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completed. But the land already reclaimed and cultivated was 

 estimated by good judges, then present, to be worth $300 per 

 acre. We know no reason why the whole tract may not be 

 brought into an equally productive and remunerative state ; nor 

 do we know any sufficient reason for the supposition that hundreds 

 of similar tracts in the County could not be reclaimed in the same 

 way, and with similar advantage. True, the expense and labor 

 must vary materially with the various locahties of the land, and 

 the different circumstances of persons undertaking the enterprise. 

 "VVe fully appreciate the spirit which seeks for the cheapest and 

 best way of accomplishing any desirable result. We would have 

 the attention of the Society directed more to the cost than to any 

 apparent results of an experiment. We would have every pre- 

 mium which shall be awarded for any agricultural experiments or 

 improvements ; — for the finest animals ; — for every article exhibi- 

 ted at our fairs, determined with special reference to its cost, and 

 to the diminution of cost in obtaining its like, rather than to the 

 fine appearance of the product itself. There are undoubtedly 

 cases wliere the benefit of an improvement is outweighed by its 

 cost. There are cases where an animal, which obtains the pre- 

 mium at our fairs, may, on account of the expense of its present 

 condition, be less deserving than another, whose nearly equal con- 

 dition has been more cheaply produced. The great question with 

 every thoughtful farmer, in attempting any experiment to improve 

 his land, or enlarge his crops, or feed his stock, is, and ought to 

 be, " Will it pay~?" The difficulty is, there is seldom reflection 

 enough, or it is not exercised in a right direction ; and many 

 golden opportunities for bettering his condition, are thus lost to 

 many a farmer. And believing, as we do, that no improvement 

 in agriculture has yet been introduced into our County, which is 

 destined to be of so much permanent value, or to add so much to 

 the productiveness of our farms, as thorough drainage, we would 

 earnestly commend it to the consideration of every farmer. 



The disappointments and losses occasioned by the peculiar 

 character of the past season, give additional force to our own 

 impressions of the importance and utility of drainage \ipon most 

 tillage and grass lands. Had the coldness of the atmosphere been 

 but partially compensated by the earlier cultivation and heighten- 

 ed temperature of the soil, which thorough drainage would have 

 occasioned, — especially, if vegetation had been stimulated by a 

 moderate use of guano, — we believe that more than half the grain 

 now lost in this County would have been saved. 



The question may be asked, IIow does this thorough drainage 

 ameliorate and warm the soil ? We answer, by removing all super- 

 fluous moisture ; preventing the escape of heat by slow evapora- 

 tion of moisture, and rendering the soil porous and more suscep- 

 tible to the influences of the sun and air. The rains and dews, 



