4 Farming of Bedfordshire. 



is a subject far too important to be passed over slightly. It lias 

 now become patent to all who are familiar with the principles 

 and practice of agriculture, that to drain pi'operly is the secret of 

 all good and profitable farming where the soil is wet and tenacious. 

 At the commencement of the present century no county in Eng- 

 land, probably, stood in need of underdraining more than Bed- 

 fordshire, and within that period few counties have made greater 

 progress in this department of good husbandry. The improve- 

 ment effected by the process is permanent, and therefore, it is 

 asserted, the expense ought to be borne by the landlord, and not 

 by the tenant, especially where the farmer is a tenant at will. 



But it is not our province to discuss this question. His Grace 

 the Duke of Bedford will and does drain, where draining is re- 

 cjuired, and the tenant is charged 6 per cent, on the outlay and 

 required to do the cartage. Thus the interest paid will in a 

 course of years reimburse the landlord for the original outlay, 

 while the improvement is by no means exhausted. The land 

 is improved and both parties benefited. On the other hand, 

 tenants who have the means, generally prefer doing the workman- 

 ship and cartage at their own expense, the landlord supplying 

 them with tiles, because, by this course, they avoid additional 

 rent. 



But, there is- doubtless much to be said in opposition to this 

 method. All tenants are not equally judicious in the use of the 

 tiles nor equally faithful in properly executing the work, 

 consequently it is a source of annoyance to landlords, where 

 expense has Ijeen incurred, without the improvement expected 

 being realised. The farmers, moreover, have not been agreed as 

 to the best kind of materials, the depth at which they should be 

 deposited, or the direction of the drains ; these have long been 

 debatable points. Strong prejudice has existed against deep- 

 draining and the use of tiles, especially on the more stiff and 

 retentive clays of the county : even yet it is not entirely extinct. 

 Meanwlillc, notwithstanding the power of prejudice, and the clash 

 of discordant opinions, the land, in one form or another, has 

 been drained ; and some of it, where the more fragile materials 

 of bushes and straw have been used in shallow drains, has been 

 twice, and in some cases three times drained within my own 

 memory. 



Pipe-tiles have at length established their reputation, and the 

 advantages of deeper draining are almost universally acknow- 

 ledged. In successfully grappling, however, with this subject, 

 and in reducing the theory to practice, there have been, and still 

 are, considerable difficulties to overcome. Fully nine-tenths of the 

 clay-soils of the county have been from time immemorial ploughed 

 into crooked and high back " lands" of irregular width and height; 



