162 PLAIX AND PLEASANT TALK 



mold is friable, or crumbling. Clay becomes friable when, 

 by exposure to air or frost, or by addition of sand, vegeta- 

 ble matter, etc., it is thoroughly mellowed. 



DRAINING WET LANDS. 



Before many years there will be thousands of acres 

 pierced with drains. But the inducements to it which 

 make it wise in England and New England do not yet, 

 generally, exist in the West. The expense of draining one 

 acre would buy two. Many farmers have already more 

 arable land than they can till to advantage. Land 

 redeemed from slough would not pay for itself in many 

 years. 



But although a general introduction of draining would 

 not be wise, there are many cases in which, to a limited 

 extent, it should be practised. Lands lying near to cities 

 are sufficiently valuable, and the market for farming pro- 

 ducts sure enough, to justify the reclaiming of wet pieces 

 of land. On small farfhs of forty and eighty acres, sur- 

 rounded by high-priced lands, not easily procured for enlarg- 

 ing his farm if the owner should wish it, draining might be 

 employed with advantage. A man with a small farm can 

 afford expenses for high cultivation which would break a ' 

 large farmer. 



Some times a large meadow or arable field is marred by 

 a wet slash through the middle of it ; a farmer would not 

 begrudge the labor of draining for the sake of having his 

 favorite field without a blemish. Sometimes farms are 

 intersected by wet lands, which make the passage from one 

 part of the farm to another difficult at all times, and almost 

 impassable at some seasons of the year. Draining might be 

 resorted to in such a case, not so much for the sake oi 

 the land reclaimed, as for the convenience of the whole farm. 



