enable. me to drain that swamp, will
bring water from the hill side righ, into
your yard and house. You then can save
all your manure, as | DO, and your cattle
will not have the trouble of going after wa
ter in the cold Of Winter, and You will not
have the trouble of securing all HOokertown
to look them up. Your cattle will no lOn-
ser be nuisance, and you will save your
self world Of ireitins aud scolding. |
have really done you q kindness in drying
up this horso-pOnd. But as you may not
look upOn it ia that light, | will give YOU