PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 226 



ant to clear the adjoining grounds of pebbles, it could 

 hardly be good economy to construct the stone-drain. 

 The best of tiles, sufficiently large for these side-drains, 

 can be purchased for a fraction over one cent a foot. 

 If the ground is soft at the time of laying them, a 

 piece of board should be imbedded for the ends to 

 rest upon where they come together. They cannot 

 fail, when properly laid, to carry off the water ; and 

 if made of suitable clay, and thoroughly baked, they 

 will last half a century, and even more. 



430. Many lands, not considered swampy, would be 

 greatly benefited by draining. This has been fully 

 established by the experience of European agricultu- 

 rists. Lands there, which a few years ago were not 

 suspected of being troubled with water in the subsoil, 

 have been drained; and their productiveness has been 

 vastly increased. Probably there are great extents of 

 land in our country, which are cold and sour, by rea- 

 son of water in the subsoil, and which will ere long be 

 rendered warm, light, easy to cultivate, and highly 

 productive, by thorough- draining, 



RECLAIMING STONY LAND. 



431. Another season, when the ordinary business of 

 crop growing ceases to press, our farmer may attack 

 that ten-acre slope before spoken of (428). It is now 

 covered with boulders, and is comparatively valueless. 

 A wall is wanted along the foot of the slope, next to 

 the highway. It is a heavy work*to reclaim these ten 

 acres, but considering their position, near the barn, it 



10* 



