278 On the Propei' Mode of Ridging a Wet Clay Soil. Juiy 



TO THE CONDUCTORS OF THE FARMEr's MAGAZINE, 

 On the Proper Mode of Ridging a Tf^et Clny Soil. 



Gex'i lemen, 



A PERioDiCAi. publication, fuch as yours,, to- 

 put on record the fa£ts that occur to the practical tanner in 

 the courfe of his bufinefs, rr.uft tend to the improvement qf 

 Agriculture, and will ultimately prove of general utility to 

 mankind. It is therefore to be hoped, that the intelligent 

 farmers in Scotland will not let flip the opportunity of making 

 obfervations c-n every fubje^l relative to country affairs, and 

 fsnd you the refult of their experience ; that, by infertion in 

 your ]^.Iag:;:!ine, they may not be loft to the public ; and, by 

 accumulating a num/ber of fa^ts, be the means of eflablifhing 

 a more perfect fyftem of agriculture : For it is partly owing to 

 hufbandmen living in the country, at a diftance from neigh- 

 hours, that agriculture has not arrived at the fame degree 

 of perfecStion with the arts carried on in towns. Farmers, 

 however, endeavour to remedy the inconvenience of their 

 fituation, by communicating freely to one another their 

 knowledge in rural affairs; whilft the v.-ary inliabitant of the 

 town endeavours to veil in myftery every procefs in his art, 

 and tranfaction in his bufinefs : But the fphere of a pra£tical 

 farmer's communications mull be confined to a very narrow 

 circle ; and for this, a publication fuch as yours, if farmers 

 v/ill only come forward with their obfervations, muft be 

 attended with beneficial efFe^fis to fociety. With this view, 

 I now tranfmit you a few obfervations on the proper mode 

 of forming ridges on a wet clay foil. It appears, from the 

 remains of the ancient ridges in Eait Lothian, and I fiippofe 

 r-lfo in every cultivated county in Scotland, that all the fields 

 in cultivation, both of a wet and dry foil, were originally 

 formed into high-gathered ridges, of betwixt thirty and forty 

 feet in breadth. None of tiiefe were found (traight, but were 

 extended in well turned ferpentine lir.es-, which induced many, 

 who have a great regard for the wifdom of cur auceftors, to 

 believe that they were formed in that manner on purpofe, as 

 being the propereil for draining oW the fuperfluous water, 

 and beft adapted for ferving every purpcfe in agriculture. 

 Thisj however, is an erroneous opinion ; for the ftraight line 



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