42 AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND. 



year getting worse: I saw them in 1840, and instead of in 

 creasing in size they seemed to be decreasing.&quot; The trees 

 grew worse, and the following year several died. It was then 

 determined to drain the land : 3000 feet of draining-tile 

 were laid, 3 feet deep, in parallel lines, 48 feet apart. In the 

 spring of 1843, and in the autumn of the same year, 3000 feet 

 of drain pipes, li inch bore, were laid at 30 inches deep, so 

 that the drains were then only 24 feet apart ; the ground at 

 the same time was dug over eight inches deep, and the trees 

 pruned. The following year the proprietor writes : &quot; I never 

 housed any thing like 50 bushels before ; now there are at 

 least 75 bushels, while my summer fruit was at least double 

 the usual quantity.&quot; Upon this, Mr. Thompson remarks : 

 &quot; The lopping-in of the trees and digging the ground, as 

 above described, were doubtless advantageous proceedings ; 

 but the draining of the ground was unquestionably the main 

 cause of the extraordinary change in the condition of the 

 trees; for stunted specimens, that previous to the draining 

 were covered with moss, had made no shoots for years, and 

 were in such a state of decrepitude that there was nothing to 

 cut away but dead wood ; these had produced vigorous shoots 

 when I saw them in 1847, and have continued to do so up to 

 the present time. Such vigour cannot be attributed to the 

 cutting-in, for in these cases it was not practised ; nor to the 

 digging of the ground, for although this was done before 

 draining was thought of, yet the trees went backwards, the 

 decay of their branches increased under all circumstances till 

 1843, when recourse was had to draining, and since then they 

 have continued to do well, producing vigorous shoots shoots 

 upwards of three feet in length ; and in the present season the 

 fruit was abundant, large, and highly coloured.&quot; 



A case was mentioned before the Staten Island Farmer s 

 Club, in 1850, of an under-drain having been run near two 



