SOILS,* drainage, axd preparation. 25 



and paid for his 8 acres &12.000, the savings of six years 

 on his drained garden. I honestly believe, that, had he 

 gone on without draining, he would not have made §1200 

 in 1:2 years, far less 812.000 in G years. My friend esti- 

 mates his whole success in life to our accidental meeting 

 and conversation that May morning, and consequently 



1 have no stauucher friend on earth than he. 



The modes of draining must be guided to a great ex- 

 tent by circumstances ; wherever stones are abundant on 

 laud, the most economical way to dispose of them, is to 

 use them for drainage. I have also used with great suc- 

 cess, in a wet sandy subsoil, where digging was easily 

 done, brush, from adjacent woods cut off, and trod firmly 



2 feet deep in the bottom of drains 5 feet deep, overlaying 

 the brush with straw or meadow hay before covering in. 

 Drains so made, have answered well for nearly a dozen 

 years, and in situations where no other material offers, 

 they will at least answer a temporary purpose. But un- 

 questionably, when at all attainable, at anything like 

 reasonable cost, the cheapest and most thorough draining 

 is by tile. We use here the ordinary horse-shoe tile ; 3- 

 inch size for the laterals, and from 5 to G inch for the 

 mains. On stiff clayey soils, we make our lateral drains 



3 feet deep, and from 15 to 18 feet apart ; on soils with 

 less compact subsoils, from 20 to 25 feet distant. We find 

 it cheaper to use the horse-shoe than the sole tile; in lieu 

 of the sole we cut common hemlock boards in 4 pieces ; 

 that is, cut them through the middle, and split these again, 

 making a board, thus cut, run about 50 feet ; these are 

 placed in the bottom of the drains, and prevent the sag- 

 ging of the tiles in any particular spot that might be soft, 



