Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1862-06-12
From the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.
HOW A SWAMI WAS RECLAIMED.


about fifty acres, thirty of which belong to the
Messrs. Fisk. Twenty acres of their part has
been cleared, ditched, and seeded to grass.
Previous to its being drained about two acres
in the middle of the swamp were covered with
water, interspersed with large bogs of coarse
grass and several acres of it were so soft that
man could not go over it when it was not froz-
en-, except by stepping from one bog to another.
The remainder of tie swamp was covered with
thick growth Of bushes, consisting of alder,
sumach willow and raspberry, intermixed with
flags and coarse grass, and that part which has
not been reclaimed is covered in this way now.
AT the outlet of this swamp have been found
the remains of a beavers dam, and Mr.. Fisk
informed me that in digging the bitches through
this swamp they frequently found sticks and
logs that had been cut off by these animals, as
the marks of their teeth were plainly visible on
the ends Of the sticks. lie mentioned red
oak log ten inches in diameter so soft that it
could be cut with a shovel, which was found
several feet below the surface of the gr. ind.
In passing along by the side ofone of the ditch
es l took short stick out of it one inch in di-
ameter this was willow, and evidently had
been cut by the beavers, as the marks of the
teeth could be plainly seen on the ends of it.
Years ago this entire meadow was undoubtedly
covered with water, and used as resort for
these animals for long time. Of the depth
of the muck in this swamp nothing definite is
known, although it is said that many years ago
two men went on to it and cut poles and tied
them together, and pushed them down into the
mud until they got down 30 feet.
That part of the meadow belonging to the
Messrs Fisk is of an oblong shape being
should think, twice as long as it is wide. They
first commenced retaining the land by cutting
and burning over the surface, after which they,
H. al - Al,
dug ditch feet wide and feet deep, through
the lot on the line between them. Since that
time they have cleared and drained the twenty
acres, which is now in grass. They have dug
bitches at intervals of few rods apart, and
parallel with the main ditch, thd entire length
of the swamp, These bitches are intersected
by others crossing the lot at right angles with
the long ones, and leading into the main one.
The smaller bitches are dug feet deep, and
about Is inches wide, and although this at first
seemed to me to be too narrow, yet on eXami-
nation found that in consequence of the tena-
CITY of the soil the sides of the bitches appear
ed to be nearly as perpendicular as when they
were first dug A portion of these bitches have
been covered. This was done by taking sticks
few inches in diameter and some longer than
the width of the ditch. They were placed
across the ditch Is inches below the surface,
with the ends of the sticks embedded in the
sides OF the ditch. They were placed near to-
gether, and then covered with brush sufficient
thickness, after which the ditch was filled with
dry muck taken from the bitches. These have
been in operation s years, and they now APP
pear to be rs good as when they were first COM
pleted.
The course pursued by Messrs. Fisk in re-
claiming this land is, after the surface is clear
ed and dtched, to draw and spread on the land
IF bor I- IN hn 20
dirt is dug from land near the swamp, and
drawn on to it in the winter when the ground
is frozen. In the spring grass seed is sown
the seed being mixture OF timothy and red
top. Mr.. Fisk informed me that after the land
is first burned over, Canada thistlcs come up
quite thick all over the land, but after the hard
pan has been spread on the thistes disappear
and red clover comes up in the place of them
Various kinds Of top-dressings have been
used on this meadow, but none have produced
so good effect us the hard-pan. One winter
these gentlemen dug and drew on to this lo
500 loads of dirt. This was taken from piece
of ground that they were fitting to build barr
on. In going over the meadow | noticed sew
era acres on which the oX-eye daisy was grow
ing quite thicllly. There was also growing OF
the same piece of ground, to a considerable eX
tent, another daisy closely resembling the whit
daisy in every respect. except, the leaf of tn
flower was yellow instead of white. Mr.. Fisl
said that these daisies came from seed whic
was in the grass seed which they bought to see
the land with. | also noticed on one other farm
this yellow daisy growing, the owner of whic
informed me that it came from Sc ID that wa
in grass seed that he had bought. Athoug
these gentlemen did not consider the introduc
ton of these foul weeds on to their farms of a
much damage as did, yet they regretted YER
much that it had been done, and what made
more unpleasant, they. with many others, ar
obliged to submit to this imposition and iniur
without any redress for it. Now, Messrs Ed
tors. it seems to me that any may who know
ingly raises and sells g;ass, or any other seed,
with the seeds Of weeds or any other foul p al
mixed with it, is equally guilty as though h
defrauded a person in any other way, and
think that every such person should be labl
by law to pay all dana es that accrue from tn
sale and use Of such seeds.
But little of this meadow has ever bee
powed, as it is too soft and wet for cultivt
ton. | was shown field of two acres on Oh
side of the lot that was cultivated for two year
The first year i: was planted with potatoes an
produced 100 bushels of small potatoes per acr
The next year it was planted with corn, an
produced 60 bushels of sound corn to the acr
and very stout crop Of corn fodder TIL
field of corn was entered at the Fair of Il
Franklin Co, Agricultural Society for nren
ium. and was awarded the first premium, it b.
ing the best crop of corn entered that yea
About 1857 this entire lot received the fir
premium from the Franklin Co. Ag Societ
awarded on reclaimed swamp lands.
The Messrs Fisk have experimental vii
various kinds Of manures on this reclaime
land. They found that 250 pounds of Mope
superphosphate of lime applied to an acre
land increased the yield of grass as much
thirty loads of manure. DeBurg's superphos
phate of lime, when applied as a top-dressin
on grass, doubled the crop for three years
yielding at the rate Of two tuns per acre.
Much of the mu k taken from the ditcht
has been drawn off and composted with stab
manure in the proportion of one part manu-
to two parts muck. This compost for ordinal
uses, they consider equal to clear stable M
nure, and on dry land it is said to be bette
On dry gravelly land a dressing of clear muc
after it had lain in heap year. produced
better result than clear stable manure. espec
ally in dry seasons.
On some parts OF the swamp, near the ditto
es, | found the meadow cranberry GROWN
and Judging from the quantity of fruit ON the,
vines, it appeared to me that this would be Il
most profitable crop that could be raised {
this land Mr.. Fisk said that the liability
frosts in the fall made it a very uncertain GRO
many years no fruit being obtained. At t
a., ,,f sl,,.. :. -.