120 ox DRAINING. 



on one farm the writer hns been assured that drains formed 

 of wood, in the manner just described, have been in perfect 

 ojtei-ation for more than thirty years. 



Gravel-Dra'uts. — Coarse g-ravel is sometimes employed 

 W'ith much advantag'e in filling' drains in bog's and swampy 

 situations, where stones would sink into the soft and yielding* 

 bottom. A friend of the writer's drained several acres of 

 mossy or spong'y land, about six years ag'o, with coarse 

 gravel, carted during' frosty weather from a river in the 

 neighbourhood; and the drains so filled are still in efficient 

 o]:eration. They were formed of considerable width, and 

 filled nearly to the surface with the gravel ; and the field in 

 question was thereby rendered perfectly dry, and capable of 

 be:no- tilled in the same manner as the rest of the farm. The 

 cost was very trining. This material, when it can be con- 

 veniently procured, may also be used in draining short pieces 

 of w"et land at the bottom of fields ; but it is unfit for a long 

 length of drain, or where any considerable current of water 

 is expected. 



Ed'pcnse and Profit of Dm'imng. — Mr. Sullivan gives the 

 details of the expense of thorough-draining a field of 12 

 acres; we pass these over to arrive at the conclusion, in 

 which he compares the expense and the profit of the ope- 

 ration. 



The entire expense of draining and subsoil ploughing this 

 12-acre field has amounted to no less a sum than 96/. 35. \d., 

 or 8/. 0-*;. SJ^r/. per acre. 



After undergoing the usual course of tillage in summer 

 fallowing, the land got a top-dressing- of lime, and street- 

 dung from Aberdeen, and was sown with Avheat in the 

 autumn of 1884. It is worthy of remark that this was the 

 firet time wheat was ever attempted to be grown in the field 

 in question. The utility of draining* cannot be better illus- 

 trated than by a comparison of the crops raised in this field 

 prior and subsequent to the execution of that improvement. 

 Sidjjoined is a statement of the actual produce and value of 

 the crops from 1829 to 1833, inclusive : — 



£ s. d. 

 1829, turnips, a miserable crop, barely worth 2/. per acre .. 24 



]830,oats, 3Iqr.7bush. (2qr 5ibush. perac.),at25*.perqr. 39 16 IQS- 

 1831, firstyear'sgrass(depastured), valued at27* 6f7. per acre IG 10 



1832, second year's grass (depastured), valued at 1/. per acre 12 



1833, oats, 24qr. 7bush.(2qr.072bush.perac.), at356'.perqr. 43 10 1\ 



Value of crops on twelve acres for the five years preceding 



the drainage ^£'135 17 6 



