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longer an experiment. The benefits derived from it, by experi- 

 ments heretofore made, are sufiicient, in our opinion, to satisfy 

 every intelHgent farmer, that it is the foundation of all other im- 

 provements. Draining the water from the surface is not suffi- 

 cient ; it must be taken out of the soil, so as not to remain in a 

 stagnant state within one foot of the surface, in order to obtain 

 any lasting benefit from any other improvements which may be 

 made upon it. We will illustrate our meaning by giving a short 

 history of an improvement upon a piece of swale or swamp land, 

 made some years since under our own observation. 



The land was naturally neither meadow nor upland. The sur- 

 face was very uneven, the soil thin and black, resting upon a bed 

 of hard pan of the hardest kind. The annual crop (for it had 

 been mown every year from time immemorial) consisted of brakes, 

 briars, bushes of various kinds, blue-flag, buckthorn, a few^ cran- 

 berry vines, (but no berries,) and last and- least, some grass of 

 the poorest quality ; making, in the aggregate, less than half a 

 ton per acre, and of a quality, when used for fodder, very well 

 adapted to keep animals in a " starving condition." In fact, it 

 was " bad for the eyes " of any person to look upon either the 

 land or its products. But it was situated quite near the owner's 

 buildings, and in the year 1854 he commenced an improvement 

 upon it. The surface was made level by carting on gravel and 

 loam, and a drain, or rather a ditch, was dug through it, of suffi- 

 cient depth to prevent the water from standing upon any part of 

 the surface. It was then treated Avith a generous dressing of 

 compost manure, and seeded with grass. The first year it pro- 

 duced a fair crop of good quality. The second year it produced 

 two large crops of the best quality, estimated at from three to 

 four tons per acre. The owner was delighted with the result of 

 his labor. The third year it produced a fair crop, but the quality 

 was not so good as it had been, and some rushes began to appear, 

 which somewhat surprised the owner, as he had never known any 

 rushes to grow there before. He " guessed " it needed another 

 dressing of compost. The succeeding autumn a good top dress- 

 ing was accordingly applied. The fourth year it produced a 

 heavy crop of grass, but the quality was not good, and the 

 rushes had increased to such an extent as to render the hay unfit 

 for market. The owner began to " suspect" that something be- 

 sides " compost " was needed. He accordingly proceeded to make 

 a drain of sufficient depth to keep the water at least one foot be- 

 low the surface of the soil during nearly all the year, and, at the 

 same time, was careful to secure a good outlet. This part of the 

 improvement, which we think, and the owner now admits, should 

 have been the first, was made in the autumn of 1858, and from 

 that time to the present no rushes have been seen upon the prem- 



