Dr Davy's Agricultural Discourse. 335 



have afforded him every assistance, as but one opinion pre- 

 vails amongst them regarding " rapid extension." — Delhi 

 Gazette, December 15, 1847. 



A Discourse on Draining and Irrigation, delivered before the 

 General Ariricultural Society of Barbadoes, at its Fourth 

 Half-yearly Meeting, on the 22d of December 1847. By 

 John Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Inspector-General of Army 

 Hospitals, Honorary Member of the Society. Communi- 

 cated by the Author. 



Gentlemen, — On this occasion I propose to bring under your no- 

 tice, the important and nearly allied yuhjects of Draining and Irri- 

 gation ; important, as conducive greatly to fertility ; and nearly 

 allied, the mean element in both being water, without which, soils 

 of the very best quality you know are barren. 



Limited as we are for time, were there not other reasons for it, 

 I must, in this short Discourse, which I have now the honour of 

 addressing to you, restrict myself in a great measure to principles, — 

 and avoid the details of the operations, whether of Draining or Irri- 

 gation. Should I be so fortunate as to enunciate clearly the former, 

 and to convince any individual present, doubtful of the efficacy of 

 these processes, that draining, or thorough-drained land is essential 

 to Agriculture, — if it be the intent, as it should be the interest of 

 the Agriculturist, to conduct it in the most improved manner ; and 

 that Irrigation, wherever practical, most amply repays by imparting 

 a wonderfully increased fertility ; — should I be able to accomplish thus 

 much, I shall not regret passing over the minutiaj of details — which 

 are best studied and learnt in systematic works on the subject, that 

 is, if practical means of instruction are not available, which are the 

 best of all. 



The kind of draining to which I have to call your attention, is 

 not the common surface-draining, but the new and far more advan- 

 tageous metliod of deep and thorough-draining, a method by which 

 the excess of rain is conveyed from the surface of the land into its 

 substance, and even to the subsoil and beneath it ; to be retained in 

 moderate quantity favourable to tillage, — favourable to vegetation, — 

 favourable to the disintegration and decomposition of the coarse parts 

 of the soil, and of the subsoil, and consequently to the improvement 

 of the quality of the soil, and to the formation of new soil fit for 

 tillage. 



These clfects, so admirable, can only bo elucidated and brought 

 clearly to the understanding, by considering the principles of the 

 operation ; or in other words, the qualities of the difterent substances 

 concerned, as of the soil and subsoil, and their elements, in conjunction 

 with rain and atmosphei-ic air, and their agencies. 



