Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-10

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 Some time ago I tried to stir up interest among such farmers as are lucky enough 10 have SwampS in the latent possibilities of these agricul- tural gold-nines.
 Whether I succeeded in any degree I've never heard. But a. correspo ondent of The Wisconsin Agrtculturist has recently been telling how ae foun9 q "a gold mine in a muskrat swamp Per- haps his experience may be interest," ing to somebody
 The correspondent seems to have found farmers in his state as incredur lous as those of Connecticut about the wisdom of putting labor and money into swamp reclamation, for he pre- faces his story by saying that he tells the "experience which we had in til- ing and tanning hundred acres of marsh" because some farmers are stiIl afraid to invest money in tiling marshes.
 They called the marsh in question "The Bottoms. The land was a nat ural basin soaked with water at even the driest seasons of the year and flooded five feet deep in rainy times. It covered about a hundred acres and it's lowest edge was a quarter of a mile from the stream into which it must be drained, if at all. A consid- erable part of it was inhabited by a musBrati colony. It never produced enough of anything to pay the annual taxes levied on it. It had long been regarded as an expensive nuisance which detracted from rather than added to the value of the farm.
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 In 1911 they made up their minds to drain it, if such a thing were possi- ble. The farmer who owned it wasn't versed ill drainage problems, so he called in an expert civil engineer who made a careful survey of the entire tract, found out exactly what must be done and could be done, took the con- tract for ditehing and tiling, and su- perintendeds the whole operation.
 That 1t was something of a job is suggested by the fact that the steep est grade allowed for Ule tile was one third of an inch in hundred feet, that the outlet tile had to be a foot in diameter, and that several hundred feet had to be laid at depth of nine feet below the surface.
 The contract price for the whole job, survey plotting, ditching and til- ing was $1.40O. The farmer hauled the tor paid for them. It took 13,200 feet or the job and the cost was $1.75 2 rod or, according to the farmers owr figures. $14 an acre.
 When the tiIine was finished and the surface had dried out, even the owner was a little nervous about his next job, that of breaking up the crust It was, of course, awfully rough and boggy, and the men expected a severe struggle. But even we were sur- prised at the ease with which the soi was turned by the breaking blow Pressure of other work compelled them to stop after twenty acres had been broken Anyway. they thought twenty acres would be enough to ex- pertinent with the first time There was a question as to whether the drainage was adequate; question as tt whether the soil wasn't too sour tC make crop of any sort; gravel question whether it would produce corn, which was the crop they wantel it to grow. So they planted the twen. ty acres to corn and then waited de. velopments.
 The corn came up. That was tn, first testimony in their favor. Fol the first month afterwards it jus about held it's own with the corr planted at the same time on uplant soil. Then it began to shove ahsad It grew better. matured earlierA Ant twenty acres.
 Next year a cloud burst occurred ul the river sweeping away a dam ant destroying all that was planted. B1 in 1914 they got fifty five acres of "th bottoms under blow and planted again to com. While that year say another flood, it wasn't accompanies by any dam break. and so the erol was not injured. They cribbed 400