While it is certain that a surplus of iiaier, stagnant in the 

 soil, is one of the greatest obstacles to productive culture, and so 

 great that on retentive soils, underdraining is a first and fundamen- 

 tal step towards a high degree of improvement, it is equally true, 

 that icatcr in motion^ over the surface of land, under due regula- 

 tion, is one of the most active and effectual agencies in promoting 

 growth, and it is one which in not a few instances might, at a mod- 

 erate cost, be brought into service by our farmers. 



I am therefore happy to be able to present, in this connection, an 

 article on the 



IRRIGATION OF LAND. 



[Written for the Maine Agricultural Transactions.] 



By Albert Moore, E.sq., Salisbury, Conn. 



Among the various methods which have been resorted to, to pro- 

 mote the growth of vegetation, the employment of water by what is 

 termed irrigation, has been practiced from a very early period to the 

 present time, and in nearly every country; but in those countries 

 ■where agriculture has been carried to its highest perfection, irriga- 

 tion has received the greatest attention, and in some countries it 

 forms a very prominent feature in connection with the cultivation of 

 the soil. With few exceptions, less attention has been given to 

 this branch of farm improvement by the American farmer, and by 

 our agricultural journals, than has been bestowed upon it by those 

 in like positions in other countries. In Europe, irrigation is ap- 

 plied to a greater or less extent by the farmers in perhaps every 

 country from the shores of the Mediterranean to near the Arctic 

 circle, corresponding to a point more than one thousand miles north 

 of the city of Quebec, on this continent, and in some countries, it is 

 regarded of such importance, that water is bought and sold by cubic 

 measure for this purpose ; and in other sections, the alternate method 

 is by law kept in force, for the use of the water of small streams, 

 and none is allowed to be wasted. 



Von Thaer, a distinguished writer, says, "irrigation is certainly 



