THE PHILOSOPHY OF FARMING. 585 
same preparation, the subsoil or clay when dug 
_ to a greater or less depth be perfectly dry, then 
no drainage can be effected therein by ordinary 
methods, and recourse must be had to opening 
transit, for the surface water, in open channels, 
so that the supersaturation of the soil may run 
off as directly and quickly as possible. 
Thorough drainage being thus effected so that 
soils have been thereby brought into a similar 
condition to soils naturally dry, due preparation 
is made for the full developement of the plants to 
be grown, or cultivated thereon, just as due pre- 
paration is made for constructing a building when 
the foundations are dug toa proper depth for 
security, and are laid dry. And just as the 
perfection and duration of a building depends 
primarily upon the depth and security of the 
foundations, so is the parallel good, with respect 
to drainage, we cannot drain too much, we 
cannot make our lands too dry. And as when we 
intend to make a noble building, we dig the 
foundations deep, so if we intend to grow noble 
plants, we must drain deep too; because thereby 
we increase space for material to be brought to 
and used by the plant, similarly, as in the case of 
the kind of building just alluded to, we make 
