516 [ASSEMBL'F 



carry water a great number of years. A simpler temporary 

 drain may be made on grass land thus : Plow a deep furrow, then 

 trim the sod thus turned over to the thickness of three or four 

 inches, and replace it in the furrow with the grass side up ; this 

 leaves the bottom of the furrow open, which will carry off much 

 surface water with no loss of crop. I have made in swamp lands 

 many miles of drains, from five to seven feet deep; on the bot- 

 tom a three inch chestnut slab plank is placed, and three flat 

 stones so arranged to form a triangle, at the sides of which flat 

 stones are arranged in an upright position, then a covering of flat 

 stones, and a filling of cobble stones three tiers deep ; over these 

 diverted bogs, straw or brush before filling in the earth. Thus, 

 you see, the whole mass forms a drain that will carry an immense 

 amount of water. 



I have likewise made drains the same shape, and filled them 

 to the depth of two feet with round cobble stones, covered with 

 straw. With a stone wall twelve inches high on each side, co- 

 vered with flat stones, filled in with small stones, and covered 

 with brush, with vertical flat stones at the bottom standing on 

 edge, covered with rails, filled in with bogs grass side down, and 

 then with earth. 



The first year after draining you may be sure that your grain 

 crop will increase in value from a fourth to a sixth, depending 

 npon the previous condition of the land; the second year the 

 crop Avill be doubled with half the former labor, and a quarter 

 of the manure used before draining. It will enable you to clear 

 your lands perfectly, and to pulverize them completely with little 

 interruption almost immediately after rain, and the farmer will 

 receive annually from 10 to 25 per cent on the cost of drainage. 

 The improvement will consist of the greatly increased quantity 

 of every crop, besides almost a double share of straw for manure, 

 the earlier seeding, cultivation and maturity of grain, and conse- 

 quently its improvement in quality and weight. It will afford 

 facilities of working the ground early in the spring, the preserva- 

 tion of manures and consequent economy in putting them on. It 

 will also ameliorate the climate, and produce permanent pasture, 

 raise the value of land ten fold, and lessen the expense of labor 



