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REPOirr ON UNDERDRAINING LAND. 



The Committee on Undcrdraining Land arc unfortunately again 

 nnder the necessity of saying, that no calls have been made ujion 

 tlieni, during the past year, to attend to any operations in the line 

 of their duty. We arc, therefore, wholly deficient in materials, 

 in the shape of " facts and figures," upon which to base our re- 

 port. But it has been hinted to us, that notwithstanding these 

 unfiivorable circumstances, a report of some kind will probably be 

 expected ; and we are fully convinced that the importance of the 

 subject is sufficient to render it worthy of the attention of every 

 Agricultural Society, and of all intelligent cultivators of the soil, 

 especially if they are believers in progress. We are, therefore, 

 unwilling to have it wholly ignored in making up the Transactions 

 of our Society for the past year. 



The weather during the past summer and autumn was uncom- 

 monly favorable for draining and performing other operations upon 

 wet land, but the unusual scarcity and high cost of labor, owing 

 to the unfortunate state of our country, probably prevented many 

 improvements of our soil by undcrdraining and other means, which 

 would otherwise have been made. But we now hope and trust 

 that the time is not far distant when this accursed rebellion will 

 be crushed, and the cause of it forever removed from every State 

 in the Union, and from everv individual in the land. Then labor 

 will cease to be degrading, — we shall hear no more about " greasy 

 mechanics," — the epithet, " mud-sills," will no longer be applied 

 to Yankee laborers, — honest and intelligent cultivators of the soil, 

 will become Nature's noblemen, and be admitted into respectable 

 company at the South as well as the North. When that time 

 shall arrive, and we can again turn our individual attention to the 

 peaceful pursuits of industry, there will probably be sufficient ne- 

 cessity that the productive resources of the soil should be devel- 

 oped to the fullest extent. Agriculture will still retain its all- 

 important place as the basis of all other productive pursuits. The 

 c^uestion will then arise, not how shall the requisite amount of la- 

 bor be obtained, but liow shall that labor be most judiciously and 

 profitably expended and applied for the purpose of rendering the 

 soil capable of producing the largest crops and those of the best 

 quality. 



Li order to accomplish this important result, we are fully con- 

 vinced, both from experience and observation, that so far as a 

 great part of the soil is concerned, the first requisite will be to 

 thoroughly underdrain all that portion of our improved land that 

 is so situated as to retain stagnant water during any considerable 

 part of the year. We view the matter of undcrdraining as no 



