126 THE RURAL SOCRATES. 



afhcs, which enabled him afterwards to arrive at more 

 mould, formed by the fuccellion of dead leaves. — By 

 thefe methods he lupplied in his firft year the w^ant of 

 manure from his liables, which he neverthelefs fought 

 to augment by all poiiiblc means ; having for that pur- 

 pofe carefully repaired the old refervoirs deflined for 

 preparing liquid rr^anurc, and formed new ones ; in 

 v/hich he was aflifled by the generofity of the republic. 



After having provided for manure, his next care was 

 to amend the nature cfhis J oil. By a very deep ditch 

 therefore, carried through the middle of his fields, he 

 received the water obtained through a number of fmall 

 covered drains, from the marlliy fpots contained iti 

 thefe fields ; and then by larger acjuedu^ls which were 

 led acrofs his lower fields, whofe waters were drained 

 in like manner into the aqueduds, he conveyed the 

 whole body of water into his meadows ; his mea- 

 dows being thus fertilized with water very proper for 

 the purpofe. In confequence of thefe mcafures, his 

 fields by degrees became entirely dry ; and places hither- 

 to the mofl incapable of culture, became as fufceptible of 

 it as any of thereih The enormous quantity of thefe cuts 

 was of a nature to flartle every one ; cfpecially when the 

 fiiort period and few hands employed in effecting them 

 wer^ coniidered. — Atjihe fame time he had recourfe to 

 his former pradice of mixing foils of a different nature. 

 He had difcovered in the piece of ground oppoflte to his 

 houfe a little mount of gravel, which he undertook to 

 remove, by fpreading it upon the lower part of the field 

 containing it, which confifled of a heavy clay ; and laft 

 year he difcovered the land mixed with mica (or talk,) 

 of which we have already fpoken ; and which is a real 

 treafurc to him, fince it has improved the adjoining 

 field, ^o as to make it yield an equal produce with thofe 

 which were the bed manured. 



By thefe different methods, Kliyogg has fucceeded in. 

 the courfe of four years in doubling his crops of grain, 

 fa 1769, he reaped 4000 (heaves ; and in 1773, he reap- 

 ed 



