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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



to the hills iu spring. The contrast obviously presents us 

 with a case against Sassanach homesteads, food, and ma- 

 nagement, that calls for a little friendly animadversion, with 

 a view to progress ; for if we are to lose iu the low country 

 what we gain from the improvement of our hill pastures 



by drainage, iiTigation, shelter, and better herbage, the in- 

 vestment of capital cannot be expected to be otherwise 

 than lost money. The details of so comprehensive a 

 question must bs reserved for another winter evening's 

 lucubration. D. A. 



THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND, AND RIVER REFORM. 



BY A PRACTICAL FABMER. 



la common with every agricultural improver, I have 

 watched with great interest the movement now making 

 to obtain perfect arterial drainage through river reforms. 

 It is one of the most advantageous attempts ever made 

 in the promotion of this great desideratum in modern 

 English agriculture. Drainage — perfect drainage — is 

 the salvation of all soils subject to the weeping skies of 

 this country ; and no true friend to British agriculture 

 will quietly rest, till he has effected all that is to be 

 accomplished in order to secure this inestimable benefit. 

 Subsoil-drainage has become universal : even " The 

 great level of the Fens" has liberally adopted the system; 

 and considerable breadths are underdrained in various 

 ways, which, owing to deepened outfalls into the sea, 

 are kept dry. The great hindrances to a perfect system 

 of subsoil drainage is owing to the innumerable internal 

 drains being in such a defective, or, rather, obstructive 

 state ; and this includes our rivers and streams, brooks, 

 ditches, in fact every watercourse of every description. 

 Every farmer has cause to complain of some unfortunate 

 stoppage of his waters on some portions of his farm, and 

 gives way to laments like these — that if that heading was 

 lowered, or that little ditch might open into neighbour 

 Wiles' ditch, or that the drain could empty into the 

 river, or that the river could be let off at the mill-dam, 

 or those little arches of the bridge made wider, or those 

 queer windings made straighter (and various other 

 similar lamentations), what grand improvements could 

 be made in his farm drainage ! It is so universally, and 

 yet there is great supineness upon the question. The 

 great impression is, that the complication of interests 

 are so manifold and great that it is next to im- 

 possible to grapple with them. And why is this foolish 

 impression so strong, and so largely indulged ? Because 

 of the ignorance which prevails upon the subject. Here 

 lies the great difficulty. It is not my province to open 

 out the whole subject. It has been done by far abler 

 pens than mine, so far as it is known, and precious 

 little it is. One would think that the disastrous floods 

 we continually read of would spur our improvers on- 

 ward, and both the farmer and the doctor would heartily 

 join in stemming the evil alike injurious to all. 



The Government ought, unquestionably, to obtain all 

 the necessary information possible upon the condition 

 of our rivers and outfalls, with a view to their reform. 

 It is a Government question, as it relates to a great 

 national improvement ; but we all know that Govern- 

 ments are slow to take such up. It has from time to 

 time been urged upon our Legislature, but without 



effecting much good ; almost every member thereof has 

 some objection, owing to local difficulties — a mill here, 

 or an ornaniental water there, or the fishery will be in- 

 jured, or the navigation stopped, or, at least, the barges 

 will be delayed, or the thousand-and-one other objec- 

 tions that start up, so that, hitherto, river reform has 

 been a dead letter. 



Now, we have seen over and over again, in this 

 free and happy isle of ours, either that private enterprise 

 or public companies have done nearly all the good that 

 has ever been achieved. And why ? because of the 

 security guaranteed by our noble institutions. Well, 

 the Government move remarkably slow in all matters 

 connected with agricultural improvement. If our pro- 

 gress had been left in the hands of Government, what 

 would have been our condition now ? If Government 

 ever did anything, it served to retard rather than pro- 

 mote advancement. Be that as it may, we are now on 

 our own sound legs, good and strong ; and let us use 

 them as best we can, and never flag. 



With reference to this question of arterial drainage, 

 or river reform, as it is now designated, if the Govern- 

 ment are indifferent to its importance, our great Society 

 is not. It has offered a prize of fifty pounds for the 

 best report on arterial drainage ; and no one who has 

 read the admirable report that offer produced, can be 

 indifferent as to the subject. Its importance is gene- 

 rally acknowledged, and the more it is discussed the more 

 will it appear. The great fact is, that we comparatively 

 know nothing about it. We have no authentic report 

 of our rivers that we can refer to. All we know or 

 hear of, are disastrous overflows, accidents here, bridges 

 carried away there, and the like, given us through the 

 medium of the newspaper press. A great country like 

 Great Britain surely ought not to rest thus. As our 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England has begun the 

 inquiry, could it do a more beneficial thing than carry 

 it on ? It has funds in abundance at command. It 

 devotes specific sums for specific purposes continually ; 

 and none more important or more beneficial to agricul- 

 ture than this. There would be no insurmountable 

 difficulty in obtaining the desired information. Com- 

 petent men may readily be found to carry out the in- 

 quiry. It would involve the actual inspection of all our 

 rivers, and many of our more important tributaries. 

 This, with judicious inquiries on every point and in 

 every possible way, would produce a body of evidence 

 and reliable information of the utmost value. It need 

 not be expensively conducted. I should suggest that 



