102 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



regard to the depth of draining, and the sufficiency of pipes of a 

 small bore for the perfect removal, in a short time, of all the 

 water that falls upon the surface. I must premise, however, 

 that these are but a few of those which have come within my 

 own personal knowledge ; but, these being stated with accuracy 

 and exactness, I shall avail myself of them. 



Mr. Hammond, of Penshurst, in Kent, states that he has 

 drained ten acres with the round tiles, and that he is (&amp;lt; quite 

 satisfied that they act better than any other yet made, as they 

 are not liable to be disturbed by moles or other vermin, which 

 the other sorts admit, and can be laid with greater nicety in the 

 drains than in any other shape. The effect of draining I have 

 ^xperionce d for twenty years, and am quite satisfied that no 

 expenditure on the land will make so good a return ; as the 

 effect of relieving the soil of the stagnant water to the depth of 

 three feet instantly admits the atmosphere, and what before had 

 been inert becomes active soil, and the root will penetrate it, 

 and rain afterwards will pass through the soil into the drains 

 with beneficial effects, where before it was injurious.&quot; * 



Mr. Parkes, in his capital papers upon draining, says, &quot; Several 

 farmers have under-drained lands again, which were previously 

 shallow-drained ; and they agree in stating the beneficial result, 

 in every case, to have equalled their expectation, and to have 

 quickly repaid the cost.&quot; Mr. Spencer, of Wrotham, in Kent, 

 has successively drained two feet, three feet, and four feet deep, 

 and has invariably found an increasing fertility to result, in the 

 same field, from the removal of the water to a progressively 

 greater depth below the surface. 



Mr. Arbuthnot gives the subjoined account of his success in 

 laying land dry by drains sunk to the depth of four feet. Two 

 pieces of grass land, containing about seven acres together, had 

 been attempted to be drained, but without success, by the ordi 

 nary process of shallow drains. He then undertook to sink deep 

 drains to the depth of four feet, at distances varying from 25 to 

 45 feet apart, and to lay pipes at the bottom of each drain. At 

 the time the work was in progress, there was scarcely any rain ; 

 but upon its completion there were some heavy showers, and 

 the effect of the four feet drains was soon established. The 



* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. iv. part i. p. 47. 



