1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTKK. 



719 



to every one, and depends upon the nature of the i long a time in reuimino; the cerlifieate you wished 



land, the situation, and many other cirrumslances 

 In maiiv cases, pariiculariy in hoirs, jrieat ami ex- 

 tensive iiuprovemi'iiis are thniueuily derived irom 

 Mr. Eliviiiirton's method, at a smaii expense; and 

 in all cases where I have had his assistance, or 

 when he has heen em|)loyed by others, as far as I 

 have had opportunity of ohservin<r (and which 

 has been prett\' lirquent), I liave always lonnd 

 he has succeeded to my hillest exjieciatiou, and to 

 the satisfaction, and liequeully to the surprise, of 

 his employers. 



"On this ground I take the liberty of recom- 

 mendinix INlr. EikiuiZion to the countenauce and 

 encourasement olthe Boarti of Agriculture, as one 

 from whose study and labor i apprehend this 

 country is likely to receive the most valuable ad- 

 vantases; being fully convinced, that if the drain- 

 ing oj' land was reduced into a regular system, 

 and carried into general practice, (which I hope, 

 with Mr. Elkmgfon's assistance, it may), the im- 

 provement resulting thereli-om to the lands in this 

 kinadom would be of the highest importance. 

 With the highest respect, I am, sir, your obedient 

 humble servant, 



(Sii^ned) T. Pagkt. 



*^Scraptoft, near Leicester, May 30, 1785." 



Subjoined is part of a letter received by the au- 

 thor, of Charles Townley, Esq. of Townley, in 

 Lancashire, respectinir Mr. Elkinston's method of 

 draininir, and the improvements made by means 

 of his drains : — 



" Respecting the mode of executing 



these drains, it differs (t'om the common practice 

 of makinw hollow drains, by their being cut much 

 deeper, and by boring with an auger, either to in- 

 crease the ruins of water from the springs, when 

 they are arrived at, or to give them vent when they 

 lie too deep for the spade to reach them. Mr. 

 Elkington's art, or knowledge of draining, lies, as 

 you must know, in judging of the precise place 

 where the springs can be caught, and in carrying 

 them off in the cheapest and most advantageous 

 manner. The mere plan of a drain can give little 

 insight into this kind of knowledge. I should 

 think, the best mode of conveying the system, by 

 plans, to the conceptions of others, would be to 

 compose sections of the different circumstances 

 that most generally occur in the various strata and 

 runs of water below the surface of the earth, and 

 of the most proper situations for the drains that 

 are to catch them. I will only repeat, that those 

 drained hoggy lands that, have had the proper ma- 

 nure laid upon them, are not only made dry, but 

 the herbage produced on them is become excellent, 

 from having been, previous to the drainage, of 

 very little value ; and those drained lands which 

 have as yet received no manure, are rendered 

 equally dry, and the coarse and useless herbage 

 with which they were wholly covered, is visibly 

 giving way to bet'er grass. The proper manure 

 •will soon be laid on them; after which, I am per- 

 suaded, the whole herbage will be excellent. 

 The drains were only finished last year. 



(Sififned) Chas. Townley. 



^'Townley, 2Sth Sept. 1796." 

 •Copy of a Letter and Certificate from Mr. Mau- 

 ghan to Sir John Sin^clair, Baronet. 



Hinckley, 25th Oct. 1796. 

 "Sir: 



me to send ; but I waiicil te see the effect ol a 

 drain 1 had set out for Mr, Jennings of Ilnrliiijr- 

 ton, BiNllbrdsliire, a nephew of the late White- 

 bread's, or 1 should have sent it sooner, 'i'lie land 

 I drained li)r him had, about two years ago, been 

 attempteil to be drained in the common mode, and 

 a considerable sum of money had thereby heen 

 expetuled to no purp.ose, sis ihe land, at the time I 

 undertook to drain it, was as wet as ever. 1 have 

 the satisliiction of saying it is now the driest land 

 on the estate, and made so at an expense which 

 does not exceed one twentieth part of what it had 

 Ibrnierly cost, by attempting the conunou mode of 

 -I am. sir, vour obedient humble ser- 



(Irainiug. 

 vant. 



(Signed) 



"John Maughan." 



Copy of the cerlificute. 



"I, John Maughan of Lulon, in the county of 

 Bedford, land-surveyor, late steward to Thomas 

 Powys, Esq. M. f .. do hereby certify, that, in 

 consequence of a recommendaiion from the Board 

 of Atrriculture, I waited on Mr. Elkini2ioii, who 

 verv readily communicated tfi me the principles of 

 his'art of draininir land, which I have since prac- 

 tised myself with great success, and to the satis- 

 faction of those who have employed me. And I 

 hereby farther certify, that I have found Mr. Eik- 

 injrton's mode of draininir of the irreai est public 

 utility ; that I have seen land of little or no value, 

 when drained on Mr. Elkin<:ton's principles, mtule 

 worth forty or fifty shillings per acre, and produ- 

 cing the richest crops, both of" corn and grass. \n 

 short, that no mode of improving wet land equals 

 it, for public utility. Witness my hand, this 25th 

 day of October 1796." 



Besides the above, many other communications 

 and certificates, testifying the great advantages 

 that have been derived from Mr. Elkington's 

 practice, and what are likely to result from the 

 knowledge of his system being generally under- 

 stood, might have been added; but as most of 

 these have already been made public by the Board 

 of Agriculture, in a former report on that subject, 

 what are inserted here may be sufficient to con- 

 vince the public of its ulility. 



PART IV. 



ON HOLLOW AND SURFACE DRAINING IN 

 GENERAL, AS MORE PARTICULARLY PRAC- 

 TISED IN THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN 

 COUNTIES OF ENGLAND.* 



Though this be a part of the draining system 

 not coming within the limits of Mr. Elkington's 

 practice, and founded on principles different from 

 those that are applicable to the drainage of bogs, 

 and other swampy ground injured by springs, it 1.=, 

 however, much practised in the south of England, 

 and even in some parts of Scotland; and may 

 therefore be a useful addition to this Treatise. 

 When the wetness of a field is caused by rain 

 water that cannot sink through a tenacious soil, 

 and must (if there be no declivity) remain till 



* Partly drawn up from the author's own observa- 

 tions, and from memoranda communicated by the late 

 Arthur Young, Esq. when Secretary to the Board of 

 r am extremely sorry at having taken so i Agriculture. 



