AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 297 



tKe upland, and to receive the water that runs down from 

 the hills upon the surface in great rains. These ditches 

 should be larger or smaller, in some proportion to the size 

 of the swamp, the shape and size of the hills which surround 

 it, and other circumstances, which might tend to greater or 

 less quantities of water being occasionally or generally led 

 to the ditches. If the swamp be large, it may be necessary 

 that some smaller cross drains should be cut in several of the 

 lowest parts. The bottom of the main ditches, when the 

 soil is not of an extraordinary depth, must be lower than the 

 bottom of the loose soil ; otherwise the soil will never be- 

 come sufficiently dry and firm."^ 



It is said by Sir John Sinclair, (Code of Agriculture, page 

 182,) that ' in all drains it is a rule to begin at the lowest 

 place and to work upwards, by which the water will always 

 pass from the workmen and point out the level. This ena- 

 bles the laborers also to work in coarse weather, and prevents 

 their being interrupted by wet so early in the season as 

 otherwise might happen.' 



The mud and other materials which are dug out of a ditch 

 or drain should not be suffered to lie in heaps or banks by 

 the side of the ditch, but should be spread as equally as pos- 

 sible over the surface of the drained land. In this way, the 

 matter taken from the ditches will tend to level the surface 

 of the swamp, will, perhaps, serve in some measure for ma- 

 nure, and will not present any impediment to the passage of 

 the water to the ditches. In some cases it may be advisable 

 to transport the earth which is taken from the ditches to 

 the farm-\^ard or the hogpen, to form a part of that layer 

 which good farmers generally spread over those places in 

 autumn, to imbibe liquid manure, or make into compost with 

 dung. In many instances, we are told, that the earth thus 

 dug out of ditches is thought to be worth enough to pay for 

 the expense of digging the ditches. 



The following communication on the subject of under- 

 draining is from the New England Farmer, vol. x. p. 97 : 



Under draining. In a late number of the New England 

 Farmer, my friend judge Buel, in an article on ' underJrain- 

 ing,' was pleased to speak in favorable terms of my practice 

 in this species of improvement, of my culture in general, and 

 to ask for some communication on the subject. As no one 

 in our country has more successfully blended theory with 



* See Deane's New England Farmer, article Drains 



