264 On Draining, 



upper stratum being deeper than at the outer drain, they 

 seldom extended farther than through it. The swamp 

 was now divided into long beds of about sixty feet 

 across ; some hands w ere set to work with long scalping 

 hoes, broad at the edge and very sharp, to tear off the 

 tussocks, but from a great press of other business, little 

 progress was made that season. 



In 1805, 1 found my self disappointed, by the ground 

 still continuing too wet. The draining was commenced 

 with the idea that water sprung up principally at the 

 bank, and that it was only necessary to carry of this 

 water by a drain, in the proper place. But the incor- 

 rectness of this opinion was now evident, as the ground 

 along the edges of the drains only, was dry. The ex- 

 periment was tried, of digging near the head of the 

 swamp, that if possible it might be the means of giving 

 vent to the under water, which from some cause appear- 

 ed to spread itself over the whole swam.p, and spring up 

 in almost every spot. But its effects if any, were very 

 small, as the ground still rem^ained w^et within a few 

 yards of it. A narrower drain than the others, but of 

 the same depth, was now made between each of the 

 other drains which left the beds only ten yards across 

 from drain to drain. The business of tearing the tus- 

 socks was again renewed, and the sods turned upside 

 down to promote their drying. About midsummer 

 they became dry enough to burn on being heaped with- 

 out the assistance of any other fuel. The sods thrown 

 out of the drains, the two preceding summers were so 

 much decayed, as to allow their being spread)* with 

 some labour in breaking them) over the intervals be- 

 tween the drains. AMiere the ashes ma,de from bnrn 



