London to John O Groat's. 19 



to the account of irrigation. A single course of iron 

 tubing, a third of a mile long, reaching to the centre of 

 his farthest field, cannot cost more, with all the hose 

 employed, than the drainage of that field, while it would 

 be fair to assume that the iron pipes will last twice as 

 long as those of burnt clay. They might fairly be 

 expected to hold good for forty years. If, then, for 

 this period, or less, the process yields ten per cent, of 

 increased production annually, over and above the effect 

 of all other means employed, it is quite evident that it 

 will pay as well as drainage. 



But does it augment the yearly production of the 

 farm by this amount ? To say that it is the only pro- 

 cess by which the baky and chappy soil of Tiptree can 

 be thoroughly fertilised, would not suffice to prove its 

 necessity or value to other soils of different composition. 

 One fact, however, may be sufficient to determine its 

 virtue. The fields of clover and Italian rye-grass, &c., 

 are mown three and even four times in one season, and 

 afterwards fed with sheep. Certainly, no other system 

 could produce all this cropping. The distinctive dif- 

 ference it makes in other crops cannot, perhaps, be made 

 so palpable. The wheat looked strong and heavy, with 

 a fair promise of forty-five bushels to an acre. The 

 oats, beans, and roots showed equally well. 



The irrigation and deep tillage systems were going 

 c2 



