IT is not an Hundred and Thirty Years ſince the firſt Settlement of New-England, and much leſs than that ſince the greater Part hath been Planted.

When we conſider the ſmall Number of the firſt Setlers, and coming from an old Cultivated Country, to thick Woods, rough unimproved Lands; where all their former Experience and Knowlege was now of very little Service to them: They were deſtitute of Beaſts of Burthen or Carriage; Unſkill'd in every part of Service to be done: It may be ſaid, That in a ſort, they began the World a New.

Their unacquaintedneſs with the Country, led them to make choice of the worſt Land for their Improvement, and the moſt expenſive and chargeable Methods of Cultivation: They thôt themſelves obliged to ſtubb all Staddle, and cut down or lop all great Trees; in which they expended much Coſt and Time, to the prejudice of the Crop and impoveriſhing the Land.

When we conſider theſe things, the Progreſs that hath been made in ſo ſhort a Time is very wonderful.

There hath been great Improvements in Huſbandry far and wide; beſides various Trades and Manufactures, which are Yearly increaſing.

Particularly,

1. There are conſiderable Advances made in the Linen and Woolen Trades. There are many alive at this Day, who remember ſince the Linen was Coarſe, and what we call Tow Cloth; the other Cloth for outer Garments, Linſy-Woolſy; and for ſome time was worn without Fulling or any kind of Dreſſing: After they began to Full Cloth, for a time they uſed neither Tentering or Preſſing; they only ſtretched and wound the Cloth hard upon a ſmooth log of Wood.

2. We have Improved in the Iron-mongers Trade. In the early Times of the Country, the moſt of the Iron made and in uſe, was Taunton Iron, made of Bog Oar, and ſo coarſe and brittle as to break in the working, and when it was wrought, to the loſs and vexation of the Smith and the Farmer.

This Metal, ſuch as it was, was all the Iron then in uſe among us, except a little Spaniſh & Sweeds Iron for ſome ſpecial Uſes; ſo that it is wonderful to think how that Generation did to Subſiſt.

After a while Bog Oar of a better ſort and of a more kindly nature & temper was found, after that Mountain Oar was diſcovered, which being melted & refined makes excellent Iron.

We have further Improved upon it by converting it into Steel; which was entred upon without previous Skill, and wrought and beat out by frequent Experiments and by continued Practice.

3. We have alſo Increaſed in our Stocks of Cattel, and Improved our Breed of Horſes. For ſome time after the Country was Setled, they had no Cattel at all; when ſome were brought over, what with the bad Hay they provided, it being cut upon Bog Meadow, the multitude of Wolves and other Beaſts of Prey, for ſundry Years they were kept ſo low and had ſo few Cattel, that the common Price for a grown Bullock was Twenty Pounds Sterling, which is Equal to Two Hundred Pounds Old Tenor.

I remember when I was a Boy, I heard a very ancient Woman of good Credit ſay, That ſhe had ſeen Twenty broad Pieces paid down for a Two Year old Heifer, which is now Equal to Two Hundred and Fifty Pounds Old Tenor.

Although the Progreſs we have made be very Conſiderable, our Country yet needs and is capable of greater Improvement in the management of our Lands; of which I deſign to conſider in ſeveral Sorts.

1. Thoſe Coves and Swamps that are adjoining to Salt Marſh, which ly ſo flat and low that they cannot be Dreined: I have ſeen ſundry ſuch places upon the Sea Coaſt. I have ſuch a piece of Ground, which I am obliged to Fence in, in order to incloſe ſome other Land; which put me upon thought of trying to make ſomething of it, it being now wholly unprofitable.

Laſt Fall I began upon it and drew a Ditch of four Foot wide from a large Salt Creek, and carried it up in the middle of the Cove ſeventy Rods, in order to turn it into Salt Meadow, that being the beſt that I could do with it: It ſo far anſwers the deſign, that the Tide flows regularly into it, to the upper end of it; the Tide now flowing, where I ſuppoſe it never reach'd before. There muſt be ſmaller Ditches on each Side, to cut off the Freſh Springs, and ſmall Grips cut from the great Ditch in ſundry places, that ſo the Salt Water may be ſpread and communicated to all parts of it.

The lower part next the Salt Marſh is Ruſhes, the next are Reeds, then large Brakes and Buſhes, and laſt of all a thick Swamp. If this Land can be converted into Salt Meadow, it will be much cheaper than to Purchaſe ſo much Salt Marſh, and will lie very convenient to my other Land.

Salt Water will effectually kill Trees and Buſhes where it comes, both Root and Branch.

2. The ſecond ſort of Land that I ſhall conſider, is, the low ſunken Lands, which have no Communication with Salt Marſh: Of this ſort there are three Kinds, viz. Thick Swamps, Boggy Meadow, and ſmooth, even, ſhaking Meadow; this laſt ſort is called Cramberry Marſh: He that would do any thing to Effect with either of theſe Sorts, muſt in the firſt place ſee whether there be deep Mire; if it be ſhallow and ſoon come to hard Sand, Clay or Gravel, it will be not worth while to expend Coſt upon it.

Again, You muſt examine what Fall there is. If the Fall be apparent to the Eye, and this for ten or fifteen Rods, you may be ſatisfied; if you are uncertain, try it with a water Level or ſpirit Level: If your Marſh be ſmall, the Drein long, rocky and likely to be chargeable, it may be beſt to let it alone; but if it be a large Swamp or Meadow, althô the main Drein ſhould be a conſiderable Charge, that ſhould be no diſcouragement.

That low Ground which is thick with Wood and Bruſh, will be the moſt Chargeable; the Bog Meadow the next in Charge, becauſe the Bogs muſt be cut up with a Bog Plough or with the Hoe; either way is Chargeable: The ſhaking Meadow has the beſt Surface, and is eaſieſt to bring to Mowing.

Laſt August was Twelve Month I began to Drein a Pond that lies but a Mile from my Houſe; it was not a natural Pond, but made ſo upon deſign. Our Record informs that it was granted to a Man to prevent the miring of Cattel; the Owner of it laid it under Water about Eighty Years ago: It was overgrown with Pond Lilly's; it was thought by moſt that to Drein it was impractible: Some ſaid, That it was as unlikely as to Drein the Ocean. At the outlet there ſeemed to be little or no Fall; but trying it with a Level, my Son and I found that in forty Rod there was Fall ſufficient: We therefore ſet about Dreining it, have ſucceeded ſo far that it bids fair to make a good piece of Land. It had been under Water ſo long, and was ſo full of Pond Lilly-Roots, that when the Water was drawn off and the Lilly-Roots dried and ſhrunk up, it grew to be Puffy, & did not for this Reaſon do ſo well as we expected: The Graſs Seed did not come up well, nor ſtand ſo well as in Land that has lain open to the heat of the Sun.

The whole Pond was about Twenty Acres, and the Soyl is eight or ten Foot deep: There are in it many large Springs, which are fifteen Foot deep.

I began laſt March to Drein another Meadow of Forty Acres, up in Guilford Woods; this was a ſhaking Meadow; A Man ſtanding upon it might ſhake the Ground ſeveral Rods round him. It ſeemed to be only a ſtrong ſword of Graſs Roots laid over a ſoft Mud of the conſiſtence of Pan-cake Batter: There was not abundance of Buſhes in it, but abundance of Cramberry Vines, and a great burthen of poor wild Graſs: The Meadow was deem'd ſo poor that none would take it up. I was pitied as being about to waſt a great deal of Money; but they comforted themſelves that if I ſpent it unprofitably, others that ſtood in need of it would get it: They are now of another opinion.

At the only Out-let of this Meadow there was Fall ſufficient, but very Rocky; we muſt dig four or five Foot deep to get the Advantage of it.

In March when I went up to make the Outlet Drein, there was ſuch a torrent of Water that we could do nothing; I ordered therefore a Tree to be cut down a-croſs the Brook, and prepared Flitches inſtead of Plank, which we ſet aſlant, the upper end reſting upon the Staddle that was fallen croſs the Brook, laid them as cloſe as we could, and ſtopped the Chinks and large Caſms with top Tow, by which means we ſhut the Water into the Meadow, then wrôt at the Trench or main Drein in the Day & let it out at Night, till it was in a good meaſure accompliſhed. When I ordered the top Tow to be carried, the Men wondred what it was deſigned for, but when they ſaw how uſeful it was in making a cheap Dam they were pleaſed with it. I put them in mind of the Dutch Proverb, who ſay of things that are very mean, That ſomthing is always good for ſomthing.

When the Weather grew ſufficiently warm and the Meadow a little ſetled, we began to Ditch. I cut a Ditch on each ſide and one in the middle: As far as we went it ſoon rendred the Meadow firm and dry: I then proceeded to ſow Graſs-Seed, ſuch as red Clover, ſoul Meadow Graſs, Engliſh Spear Graſs, and Herd Graſs: Of all the ſorts of Graſs Seed I ſowed, none ſeemed to take hold and come up ſo well as red Clover; this I found to be the boldeſt and moſt hardy Graſs.

Where the Sword was ſtrong, althô the Clover came up well, yet what with the toughneſs of the Ground and the over-topping growth of the wild natural Graſs, the Clover made but ſlow progreſs till the Fall of the Year, and then it mended conſiderably. But where there happened to be no Sword to hinder it, the Clover grew up to the height of mid Thigh, went to Seed and the Seed was ripe.

Of the other ſorts of Graſs came up but poorly: The Land I ſuppoſe was too new and too tough for it.

Some time in September I Ploughed up a piece of it where I had not Sowed any Graſs Seed, it Ploughed very tough and the Cattel mired ſome, but we kept them upon the Graſs as well as we could; after all we left many Baulks: About a Month after I ſet ſome Men to Hoe up the Baulks, and was agreeably ſurprized to find how eaſie it Hoed up. I find the Meadow rotted and mellowed more in one Month in the Fall than it had done in the whole Summer: The ſame I found by the Ditch Banks. If I had omitted my Ploughing till a Month later, it had been done with much more eaſe to Man and Beaſt.

In July I ſowed a little piece of Turneps, they came up, but never grew till the Ground began to rot in the Fall of the Year, then grew well in the ſhort time they had left: I expected they would have been Rank, but they were good and ſweet.

Some are deterred from ſuch an undertaking as that of Dreining their Land, by reaſon of the great Charge: They terrify themſelves without Reaſon. When I was about to cut my main Drein, ſome thought it impoſſible, but at beſt it would coſt an Hundred Pounds: It was a bad place of Rocks; ſome I dug up, ſome we broke up with Steel Wedges, and ſome we blew up with Powder: But after all it did not coſt more than Twenty Pounds.

As to the great Charge of Ditching, they do not conſider that the outſide Ditches ſerve for Fence, as well as to cut off the Springs and drein the Meadow, and it is as cheap Fence as any we can make; ſo that there is none but the middle or intermediate Ditches, that are properly to be conſidered as a Charge in Dreining.

Some may think this long Hyſtory of two pieces of Meadow, this tedious Detail of ſo many minute Particulars to be needleſs, trifling and impertinent.

I have been particular in deſcribing the main or out-let Drein of each Meadow, that it may be ſeen that the difficulty of Rocks is not inſuperable, nor the charge of a long Drein intolerable.

I mentioned the cheap movable Dam, which may be made in a few Hours, that if they ſhould be incumbred with Water to hinder their work, there is a Remedy at hand.

I informed you of the growth of one of the Meadows, that it was Moſs and Pond Lillies, which will ſoon die when the Water is gone: The Moſs creates the moſt trouble, but will burn when it is a dry Seaſon.

I gave an account of the depth of the Soyl, becauſe I was when I began uncertain whether by Ditches three Foot wide and two and half deep (ſuch as mine are) would be ſufficient to fix the ſhaking Meadow, and render the deep Mire firm and dry enough for Graſs and Tillage. I think there is reaſon to believe that the ſhaking Meadows have been formerly Bever Ponds.

I deſcribed the extent and bigneſs of each Meadow, becauſe I was uncertain whether the Ditches would draught well when they were very long.

Some of mine are an hundred and fifty Rods long, and muſt be yet much longer; yet as far as we have gone they draw well. In order to have them draw well and run free, it is abſolutely needful, and a main point, to have your out-let Drein deep, ſo that the water run briſkly.

If the Ditches draw well there is another Advantage; in the Spring when there is much Water, by ſtopping one Ditch you may ſhift the Water into another to cleanſe it, and ſo to a third: Hereby you will ſave the charge of the Yearly Scouring of them with the Shovel, which is a good ſaving: I find by Experience I have that Advantage.

I have inſiſted the longer upon this Article, it being an affair of Importance: If it ſhould anſwer our Expectation, it will put us into the Improvement of Land of which as yet we have had no Benefit; nay, it has been rather hurtful. It opens to us a new Scene, and Time may poſſibly diſcover it to be the eaſieſt of Tillage, the richeſt and beſt Land,

By the working of my own Mind I judge of others; however if I have been miſtaken, and that which is uncertain to me, is clear & eaſie to others, and ſo have been longer upon this Particular than is needful or uſeful, I beg pardon of the Reader.

When I ingaged in this Affair, it was with ſome diſtruſt and uncertainty: I am ſure laſt Year I ſhould have been glad of ſuch an Hyſtory of Facts (as imperfect as it is) it would have afforded me Light, Courage and Inſtruction.

As to what remains farther to be done, I ſhould be glad to meet with an experienced Perſon to give me Directions. Our Reaſonings and Speculations without Experience are deluſory and uncertain. It uſed to be the Saying of an old Man, That an Ounce of Experience is better than a Pound of Science.

In a Country where ſuch like Dreining is become a common Practice, ſuch an account as I have given would be needleſs.

I find by Experience, that ſuch dreined Land muſt have one Summer to ferment and rot, ſo as to become proper Soyl, before it will be fit for Grain and every ſort of Graſs. If I had ſowed red Clover inſtead of the other ſorts of Graſs, I had ſaved five Pound in Seed. Clover out-did my Expectation, and the other ſorts fell ſhort of it: If others ſave where I loſt, and mend wherein I was miſtaken, it anſwers my deſign in Writing.

By a little Experience we have had of theſe dreined Lands, we find they will produce Indian Corn, ſixty or ſeventy Buſhels to the Acre, and Flax. If Life & Health be continued, I deſign to try Liquorice Roots, Barley, Cape-Breton Wheat, Cotton, Indigo Seed, & Wood for dying, which I have ſent for, as alſo water Melon Seed, which came originally from Arch Angel in Ruſſia, which is ſaid produces Melons which grow to a great Size. But what I have principally in view is Hemp. New-England doth not, I ſuppoſe, Expend leſs than ſeveral Hundred Thouſand Pounds worth of Forein Hemp Yearly. If we can raiſe more than to ſupply our own Occaſions, we may ſend it Home. I remember when I was Young, a Gentleman came from England, ſent over by the King, to invite the Country into that Trade; he offered in the King's Name to find Seed to begin with, and Four-pence Sterling per Pound, let us Raiſe what we would (which is Three and Four-pence Old Tenor,) and if I remember right, Forty Shillings Bounty on every Ton.

England is poſſeſſed of the Woolen Trade, and Ireland of the Linen Trade; ſo that this Hemp Trade lies open to us, which may in time become our Staple for Returns Home; and ſo bring the Balance of Trade to be in our Favour, which has always as yet been againſt us.

A Staple Commodity is of great Importance to a Country: Such is the Woolen Manufacture to Great-Britain, the Linen Trade to Ireland, Tobacco to Virginia, Rice to Carolina, and Sugars to our West-India Iſlands. The Herring Trade is of ſuch Importance to the Dutch, that the Emperor Charles the Fifth coming into the Low Country's with the Queen of Hungaria, made a Journey to Bier Ulict, on purpoſe to ſee the Tomb of William Buckelſz, who firſt found out the method of Curing and Barrelling of Herring Fiſh. That great Prince and States Man, in paying ſuch Regard to the Memory of that uſeful Man, thereby teſtified the Value he ſet upon that beneficial & extenſive Trade, which is ſaid to be worth Two Millions in a Year to the Dutch.

It is not a meer Conjecture that the dreined Lands will produce Hemp. I am informed by my worthy Friend Benjamin Franklin Eſq of Philadelphia, that they Raiſe Hemp upon their dreined Lands.

Hemp requires ſuch very ſtrong Land to produce it, that it would conſume all our Dung to Raiſe it in any great Quantities; ſo that we ſhould not be able to raiſe Bread Corn: Therefore how Inviting fo ever the Trade is, and how great ſo ever the Encouragements have been, both from Home and by our own Governments, we have not as yet engaged in that Affair: We have now a promiſing Proſpect of Succeſs in theſe dreined Lands; what may be the Iſſue, Time and Experience muſt determine.

The Books of Huſbandry ſay, That a Thouſand Weight to the Acre is an ordinary Crop of Hemp.

If a Man had a ſmall Meadow of Dreined Land, that he could lay under Water and draw it off at his pleaſure to Water his Hemp, it would, I fancy, be of great Value. I have heard that a Man in the Jerſies, hath ſuch a Meadow of half an Acre, which yields him as much Hemp Yearly, as fetches him Fifty Pounds York Money; but this ſeems incredible.

Some think that it is good to lay their low Lands under Water in the Winter to inrich them, and practiſe accordingly: But this will kill your Engliſh Graſs after a few Years: For Engliſh Graſs will not ſubſiſt without a Winter. In the Southern Colonies the leſs Winter the leſs Graſs. In Virginia, North & South Carolina, they have no Engliſh Graſs at all. Where there is no Engliſh Graſs, it is difficult to make Cattel truly fat; ſo that Winter brings its good as well as its evil Things.

3. The third ſort of Land I would ſpeak of is our old Land which we have worn out. This is a difficult Article without Dung, which cannot be had for Love nor Money: Where that is wanting, it may be ſupplied with other Manure. Clay will mend Sandy Land, eſpecially if the Clay be burnt; and Sand will mend Clay Ground: The Clay will fix the too looſe contexture of the Sand, and Sand will open the parts of Clay which is too cloſe.

I found at my Farm at Guilford, a ſort of Shell Sand, try'd it and found it equal to good Dung: Some that I ordered to be carried up on the Tilled Land, has produced five Crops, and is not yet ſpent; how long it will laſt we do not know: They begin to carry it up into the Town.

I have carted this Fall upon my Land at home ſome loads of Creek Mud, that had been laid up a rotting two Years: I alſo carted home one load from the dreined Pond; it looks like Dung: Alſo one load of Clay, one load of Sand, and a load of Loam: What all or any of theſe will do, Experience muſt inform.

Another way to help Worn-out Land is to ſow it with Clover Seed; but if the Land be too poor it will not grow: Therefore if we can raiſe our Indian Corn upon our Dreined Land, then we may ſpare a ſprinkling of Dung for our old poor Land: Then ſow it with ten Pound of Clover Seed, which is five Quarts to the Acre; it might cauſe it to ſet very thick. Ten Pounds is not too much. He that raiſeth Clover Hay, need not be afraid of the expence of Seed; for an Acre of Clover will yield Two Buſhels of clean Seed: The ſecond Crop of Clover is the beſt for Seed: So that in getting Seed, you have no need to ſpoil your beſt Crop of Hay; as we know what Threſhing will do, it ſpoils the Hay in a great meaſure.

If you depend upon the ſecond Crop of red Clover for your Seed, the Land muſt be very rich, and you muſt Mow your firſt Crop early. There is ſo much profit in Clover Graſs, that it is ſtrange it is ſo much neglected. As Seed ſells now, that is Twelve Shillings a Quart, an Acre of good Clover will make Thirty Five Pounds, Old Tenor. There is no charge about it but only the Price of the Seed,: Mowing & Cleanſing the Seed, which is done with a great deal of eaſe, in a way that deſerves to be made Publick.

If Seeding the Land with Clover will not make poor Land rich, yet it would prevent our better Land from being worn out; and by ploughing in a good Coat of white Clover, the Land would be prepared for a Crop of Wheat.

Seeding the Land when we lay it down is of ſo much importance for preſent Profit & future Advantage, that it is a ſetled Opinion at the Iſle of Wight, That if they ſhould fail but one Year to Seed their Land for Graſs, it would be to their damage more than Twenty Thouſand Pounds Sterling.

Another way of mending poor Land, is, by Feeding it cloſe a few Years with Sheep, to deſtroy the Briars, Weeds & mangy Graſs: This hath ſucceeded to bring in the Engliſh Graſs and make a ſtrong Sword.

It will be beſt to take out the Sheep at the latter end of August, that ſo what Engliſh Graſs there is, may make coat for the Ground before Winter, and then ſhut it up that it may not be Fed: By the end of August the wild Traſh has done growing.

In England, to recover their poor Land, they direct to ſow their Land with Turneps, and at Winter put their Sheep upon it; and they will live a while upon the Tops and then ſcoop out the Turneps it ſelf; by that time the Land with the Sheep Dung will be rich enough for Barley in the Spring: But our poor Land is ſo poor that it will not bear Turneps bigger than Buttons. This method looks likely, if tried, to make rich Land richer.

Some propoſe to ſow Oats and when grown up Plough them in.

4. I deſigned to write ſomthing concerning our poor, rough, ſtony, uneven Land in the Woods, which is now of little Service to us: I would propoſe a way how it might be Improved ſo as to become uſeful and profitable Land, which I propoſed to ſubmit to the Readers better Judgment: But finding that I have already gone a greater Length than I at firſt deſigned, it muſt be omitted.

A better Breed of Sheep is what we want. The Engliſh Breed of Cots-wold Sheep cannot be obtained, or at leaſt without great difficulty: For Wool and live Sheep are contra-band Goods, which all Strangers are prohibited from carrying out, on pain of having their right Hand cut off.

I have one Ram which is of a good Breed, in part, has had no better Keeping than our ordinary Sheep (I was of the mind to ſee what he would do with mean Keeping) notwithſtanding his poor Keeping two Years, he is very large & long, has fine Wool, and laſt Shearing time afforded a Fleece of ſix Pounds.

As the mixture of this Breed with our ordinary Sheep ſucceſſively will run the Breed quite out, ſo putting the ſame Breed together, as they approach nearer to the Original, the true Breed may be recovered.

A Barrel of Cyder of ſweet Apples when made into Melaſſes, will be worth Three Pounds, abating Five Shillings for the Making, when Cyder made of common Apples, a Barrel will be worth but Twenty Shillings, excluſive of the Barrel.

I have been told that half a Peck of the little round white Beans mix'd with a Buſhel of Rye, will make Bread ſomthing like Wheat; I have never try'd it, but deſign to ſee what it will do.

I have been told that Summer Wheat ſowed with Barley is not apt to Blaſt, and do well together; alſo Summer Rye and Oats: As alſo Oats and Peas produce a good Crop when ſowed together; the Oats bearing up the Pea Vines prevent their falling to the Ground.

I find by Experience the beſt time to Fatten Swine, is to begin at the firſt of August, if you have old Corn: Hogs will fat ſlowly in very cold Weather: they will eat much and fatten but little: If you make a very warm Houſe, they heat in Bed and catch cold when they come out into the cold Air.

To ſave Corn, ſteep it in Water or Swill till the Corn grow very ſoft; this opens the parts: Give them the Corn to eat and the Water to drink in which the Corn has been Steeped: The hard dry Corn, a great deal of it, paſſeth through them undigeſted; this is the hardeſt part of the Corn and that which principally makes the Flower. There is a Tradition, that if you feed one Hog with Corn, the Dung of the firſt Hog will fat another Hog, and his Dung a third. Althô I believe the Story to be Fabulous, yet it ſerves to ſhew that the ſenſe of Mankind, is, that in the manner we feed Swine, there is a great deal of Loſs.

I took the hint of ſteeping Corn, from the advantage I once found by ſome Corn I bought that had been Ship-wreck'd, had lain in the Water till it was grown ſoft.

Such is the difference in Corn and in Swine, that it is impoſſible to fix it abſolutely and know certainly how much there is ſaved by this method. It is better than Grinding, beſides what we ſave in the Toll and the time & charge of the Carriage: For it is found by Experience, that even Bran when ſteeped in Water a long time, is much the better.

I aſked an honeſt judicious Neighbour of mine, who had leaſure to try this Method of ſteeping Corn longer & with more exactneſs than I had done, How much he thought was ſaved by it? He ſaid, At least one Buſhel in ſeven; he believed more: But we will ſuppoſe it ſave but a Tenth part, then ſee how much it will ſave in the whole Colony? Suppoſe there are in this Colony, about Sixty Towns, great and ſmall, new & old: We will ſuppoſe Two Hundred Families in each Town, one with another, and each Family to conſume or ſpend as much Pork as will require one with another Twenty Buſhels of Corn to make the Pork for each Family. Sixty Towns of Two Hundred Families each, makes Twelve Thouſand Families, and Twenty Buſhels of Corn to each Family makes Two Hundred Forty Thouſand Buſhels of Corn: The Tenth part of this is Twenty Four Thouſand Buſhels. If there be not ſo many Towns and Families as is ſuppoſed, there is much Pork fatted and ſent away in Barrels, and many Herds of fat Swine drove away that are not conſumed in the Government, enough to make it up: And ſurely the ſaving Twenty Four Thouſand Buſhels of Corn Yearly, is worthy of our Care and Conſideration.

Since the foregoing was Written, a Perſon of good Credit informed me, That there being in his Neighbourhood a dealer in Horſes, who was famous for ſkill in making Horſes fat in a ſhort Time; he deſired the Jockey to tell him how he did it: The ſecret was to mix Indian Corn & Oats together and ſoak it in Water till it was ſoft; that in cold weather he ſteeped it in a Cellar that it might be kept from freezing.

My Informer told me, he had made tryal of it and found it did well, giving it to his Horſe in the ſame proportion as he was wont to do of dry Provender.

An hand full of dry Aſhes put upon each hill of Indian Corn, in ſome Land, has been found to do good equal to Dunging in the hole: Some ſay there ought to be half a pint of Aſhes to each Hill, and it ſhould be put on a little after the Corn is come up.

I was told by an experienc'd Farmer, that if you girdle Trees, or cut Bruſh in the Months of May, June & July, in the Old of the Moon, that day the Sign removes out of the Foot into the Head, eſpecially if the Day be Cloudy, it will kill almoſt all before it: They will bleed, he ſaid, more freely in a cloudy Day; for the hot Sun dries up the Sap. I have never tryed it. If this could be certainly found out, it would Expedite the clearing Land and ſave a great deal of Labour: But Experience is Authority, to whom we are to ſubmit, I am not forward to believe without Trial.

Swamps that are full of Wood and Bruſh and covered with Moſs, if they are deep Soil and can be well Dreined, Cleared & Ditched, will make good Land for Corn & Graſs.

Elder Buſhes are ſtubborn and hard to Subdue, yet I know by Experience that Mowing them five times in a Year will kill them.

It might ſerve to increaſe uſeful Knowlege, if ſomthing of this Nature were Publiſhed every Year, giving a faithful account of the Succeſs of all the Experiments & Trials that may be made on various ſorts of Land, and of divers ſorts of Grains, Roots, Graſs & Fruits, not only ſuch as we have in uſe, as alſo what we have not as yet introduced among us.

There are few Men of Buſineſs, Ingenuity & Obſervation, but what have found out things Valuable & Uſeful, but for want of ſome proper Method to communicate them, they die with the Diſcoverers & are loſt to mankind.

Therefore who ever has made any Obſervations or Diſcoveries, althô it be but a Hint, and looks like a ſmall Matter, yet if purſued & improved, may be of publick Service. If they ſee cauſe to favour me with ſuch Diſcoveries & Experiments as they have or ſhall make, I ſhall Receive it with Thankfulneſs, & Publiſh it either with or without their Names to it, as they ſhall ſee fit: For if this Eſſay ſhoûd be thôt Uſeful, if GOD give Life & Health I purpoſe next Year to furniſh you with another Winters Evening Entertainment: For I would be glad to do Good as far as lies in my power.

A Diſcovery of the Nature & Property of Things & Applying them to uſeful Purpoſes, is true Philoſophy: A great deal of what has paſſed in the World for Learning, is Philoſophy falſly ſo called.

A certain Perſon among the Greeks being a Candidate for ſome Office in the State, it was Objected againſt him, That he was no Scholar. True, ſaith he, according to your Notion of Learning I am not; but I know how to make a poor City rich, and a ſmall City great.

The World was a long time amuſed with the Learning of Ariſtotle, and the Arabians ſpun out of their own Brains & not founded in Truth: Yet among all this Trumpery, there was Two pieces of uſeful Knowlege, for which we are indebted to them; One was the knowlege of the Nine Figures, ſo uſeful in Arithmetick; the other was the first Rudiments of Algebra, now grown up to a great height. Experimental Philoſophy being founded in nature & truth is obtain'd no way but by time & diligence: The Knowlege of things Uſeful are gained by little and little.

We are not to admire or deſpiſe things meerly becauſe they are new; but value things or diſregard them juſt ſo far as they are found (by Experience that faithful Inſtructor) to be uſeful or unprofitable. Wiſdom is profitable to direct.

Wiſdom is the principal Thing, therefore get Wiſdom; eſpecially that Wiſdom that is from Above: It is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, eaſie to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits; without partiality and without hypocriſie.