AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 437 



in a fit state for the ready assimilation by the spongioles of the 

 plant, and is then rid of the fibrous matters that clog the porous 

 soil, and impede the growth of vegetation, and likewise the mil- 

 lions of devastating insects contained in all solid manures, as well 

 as hurtful and injurious seeds. You all know that the best mi- 

 croscope ever yet invented, has failed to discern the little mouths 

 of the spongioles of plants. How^ then can solid manure compare 

 with liquid, which at once performs its duty by feeding these 

 minute apertures ? All the attempts heretofore made to induce 

 plants to absorb solia manures, though minutely divided have 

 proved ineifectuaL Make a mixture of gum and water very thin 

 and a plant will grow well in it; thicken the same and it dies im- 

 mediately. Apply diluted cows urine to wheat growing on drained 

 land and the head will become so heavy that the straw will not 

 sustain it. 



As before stated .all my underdrains are made of stones, and 

 notwithstanding all that has been said and written against them, 

 I am confirmed in opinion, after twenty years experience, that 

 notwithstanding they are far the most expensive, and as those 

 say who are interested in tiles, liable to casualties — if I had a 

 hundred miles to build, would, use no other material. A stone 

 underdraiu, properly constructed, after my plan, which I will 

 explain on the black board, will never require attention after it 

 is finished. Can any man say the same in favor of tile, which 

 are the prevalent material now used for forming drains in this 

 country and in Europe? They were used fifty years ago, and for 

 some cause abandoned ; but within seven years the practice of lay- 

 ing them has again become general. Horse-shoe tile with sole is 

 used by some; pipes glazed inside by others; clay balls by others 

 still. Whichever way you drain, be assured that nothing in the 

 way of farming pays better. 



Next in importance to draining is irrigation. The produce by 

 the application of liquid manure, has exceeded that obtained from 

 grass land by any other means in agriculture, and has continued 

 to increase without exhaustion or deterioration of the soil for fifty 

 years. In Milan and Edinburgh, the average yield at which lat- 

 ter place has been four thick crops a year of grass, eighteen inches 

 long, and the collective weight of grass cut was stated to be at the 

 rate of eighty tons to the acre. With root crops of every descrip- 

 tion — carrots, potatoes, turnips, onions, beans, rhubarb, and all 

 kinds of fruit, heavier and quicker crops have been obtained by 

 the application of liquid manure on undrained land than by any 



[Am. Inst.] 29 



