B6 THE PRACTICAL PLANTER. 



the means must ever vary with circumstances, 

 and these will be multiplied by many un- 

 foreseen causes, according to locality and si- 

 tuation. 



Perhaps open cuts, if effectual, are the 

 best of all for forest draining ; nor can they 

 be inconvenient, as in farming, since the 

 plough is not employed here after the trees 

 are planted. 



Covered drains are expensive, and they 

 are also liable to injury by the strong roots 

 of trees. Or, if a tree shall happen to stand 

 upon the drain, its weight, in process of time, 

 may crush it down, and ruin it entirely. 



Drains filled with small stones, brushwood, 

 &c. are inadmissible, for they can be no lon- 

 ger effectual than till the roots of the trees 

 begin to run through them, and consequently, 

 render them useless. 



But, now that the use and effect of the 

 auger is demonstrated by Mr. Johnstene's 

 excellent book on this subject, in most cases, 

 perhaps it may be both the cheapest and 

 most effectual method of draining by aid of 

 open cuts ; which, however, would require 

 to be always kept well scoured, and the au- 



