CULTIVATION. l',i;l 



tains free space enough to receive a rain-fall one im-h 

 in depth, and, by the same token, four 

 drained soil can receive twelve inches of rain, 

 more than is known to have ever fallen in twentv- 

 four hours since the deluge, and more than on. ,j //.//- 

 ter of the annual rain-fall in t/n- r/</W >y,^ t -#. M * 



Of the precise profits of under-draining this is nut 

 the place to speak: many of the agricultural papers 

 contain numerous accounts of its success. It \\\-. 

 well to remark here, that many English tanners 

 give it, as their experience, that uuder-drain- 

 heavy clay lands in ordinary cultivation, pay f..r 

 themselves every three years, or that they produce a 

 perpetual profit of 33^ per cent., on their original 

 cost. This is not the opinion of tJicvrixt* and look 

 farmers. It is the conviction of practical men, who 

 know,y>'0w experience, that under-drains are bene- 

 ficial. 



The best evidence of the utility of under-drain- 

 ing is the position, with regard to it, which has been 

 taken by the English national government, which 

 aifords much protection to the agricultural int. 

 of the people, a protection which in this couir 

 unwisely and unjustly withheld. 



In England, a very large sum from the public 

 treasury has been appropriated as a fund for loans, 

 on under-drains, which was lent to farmers for the 

 purpose of under-draining their estate, the only 

 security given being the increased value of the soil. 

 The time allowed for payments was twenty \ 

 * Draining for Profit and Health, p. 22. 



