THE FARM OF THE FIRST MINISTER. 19 



have never decayed. They define the bottom of the channel 

 and afford firm footing to a workman when engaged in clearing 

 it of aquatic plants and the precipitated silt of freshets. 1 



This drainage channel of covered conduit and open canal has 

 a total length of about two thirds of a mile (222 rods). It has 

 lowered the water-table, under and around nearly fifty acres of 

 land, about thirty inches. Since its completion laterals of 

 stone, brick, plank, and tiles, have been laid, as experience has 

 suggested their utility. 



While the cost of this enterprise has been considerable it has 

 not equalled the increased value of the land which it has im- 

 proved. Some sections of this, which had ever before been too 

 soft to allow the passage over it of cattle and horses, can now 

 be plowed and harrowed. On others, where formerly only 

 sedges grew, tame grasses flourish. The mowing-machine, 

 horse-rake, and hay-cart are no longer strangers to them. 

 Others, I regret to say, are still too wet for arable crops, and 

 for the want of an out-flow sufficiently low, must ever remain 

 so, unless raised above their subjacent water-table by costly sur- 

 face fillings. 



The experience gained during the last forty-two years has 

 pretty firmly established 2 some conclusions in regard to farm 

 drainage, among which are the following : 



1. Inasmuch as drainage is a costly operation, the expense 

 and effects of which can generally be forecast with much accu- 

 racy, it should not be extensively undertaken until these have 

 been ascertained, otherwise expensive disappointments may be 

 encountered. 



2. That no drainage operation should be commenced until a 

 satisfactory outflow has been found and a definite plan of the 

 main, sub-main, and lateral drainage lines has been intelli- 

 gently settled. Loss of money and uncertain results are likely 

 to attend a disregard of this suggestion. 



a Open ditches, although boarded at the bottom, are liable to be clogged by 

 abrasions of their sides, particularly when subject to inundations from the 

 larger streams into which they discharge their water. 



Experience on the Farm of the First Minister is demonstrating the fact that 

 a lining of their banks with stone or plank will facilitate their flow and prevent 

 obstructions from this cause. Its considerable cost is the only objection to its 

 use. 



