80 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



five feet long, and extend along the side of the high land. All 

 the drains leading into the main drain are from three to five 

 feet deep, and made from ten to twelve inches wide at the bot- 

 tom, with fiat stones placed carefully at the bottom, inclined 

 together at the top so as to form an opening for the water. 

 These are covered twelve to eighteen inches deep with small 

 stones, which are again covered slightly with the shingle bal- 

 last named above. The drains are then filled up with earth 

 and levelled off. 



The land through which these drains are made, after getting 

 through the soil, is a very hard, gravelly subsoil, which has to 

 be all picked up with a pickaxe. 



I did not keep an account of the cost of this drainage, as it 

 was all done by the men employed upon my farm ; but, consid- 

 ering the hardness of the subsoil and the unusual depth that it 

 was necessary to make there on account of the location, I think 

 they would cost one dollar per "rod. 



These drains have admirably accomplished the purpose for 

 which they were made, having perfectly freed the land from all 

 the high land springs, and thereby leaving it the best land in 

 the field, so that it can be ploughed and planted with the rest 

 of the field. Last year I planted cabbages and carrots on this 

 land, and had good crops. This year I have carrots and onion9 

 on it, and part of the crop of onions which I have entered for 

 premium this fall grew upon this very spot, which, till last year, 

 has never produced any thing ; and I see no reason why these 

 drains should' not continue to produce the same results for all 

 time to come, as they are entirely below and out of the way of 

 all frost. 



I put in about one thousand feet of under drains last fall, and 

 am putting in about four thousand feet this fall, the result of 

 which will appear hereafter. 



Mahbleiiead, November 15, 1854. 



