318 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



and if budded or grafted a foot or more from the 

 ground, it must generally be safe from such 

 attacks. 



The quince tree like the pear tree, however, is 

 subject 10 fire blight ; but only a (ew inches of the 

 ends of the branches suffer. Whether this ap- 

 pearance is owing 10 the more stunted nature of 

 the tree, or to a different insect, is not positively 

 known ; but as it is probably caused by an mseci, 

 it would be prudent to cut off the dying tops, and 

 burn them. 



Though winter pears have something like a 

 determinate time for ripening or becoming soft, 

 yet this period may be accelerated or retarded, by 

 increasing or diminishing the temperature of the 

 place where they are kept. Oar experiments on 

 this point within the last year, have been very 

 conclusive. Pears of a sort that had continued 

 hard until spring in a cool cellar, have ripened to- 

 wards the close of autumn, in a warm room ; and 

 by placing them in diH'erent temperatures, the 

 season for each particular kind may be greatly 

 extended. 



When winterfruit is buried in the ground for 

 long keeping, it should be placed in a box, or on a 

 bed of straw, and be well covered with the same, 

 so as not to come in contact with the damp earih 

 <vhich causes it to swell, crack, and lose its flavor ; 

 and to prevent it from becoming musty, it should 

 be kept in an out-house, till the ground begins 

 to freeze. We have never known fruit to be 

 damaged that was treated in this manner, and 

 then timely removed in the spring. 



Greatfieldy l2mo. 17, 1841. 



REiyiARKS ON DRAINING, AND PARTICULAR- 

 LY smith's DEANSTON SYSTKM. 



Extract from ttie London Farmer's Magazine. 



The present practice of subsoiling is an excel- 

 lent one, when the land is sufficiently drained ; 

 but I am afraid it will only be a fiishion of the 

 day, because it is not new. In an old work on 

 agriculture, there is a plate of a subsoil plough, 

 exactly similar to Mr. Smith's plough, and was 

 used for the same purpose. The only difference 

 was in name, as it was called a " resurrection 

 plough." Before this plough be put to work, 

 the drainer must finish his; and 1 will now say 

 a little on this subject. 



The newest fashion in draining is called the 

 "Deanston thorough and frequent system." To 

 hear some talkers and writers on this subject, 

 particularly those who talk and write by a snug 

 fireside, with a bottle of wine before them, one 

 would suppose draining was unknown in Britain 

 before Mr. Smith commenced upon his farm. 1 

 have read his work on the subject, and have 

 heard some of his speeches, and 1 consider him 

 to be a very sensible man, and a good practical 

 farmer; but, notwithstanding, 1 am going to 

 find a little fault with his draining. 1 have been 

 a drainer myself more than thirty years, and upon 

 the frequent system too. It is the fault with 

 nearly all drainers, whether with the pen or in the 

 field, that they have each one particular system 

 of their own, and that they consider this the only 

 proper one for every part of the world. Had I 



never drained any but my own native farm, I 

 should most likely have erred the same way. In 

 my practice I have drained land which had, at 

 some former period, been drained exactly upon 

 Mr. Smith's principles; of course the present 

 fashion is only an old one revived. Some time 

 ago "Elkington's system" was the leading ton 

 in draining. His system was quite opposite to 

 Smith's. He would drain a whole farm, or dis- 

 trict, with a single drain. His system was adopt- 

 ed in this neighborhood ; and the only effect it 

 had was drying up some of the draw wells, 

 which had to be sunk deeper to get the water 

 again. Wiih the surface of the land, it made not 

 the slightest difference, yet I have seen cases 

 where it has drained the surface. 



Now, from my own experience, I have learned 

 that no one system will produce the best effect on 

 every description of land at the same cost; and 

 this is vvhat should be the aim with all drainers. 

 ( say, let me see the land, and not only examine 

 its Burliice, but ihe subsoil, and, in some cases, 

 the adjoining lands also, before I conclude on the 

 direction, the depth, or the distance of the drains. 

 I am quite of Mr. Smitli's opinion, that a great 

 breadth of land requires' draining, which is con- 

 sidered by most jarmers to be sufficiently dry. 

 He recommends that in every case the direction 

 of the drains should be right up the incline of the 

 land. There are cases when I should do the 

 same, because I know there are cases when it 

 will and has answered; but generally I should 

 not do so, because I have frequently seen it prac- 

 tised where it has not answered or produced a 

 proper efiect. His arguments for taking the 

 drains up the incline of the land are — 1st, "Be- 

 cause the strata is cut longitudinally, and by a 

 drain directed down the sleep, the bottom of 

 which cuts the stratum to the same distance 

 from the surface, the water will flow into the drain 

 at the intersecting point of each sheet or layer on 

 a level with the bottom of the drain, leaving one 

 uniform depth of dry soil, because the stratifica- 

 tion generally lies in sheets at an angle to the 

 surface." Now, " generally," I have found in 

 this country, that the stratification lies in sheets 

 horizontally to the surface ; and whenever this 

 is the case, it is quite clear that a cross drain will 

 drain more land effectually, than one up the 

 incline ; and to drain the land effectually, with 

 the fewest drain?, is a matter for serious conside- 

 ration with every farmer. 



Mr. Smith's second argument for pointing his 

 drains up hill is, that water can run off quicker ; 

 for he says, at page 10, " whereas cross drains 

 having little declivity, are often filled high up 

 with water for years before the mischief is dis- 

 covered." Now if there be a little declivity, the 

 water will run off. It is where there is no de- 

 clivity when the water stands high in the drains. 

 This is the fault of the drainer, not of the system. 

 Again he says, " it is quite necessary to fill drains 

 directed down the sleep, with stones of small 

 size, or with danders or gravel, to prevent the 

 current of water from cutting or running the bot- 

 tom ol the drains." He first directs his drains 

 down the steep to make the water run off quick- 

 er, and then fills them with small stones to make 

 it run off slower. Now, whenever the strata 

 lies horizontally to the surface, I should run my 

 drains across the incline, but with such a fall into 



