474 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



his gaze after his weary wanderings over the 

 dreary waste of waters. 



The space of ground near Birkenhead, now 

 called the park, was, a short time ago, like much 

 suburban land near the metropolis, a mere 

 marsh, over which thick mists hung at nightfall. 

 It was thc^roughly drained by Sir Joseph Pjx- ' 

 ton, with drains varying in depth from seven' 

 feet to close surface drains. The mists and fogs' 

 created on this tract have, since the drains came 

 into operation, disappeared. The expense of I 

 that work was £20 per acre ; and the land, which! 

 before the drainage was worth only £1 per! 

 per acre, is now worth, at the least, £4 per acre, 

 for pasturage ; so that the work pays 15 per cent.' 

 direct profit, besides effecting its main object, — 

 the improvement of the neighborhood in comfort 

 and salubrity." j 



Upon this point, as upon so many others, we! 

 are obliged to refer to English authority, be- 1 

 cause so little drainage has yet been effected ini 

 our own country, and because our government has 

 as yet collected no statistics touching the matter. 



There is no reason apparent, however, why 

 the testimony of eminent agriculturists abroad 

 should not be deemed as reliable as that of our 

 own countrymen. 



In 1848, "queries" were issued by the "Metro- 

 politan Sanitary Commissioners" regarding the 

 Drainage of Land, and the following extracts 

 from the answers of gentlemen of the highest 

 oharticter, as published by order of the British 

 Government, will be found pertinent and satis- 

 factory as to the beneficial effect of drainage 

 upon the health of domestic animals and of the 

 population. 



3Tr. Smith. — In the alluvial clay districts of 

 Stirlingshire, and west of Perthshire, where the 

 drainage was formerly effected by large open 

 ditches, in the Dutch fashion, ague was periodi- 

 cally prevalent, and rheumatism, fevers and 

 scrofulous affections were much promoted, until 

 the introduction of thorough-drainage, forty 

 years ago ; after which period those diseases be- 

 gan to disappear, or to be mitigat'-d in severity. 

 Few cases of ague now appear. Fevers are sel- 

 dom known, except in the usual course of fevers 

 which prevail epidemically over the whole coun- 

 try ; and it is generally observed by the inhabi- 

 tants that their cattle or stock are now less sub- 

 ject to diseases. In the undrained condition of 

 these districts they were subject to dense fogs, 

 especially in the autumnal months when much 

 rain had fallen, communicating a chilly feeling 

 to the inhabitants ; but since the general intro- 

 duction of thorough-draining those fogs seldom 

 prevail, unless in a general foggy tendency of 

 the atmosphere of the country. 



Mr. Parlces. — The complete drainage of town 

 and rural districts is universally admitted to be 

 conducive to the health of both man and ani- 

 mals. The medical profession are, however, 

 best qualified to give testimony to the one, and 

 veterinary surgeons to the other. 



The disease of foothalt in sheep and deer has 



been perfectly removed in many gentlemen's 

 parks, and in extensive pasturage grounds, by 

 deep under drainage. The earlier seasonable ma- 

 turity of venison, and a greatly improved flavor, 

 are also the acknowledged results of complete 

 drainage. Foothalt, however, is known to oc- 

 cur where sheep are turned on very luxuriant 

 herbage, kept continually moist from the state 

 of the atmosphere, though the lana be not wet; 

 so that drainage alone will not, on all soils, and 

 at all times, exempt animals from suffering from 

 this disease. 



In respect of increased salubrity induced in 

 towns and rural districts by drainage, I may in- 

 stance the acknowledged disappearance of ague 

 and other periodical maladies consequent on the 

 great drainages effected in Cambridgeshire — as 

 id the Isle of Ely. &c. — and in the Lincolnshire 

 and other great marshes. 



As an example of the good effects arising from 

 the drainage of swamps, I may state that the 

 Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods and 

 Forests, of which your lordship is the chief, have 

 recently caused me to drain an extensive tract 

 of country in the New Forest, called the Weare's 

 Lawn and Bog, aijoining which is a small ham- 

 let, whose inhabitants previously suffered much 

 from intermittent fevers. The hamlet is now 

 healthy ; the offensive gaseous emanations from 

 the soil have ceased ; and the inhabitants are 

 supplied with abundance of the purest spring 

 water, discovered during the operations of drain- 

 age, and appropriated to their use. 



Mr. Spooncr. — Beyond the general improve- 

 ment in a sanitary point of view, and the dimi- 

 nution of fever and ague, acknowledged to have 

 resulted from the drainage of the fen districts of 

 Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, and the marsh- 

 es of Essex, I am not acquainted with cases in 

 which improvement in the health of population 

 can be traced to drainage as a sole cause ; but in 

 respect to stock, a striking instance can be ad- 

 duced of improvement in healthiness resulting 

 from drainage alone, attributable to no other 

 cause. In the Highlands generally, and more 

 particularly on the west coast, there exists a well 

 known and fatal disease among sheep, incurable 

 by any treatment, termed "Braxey," which on un- 

 drained lands and in wt^t seasons is a cause of 

 very serious losses. This is, in a great measure, 

 prevented by drainage, and the diminution of 

 casualties alone is more than sufficient to cover 

 its cost, independently of the increased quantity 

 and better quality of the fodder produced. This 

 system has been extensively practiced for several 

 years, and invariably with the same beneficial re- 

 sults. 



J\lr. Macaw. — As to the health of cattle or 

 stock, I have the strongest evidence of the bene- 

 ficial effects of drainage in many instances. On 

 the lands which I possess, and on several oth- 

 ers in the district, a disease called red water 

 prevailed, in some years proving very fatal ; but 

 aft-^r drainage and cultivation of the marshy 

 parts of the pasturage the stock has been free 

 of that disease. I may mention that the first and 

 most severe cases of pleura pneumonia in cattle 

 that had occurred in this and a neignboring 

 county were on lands of a swampy, undrained 

 character. The surface drainage of sheep walks 

 in every district is well known to promote the 



