156 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



when followed by deep ploughing, by which the escape of the 

 water is greatly facilitated. The expense of thorough draining, 

 thus described, was £5 95. 6d. sterling, or $27.50 per acre. 

 The description of the subsoil trench ploughing follows, the 

 expense of which is thus stated : — 



Four men and four pairs of horses ploughing an 



acre a day, .£2 8 



Labor turning out and carting ofif stones, . .050 

 To which add the above expense of draining, . 5 9 6 



Making, £8 2 Q 



or 140.50. 



From the higher prices of labor with us, it is fairly to be 

 inferred that the same quantity of work could not be accom- 

 plished here without a considerable addition to these items of 

 expense. It is, of course, for every intelligent farmer to make 

 his own estimates of outlay, and also of the results to be expected 

 therefrom. 



It is hardly necessary, as your committee believe, to inculcate 

 caution upon our practical farmers ; they possess that valuable 

 quality to a healthy extent, — and perhaps in some, if not many 

 instances, it retards substantial improvement. If, however, they 

 are somewhat slow in adopting novelties, they are nevertheless 

 sure of availing of well-tried experiments, the good results of 

 which are no longer problematical. 



Thomas Motley, Chairman. 



From an Essay by L. Wether ell. 

 The arts of drainage and irrigation, are, undoubtedly, nearly • 

 as ancient as the art of agriculture ; for there are few localitiea 

 where one or the other, if not both, are essential to the husband- 

 man and the gardener. The race of Spanish Arabs have the 

 honor of introducing the art of irrigation into Europe, and thus 

 rendering districts fertile and productive that before were barren. 

 While the South of Europe previously suffered for want of water 

 to moisten its parched surface, in the North the soil suffered 

 with an excess of moisture ; hence irrigation for the South and 

 drainage for the North. 



