72 WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING. 



below the surface, no plowing or trampling over it 

 would harm it. 



YI. As to draining by what is called a Mole Plow, 

 which simply makes a waterway through the subsoil 

 at a depth of three feet or thereabout, I have no 

 acquaintance with it but by hearsay. It seems to 

 me morally impossible that drains so made should 

 not be lower at some points than at others, so as to 

 retain their fill of water instead of carrying it rap- 

 idly off ; and I am sure that plowing, or even carting 

 heavy loads over them, must gradually choke and 

 destroy them. Yet this kind of draining is compara- 

 tively so cheap, and may, with a strong team, be ef- 

 fected so rapidly, that I can account for its popular- 

 ity, especially in prairie regions. Where the subsoil 

 is rocky, it is impracticable ; where it is hard-pan, it 

 must be very difficult ; where it is loose sand, it can- 

 not endure ; but in clays or heavy loams, it may, for 

 a few years, render excellent service. I wish the 

 heavy clays of Yermont, more especially of the 

 Champlain basin, were well furrowed or pierced by 

 even such drains ; for I am confident that they 

 would temporarily improve both soil and crop ; and, 

 if they soon gave out, they would probably be re- 

 placed by others more durable. 



I shall not attempt to give instructions in drain- 

 making ; but I urge every novice in the art to pro- 

 cure "Waring's or some other work on the subject and 

 study it carefully : then, if he can obtain at a fair 

 price the services of an experienced drainer, hire him 



