156 FENCES. 



instructions given on each occasion, the works gradually 

 assumed a different character ; and the overseers, grati- 

 fied by their own success, became zealous in the perform- 

 ance of their duty. Even in the most remote and back- 

 ward districts of the west, drainage works are now being 

 executed in a manner which two years ago would have 

 been considered in our best districts worthy of imitation." 



And in our best districts, too, in Scotland. The 

 care and attention paid to the out-falls of main drains, 

 and the security with which the junctions with the sub- 

 mains are formed, as I witnessed both in Mayo and 

 Galway, are worthy of imitation anywhere. 



The number of acres that have been thorough drained 

 under the Land Improvement Act, from the commence- 

 ment up to 31st December 1848, amounts to 38,860, 

 giving an average cost of £4, 10s. an acre ; and a great 

 portion of the drained land has also been subsoiled. 



In regard to fencing, it has been recommended to 

 divide each tract into a number of moderate-sized farms, 

 according to the quality of the land, surrounding each 

 farm with a fence, and then erecting subdivision fences. 

 In the western localities, where the climate is considered 

 more favourable for stock than cereal crops, and where 

 drained lands continue to improve in pasture for a 

 certain time, eight, or even more, divisions are recom- 

 mended to be made ; while in the middle and eastern 

 districts, six equal divisions are thought most suitable 

 for a regular system of rotations. 



The soils requiring draining are principally clayey 

 loam, intermixed with limestone pebbles, in which 

 drains 4 feet in depth, and from 36 to 45 feet apart, 



