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material advantage by increasing, to a large extent, the products 

 of some of my land. 



" That part of my land which I judged might be improved as 

 to its general productiveness, by both drainage and irrigation, lies 

 between the public road on the south and a pond on its northern 

 boundary. A portion of the land, perhaps eight or ten acres, is 

 a dry, gravelly loam, surrounded on every side by low meadow or 

 peat bog, the water formerly standing or running some four or five 

 feet below the level of the highest part of the land to be irrigated ; 

 consequently it seemed impracticable to use the water for that 

 purpose. The centre or highest part of the land was cultivated 

 and three or four acres planted with pear trees, between the rows 

 of which were planted strawberries and currants, and in some in- 

 stances potatoes, carrots and other roots. The other portion of 

 the high land was devoted to grass or grain. The pear trees 

 were planted in rows nine feet apart each way, giving eighty-one 

 square feet to each tree, or 537 trees to an acre. Between the 

 rows of trees, beds were prepared for strawberries by back-fur- 

 rowing vert/ deep to the centre, leaving beds just three feet wide, 

 with a hollow between each bed and row of trees for the water to 

 run in when needed. In the centre, between the trees in the 

 rows, a currant bush is planted, thus giving as many of these as 

 there are of the trees. 



" In commencing the work, I first ascertained by levels whether 

 I could drain the upper end of the lot, which is a deep peat bog — 

 the surface of the mud and water there, being apparently much 

 below the surface of any of the dry land. It was found practi- 

 cable to drain it considerably by digging through the high part of 

 the land for a distance of 600 or 800 feet towards the pond on 

 the north, but impossible to carry the water to those higher por- 

 tions where irrigation was most required. To obviate that difli- 

 culty, I caused the bog or basin at the head to be made deeper 

 and larger, by removing large quantities of muck, which was used 

 for compost, and this excavation opened numerous additional 

 springs. Then the water was secured by damming up all old 

 drains leading from the pond so formed, by which means the 

 water rose to a sufficient height to carry it quite above the high- 

 est and driest part of the field. 



" I describe these preliminary proceedings with some particu- 

 larity as to the details, because they embi-ace the most important 

 part of the process. Without those examinations, I should hardly 

 have known from which end of my field the water would run, al- 

 though the fall Avas abundant when it was made available. Judg- 

 ing from my own somewhat limited experience and observation in 

 these matters, I think that even a superficial examination by the 

 aid only of a common level, will show that there are many farms 



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