130 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



the depth of sixteen instead of six inches, a greater volume of 

 soil could be obtained, the power of retaining moisture would be 

 proportionally increased, although the constituent parts of the 

 surface remained unaltered j for I never contemplated that which 

 by some is confounded with, and by others preferred to, subsoil- 

 ing ; I mean trench-ploughing. I am of opinion that in very 

 few cases, if any, is the soil underneath more fitted for vegeta 

 tion than that of the surface ; least of all in a case like the 

 present : a hungry, ferruginous subsoil could be no amendment 

 upon a surface however sterile. Experience has shown that 

 this theory is correct, and that, on sandy soils, the advantage to 

 be derived from subsoiling is from obtaining a greater depth, and 

 consequently a greater power to absorb moisture. On the level, 

 marshy portions of this tract, the benefits, though not so obvious 

 in theory, have proved equally clear in practice. The subsoil- 

 plough has broken through the mass of tough vegetable matter, 

 tearing up the roots of rushes and other fen weeds, which were 

 beyond the reach of the common plough. 



. &quot;My first operation was to carry a main drain through the 

 whole estate ; and this was not only an expensive job, but one 

 also which required considerable precision ; for upon the accuracy 

 of its level depended the success of the whole drainage. Nor. 

 when the drain was made, and the surface water conveyed away, 

 was half the requisite treatment effected ; for it proved that the 

 sandy elevations, of which I have so often spoken, were the 

 receptacles of springs, so that, in the whole of the estate I pur 

 chased, though termed a sandy waste, there was hardly a single 

 acre which did not require draining previous to subsoiling. 



&quot; The main open drain being carried through, the next thing 

 was to make main hollow drains, leading into it, bottomed with 

 tiles, of the width and height of six inches, and covered with a 

 sod, four inches thick, taken from the nearest hedge-side. I 

 prefer sod to sticks, ling, or straw, for it allows the water to per 

 colate freely, and does not shrink. The depth of these leading 

 tiled drains varies much, according to the undulations of the sur 

 face. In some cases, it was necessary to cut them between six 

 and seven feet deep, altogether at an average of four feet. 

 Into these drains were brought the smaller ones, laid with tiles of 

 the width and height of three and a half inches, placed at every 

 twelve yards apart, and of the same average depth as the others. 



