THE DRAINAGE OF FARMS. 77 



north, they are much more subject to rain than on the eastern 

 coast. The frequency of rain, and the suddenness with which 

 the showers collect and compliment the unsuspecting traveller or 

 pedestrian with a bath, and the many days and I may almost 

 add weeks during which the sun never makes his appearance, 

 or, if seen at all, it is with a veil over his face, as though he 

 were distrustful of his welcome or ashamed of his long absence, 

 forcibly remind the visitor, if he has come from the other side of 

 the Atlantic, any where south of the British provinces, that he is 

 from home. There is a compensation for this in an equable 

 temperature, which is exceedingly grateful ; in the indifference 

 with which the habits of the people, most of whom seem as 

 regardless of a good ducking as so many water-fowl, soon induce 

 you to look upon it ; in the brilliant and deep verdure of the 

 country, which in many cases remains unchanged, and converts 

 February into June ; and in the fine, clear, ruddy, and transparent 

 complexions which characterize the English ; I mean, of course, 

 those who are not overworked, and who are well fed ; the class, 

 as a member of Parliament significantly denominated them, of 

 two meals a day. 



The effect of such a climate upon their land is what we 

 should expect ; and a large portion of it is fully saturated with 

 water, rendering it difficult of cultivation, and endangering or 

 injuring the crops. To cultivate wet lands is quite out of the 

 question ; and, therefore, efforts to drain the lands have been 

 made, with more or less skill and success, probably as long as 

 the land has been cultivated. 



2. MODES OF DRAINING. OPEN DITCHES. COVERED DRAINS. 

 -The rudest mode of draining, and that, without doubt, first 

 adopted, was that of open ditches. The unsightliness of such 

 ditches, where they are numerous, the inconvenience of crossing 

 them, the actual loss of land incurred in their formation, the 

 constant wear and falling in of the banks, the labor required in. 

 keeping them open and in repair, with many other obvious objec 

 tions, are quite sufficient to prove them ineligible. Covered 

 drains were early substituted for them, and various forms of 

 these have been adopted, all of which I shall not undertake to 

 describe. 



It is desirable, in drains, that they should, as speedily as pos- 



