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or peat meadows. The top consists of a thin black mould 

 resembling in some degree the poorer kind of alluvial soils, 

 resting upon a hard pan of gravelly or sandy clay, and notwith- 

 standing they are too wet in the spring to be susceptible of 

 cultiva4ion, they become by midsummer baked and very hard, 

 producing nothing but a small crop of sour, worthless grass. 

 Upon grounds of this character I have made some attempts at 

 under-draining, and after relieving them entirely of the surplus 

 water, have introduced the subsoil plough, breaking and 

 loosening the stilf, hard subsoil to the depth of fifteen inches. 

 I drain by digging ditches three feet deep and two feet wide 

 in all directions, where it was apparent that the springs from 

 the surrounding high lands might be intercepted ; and in lieu 

 of tiles, which are used for this purpose in England, I used the 

 common stones from my fields, leaving an open space of about 

 eight inches square at the bottom, to conduct the water off. 

 The drain is then half filled with small stones, which are cov- 

 ered with the tough hassocks taken from my bog meadows, to 

 prevent the dirt from getting into the drain. They are then 

 filled with earth and the field made smooth. Tlien follows 

 the common plough, and after it the subsoil plough. Of all 

 the agricultural experiments which I have made, this is decid- 

 edly the most satisfactory, and yields a greater profit on the 

 amount expended." 



B. V. French, of Braintree, Norfolk county, has likewise 

 commenced some improvements of land with the subsoil 

 plough. "He ploughed nearly eight acres in April and May 

 last. The land was strong with a tenacious subsoil. 'J'he 

 work was done by first turning a furrow with a connnon 

 plough, and then following with the subsoil plough to the depth 

 of from 16 to 20 inches, excepting when ploughing near small 

 fruit trees, when it was run out in order to avoid cutting the 

 roots." The experiment is yet but imperfect, and I regret that 

 Mr F. has not given me an account of the crops cultivated, but 

 he speaks of the results as being " most satisfactory." 



18. It would be difficult to enumerate the various individuals, 



