88 AGRICULTURE. 



. . . . " Open trenches, with the ridges and water- 

 furrows properly formed and directed, is the only method 

 whereby its drainage can be effectually accomplished. It 

 is necessary to lay it up in ridges properly placed, and to 

 cut small open drains across the ridges where requisite, 

 communicating with each other, and with the furrows ; 

 and thus all the water-furrows operate as drains " a sin- 

 gular conception, certainly, of an art on which he pub- 

 lished a book in quarto. Smith's execution was inferior 

 both to his conception and to his zeal. The depth of his 

 frequent drains was not sufficient to attain even the 

 benefits which he foresaw ; the materials for his conduit 

 were cumbrous. The quantity of surplus left after refilling, 

 when 15 in. of stone are put into a drain several inches 

 wide at bottom, is very objectionable ; and his prices for 

 the execution of the work, when transferred to England, 

 are fabulous. He has the merit of having first stated 

 boldly that all drained lands should be worked flat without 

 ridge or furrow, and he prescribes the line of steepest 

 descent for the general direction of drains, and gives cor- 

 rectly some of the reasons for that practice. If his powers 

 of reasoning had been equal to his zeal, or even to his 

 perception, he would not have allowed himself to be out- 

 stripped, as he has been, by others in an art which he had 

 in some degree made his own. 



Josiah Parkes, C.E., in a work entitled "Essays on the 

 Philosophy and Art of Land-drainage," published last year,* 

 has very materially extended the objects and benefits of 

 thorough-draining, and for every extension has given au- 

 thentic instances and philosophical reasons. Mr. Parkes's 

 style is clear and unaffected, and we think that very few holes 

 can be picked in his reasoning. His first Essay is entitled, 

 " On the Influence of Water on the Temperature of Soils ;" 

 also, " On the Quantity of Rain-water and its Discharge by 

 Drains." It is the first attempt which we have seen to reduce 



* The former of these Essays had appeared in the Journal of the 

 Agricultural Society in 1844, and the latter in 1846. 



