212 BOARD OF AGRTCTJLTUEE. 



waste of time and capital is not unfrcquently made by an injudicious 

 course of farm management and culture ; in attempting to grow 

 crops not suited to the nature of the soil, or in pursuing one branch 

 of farming when another would be better adapted for the situation 

 and circumstances. 



II. The drainage of low lands is one of the first improvements 

 which I shall suggest. There are in this county, hundreds of acres 

 of wet, rocky land, now entirely unfit for cultivation, which only 

 needs to be drained, or ditched, to become the best land for grass 

 and tillage in the county. Drainage may indeed be considered as 

 forming the very foundation of all permanent improvements in the 

 condition of tillage, or grass lands. Mr. Flixt, in his work on 

 "Grasses and Forage Plants," speaks of the benefit and value of 

 drainage as follows. He regards it as especially "important 

 for low, wet lands, since it not only frees them from superfluous 

 water, thus making them more susceptible of tillage in early spring, 

 but actually increases their temperature several degrees, — in some 

 cases as much as from eight to ten, and rarely less than from two 

 to four, — and admits the air to circulate more freely around the 

 roots of plants. The aquatic grasses require large and constant 

 supplies of moisture, and when the soil is changed by drainage, the 

 more valuable species of grass may be introduced and cultivated 

 in it." 



I)rainage has not been extensively practiced among farmers of 

 the county, but I am confident it would pay a good return upon 

 a liberal investment. A farmer who lives in the extreme south- 

 ern part of the county, in giving mc some account of his farm 

 management, spoke of the results of ditching two acres of moist 

 land, which had always been considered as nearly worthless. The 

 Boil was cold and stiff, and could not be worked in the spring until 

 very late. Having decided to ditch the field, three drains were 

 put through it, the main one at a depth of throe and a half feet, the 

 other less. Into these drains were put what rocks were gathered 

 from the field, together with others from a field adjoining, and then 

 covered over with loam. The expense of performing the job was 

 twenty dollars ; and although the drains were made five years ago, 

 yet they are now in good condition. Ho summed up the advantages 

 resulting from the job, as follows : " The land can be worked at 

 least two weeks earlier in spring than before it was drained ; the 

 value of the field is largely increased ; and whereas before, it was 

 almost unfit for cultivation, now yields good crops of grass or Indian 



