Journal of Agricidiure. 



lo Oct., igio. 



Drainage. — To obtain these results the land had to be properly drained. 

 Open drains or furrows often serve to carry off surface water, but when 

 intense culture is carried out, they are failures. Mr. Higgins' method 

 has been to dig the drains i chain apart, sinking to the clay, and remov- 

 ing the latter to a depth of 8 inches by 15 inches wide. They are then 

 filled with clinkers or gravel, then brushwood for 4 inches, then clay 

 shovelled on the top, and the soil levelled up. These drains have been 

 in existence for years and have never shown any signs of choking The 

 rainfall or irrigation water sinks into the soil and it is removed only when 

 the level of the free water rises to the level of the drain, thereby giving 

 the roots of growing crops feeding space, and increasing the depth of the 

 soil in which the plant can grow and assisting aeration. Mr. Higgins lays 

 great stress on the good results he has, from time to time, obtained from 

 draining this sandy soil, and considers that he could not have grown such 

 heavy crops if the land were not kept sweet and free from being water- 

 logged. The carrying out of the underground drainage required a good 



IKKIGAIKjN chaxxel. 



deal of consideration before starting the work, but the results obtained 

 from the first area completed so justified the cost involved that the whole 

 farm to-day is under-drained. 



Cultivation Methods. — The initial work to be done in the enrichment of 

 unproductive land, when first cultivated, is to improve its physical condi- 

 tion by means of careful and thorough pulverization, by the addition of 

 humus in the way of farmyard manure, and by keeping the land free from 

 weeds. No crop is sown on this farm until the owner is thoroughly satis- 

 fied that he has the soil worked to such a fine tilth that the seed bed is 

 suitable for an onion crop. All the ploughing is done with a single 

 furrow plough with a three pronged subsoiler attached ; the latter works 

 the soil from 6 to 9 inches deeper than the actual ploughing. Although 

 the owner savs this requires more strength in the team of horses, the 



