120 AGRICULTURE. 



mals, and stagnant water the lives of fishes, so stagnant 

 air and water may cease to administer to the purposes of 

 vegetation. In cultivable land in our climate, porousness, 

 either natural or artificial, is the only known avenue to 

 warmth and ventilation. 



Some points of practice have found their way into our 

 dissertation, but we have not sought to give a manual 

 indeed, we have studiously endeavoured to avoid it. If 

 we should give a stimulus to amateur draining, we shall do 

 a great deal of harm. We wish we could publish a list of 

 the moneys which have been squandered in the last forty 

 years in amateur draining, either ineffectually or with very 

 imperfect efficiency. Our own name would be inscribed in 

 the list for a very respectable sum. Every thoughtless 

 squire supposes that by the aid of his ignorant bailiff he 

 can effect a perfect drainage of his estate ; but there is a 

 worse man behind the squire and the bailiff the draining 

 conjuror. We knew a jockey at Newmarket, a solemn and 

 mysterious man. His first master told us that he was an 

 idiot that he could never in his life get a reason from 

 him. " But," said he, "he is an inspired idiot on horse- 

 back." So the village conjuror, by dint of mystery and 

 one lucky hit among a score of failures, is supposed to 

 receive inspiration as soon as he takes the draining spade 

 in his hand. These fellows never go direct about their 

 work. If they attack a spring, they try to circumvent it 

 by some circuitous route. They never can learn that 

 Nature shows you the weakest point, and that you should 

 assist her that Hit him straight in the eye is as good a 

 maxim in draining as in pugilism. An evangelical clergy- 

 man complained to the Rev. Charles Simeon that when he 

 wished to preach extempore, utterance was denied to him; 

 he supposed because he lacked faith. " Otti subridens," 

 the venerable man replied ; " No, my dear brother, justifi- 

 cation is by faith, but extempore preaching is by works." 

 Neither the squire nor the bailiff nor the conjuror lacks 

 faith, but they are sadly deficient in good works in edu- 



