AGRICULTURE. 



culable advantage ; and to the efforts of 

 these and other individuals it may be 

 ascribed, that a board of agriculture was 

 established by the government in 1793, 

 whose exertions in procuring and pub- 

 lishing intelligence on the objects of its 

 establishment have entitled it to the high- 

 est credit. By its agricultural surveys, by 

 its diffusion of rewards for important dis- 

 coveries, and of premiums for valuable 

 treatises, and by its exertions at critical 

 periods of scarcity, its utility and merit 

 may be considered not only as decided, 

 but distinguished. It has the power of 

 directing public attention to any topics 

 particularly requiring practical research 

 or illustration, and possesses the means of 

 most advantageously diffusing its collec- 

 tions, circumstances of high importance 

 to the utility of the establishment. It 

 must be regarded as its privilege, as well 

 as duty, to suggest, from time to time, to 

 the legislature, means for removing va- 

 rious impediments, still existing, to the 

 perfection of the art, for the promotion of 

 which it is expressly instituted. 



On Inclosing- and Draining. 



Inclosing of lands must be considered 

 as the grand foundation of all improve- 

 ments. When remaining open, litigations 

 between neighbours are perpetually oc- 

 curring, and the ingenuity of any indi- 

 vidual proprietor is of little use to him, 

 as he is obliged to follow the practice 

 pursued by the ignorant and obstinate 

 occupiers of the common property in 

 which he shares. In connection with 

 inclosures may be considered the practice 

 of draining lands, which is the next step 

 in rendering them productive. The su- 

 perabundance of water is no less injuri- 

 ous to vegetation than the absolute want 

 of it : and, whether arising from rain 

 stagnating on the surface, or from springs 

 in the interior of the earth, it is one of 

 the most important objects of the farmer 

 to prevent its pernicious consequences. 

 For this purpose, open or visible drains 

 are in many cases adopted; while in others, 

 hollow ones, so called from their being 

 concealed in covered trenches, are pre- 

 fen-ed. The width and depth of open 

 drains must be regulated by the variety 

 of soil and situation to which they are 

 applied. To prevent, however, the sides 

 from falling in, they must at top be three 

 times the width they have at bottom ; 

 while their direction must obviously, and 

 f necessity, be descending, it should, at 

 the same time, not be steep, as this would 



form inequalities, and bear down their 

 sides by the rapid rush of the water. All 

 open drains should be cleared, at least, 

 once in every year; which regular re- 

 pairs may, in some cases, render them in 

 the end more expensive than those de- 

 nominated hollow, which will sometimes 

 last tor several generations unimpaired, 

 but demand originally a far greater sum 

 for their completion. 



The practice of hollow draining was 

 known by the Roman writers on agricul- 

 ture, and is particularly mentioned by 

 them. In stiff clays it is of little service, 

 and it is practised with desired effect 

 only where the soil is of that porous sub- 

 stance which easily admits the passage 

 of the water through it. Opinions differ 

 with regard to the season for carrying 

 these works into execution; some, with 

 plausable reason, preferring the summer, 

 and others, having nearly as much to 

 state in recommendation of winter for the 

 purpose. The depth of the drain, from, 

 the surface of the land, should generally 

 be from twenty-six inches to thirty-two ; 

 and the principal rule for their depth is, 

 that they should be secured from receiv- 

 ing injury from the feet of horses or cat- 

 tle ploughing on the spot under which 

 they are made It is desirable to consti- 

 tute the drain in such a manner that the 

 stones may lean towards each other, so as 

 to form a triangle, of which the bottom of 

 the drain forms the base : in which case, 

 the width of a foot may be regarded as 

 sufficient for them. The ditches con- 

 structed for these drains must be execut- 

 ed with great neatness and care ; and 

 with respect to filling them up, which 

 they should be about ten inches deep, if 

 stones are plentifully at hand, they should 

 be applied for this purpose. But in many 

 places, faggot-wood, horns, bones, straw, 

 fern, and even turf, laid in like a wedge, 

 are all used in different situations ; and 

 drains constructed of these materials, 

 thirty years ago, are found in several 

 places effectually to answer their purpose 

 still. By many pei'sons, straw, twisted 

 into a very large rope, has been success- 

 fully laid in the bottom of the ditch ; and 

 by others, after twenty years experience, 

 the white thorn has been recommended 

 as answering better than all other mate- 

 rials. 



Injurious moisture in land arises often 

 from springs in the bowels of the earth. 

 The person who first published the me- 

 thod of draining land, in these circum- 

 stances, was Dr John Anderson, of Aber- 

 deen, while Mr. Ettcington was actually 



