606 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[SHB 32; 
improvement takes place in its quality after the first 
year, and that he does not desire to see finer Potatoes 
than he has on that land. The great question for the 
settler is how to deal economically with this sort of 
land. The fern grows 6 and 7 to 15 and 20 feet 
high, and to clear it is a serious undertaking. No 
doubt the wiser course is to leave it in the first instance, 
and to scatter the ashes on the land; by this means 
the saline matter which the fern has been robbing the 
land of is all restored, and will immediately give the 
Peaty soil a tendency to d pose and lid 
hat the fern will again spring up is certain ; but once 
down it is easy enough to keep it down. The continual 
destruction of its young leaves will speedily put an 
end to the roots; and we are told, what is quite to be 
expected, that any smothering crop will answer the 
purpose. The Rev. C. Saxton (p. 105) found that a 
crop of Vetches killed the fern which grew up among 
them. And then, when the fern is gone, the settler 
has the richest land in the colony: There are in- 
stances, says Mr. Jollie (p. 126), of prolific crops of 
nearly everything on land of this description ; and 
+ in general one may observe over the place, as a pretty 
certain rule, that the finer the crop the higher had 
been the fern which previously grew. This must 
necessarily be the case, and if we were to settle we 
should be much inclined to try our luck with the 
unpopular fern land. Let us add, that, to remove the 
fern, and not to burn it where it grows, will infallibly 
deteriorate the land excessively. 
Can any sensible person, after such evidence as this, 
say that the reports unfavourable to the land of New 
Zealand are other than mere calumnies? If we next 
look to the condition of the agricultural settlers every- 
thing bears the face of prosperity. 
“ At present there is not a single good workman left 
on the hands of the Company; all but the stupid, lazy, 
or feeble folk, having been hired by settlers going upon 
their land, or they are working for themselves. Of abso- 
lutely idle people we have none, and the settlement has 
every appearance of a thriving and industrious commu- 
nity. It will be a beautiful villagy sort of a country, 
wherein the population will be principally farmers and 
well-doing peasants, with a sprinkling of large land- 
ownets, professional men, and shopkeepers.”—JLedters 
received by Thomas Woollcome, Esq., p. 188. 
No country seems to offer such advantages to the 
industrious labourer. 
“ The agriculturist (farm servant), earning 8s. or 8s. 6d. 
er week at home, out here would save more than he 
could earn at home. I am persuaded that all classes of 
honest and industrious persons will do well.’’—James 
Thomas Shaw, p. 135.—‘* We can save ourselves about 
67, in a month; our trade is avery good one, I assure 
you; single men are getting from 2/. to 3/7. a week, and 
they can live and lodge on the best of everything for 20s.” 
—George Beavan, p. 28. 
Let it not, however, be imagined that New Zealand 
is a country for the lazy or the apathetic; or that inde- 
pendence is to be gained there by walking about with 
the hands in one’s pockets. Idlers enough have tried 
the experiment,—of course they have failed; and, 
attributing their ill-success to anything rather than 
their own misconduct, have raised the outery which 
has found an echo in Europe. Let us see what the 
settlers say on this head :— 
‘« All the complaints that Ihave heard, arise only from 
the drunken, the idle, and worthless portion of the com- 
munity—fellows who would do good nowhere.’’—John 
George Cook, Esq., p. 166.—* It is really lamentable to 
witness the want of courage and industry in a large 
number of young men who come here. They arrive with the 
idea that they are to have no difficulties or discomforts to 
contend with, yet most of them have fled from home in 
despair at the dismal prospect they were abandoning. 
All the prudent and the industrious who have arrived here 
are well to do. I should not mind landing in this place 
without a shilling, confident that I could make myself a 
pursuit in three months.’’—A Resident, p. 23.—‘* Very 
many of the young gentlemen which come out, walk the 
beach and smoke their cigars, and spend their money in 
the grog-shops, which are very plentiful.””— William Dew, 
p. 37.—“I would not go back to England again if I 
could have a free passage back again, for I know I could 
not do so well in England as I can here, nor no labouring 
man besides; but I can tell you a drunken man is not 
much good here; a good steady man is sure to do well 
here.”—John and Ann French, working Emigrants. 
But the idle and dissipated are not the only discon- 
tented persons. There is another class, who, with 
good intentions and some means, are equally unsuccess- 
ful: these are the gentlemen who, knowing nothing 
of cultivation at home, undertake the management of 
land abroad, and, incapable of farming in England, 
think that the antipodes will teach them. New Zea- 
land is not the country for them. The men who should 
adventure thither are good farmers with a capital of 
1000/., good labourers with no capital, and country 
gentlemen with abundant jwealth. All these may 
render the country a blessing to themselves, or become 
themselves a blessing to the country. It is, however, 
to the first class, more than to any other, that the 
colony must look; and we trust that the New Zea- 
land Company will take measures to encourage their 
emigration beyond all others. A system of cheap 
cabin passages will be a powerful attraction ; and 
that, we have reason to believe, is already promised. 
ut we must conclude. Our space is exhausted 
without even an allusion to the important scheme of 
establishing a Scotch colony on Banks’ Peninsula. 
That may form ,the subject of further observations 
hereafter. 
A Corresponpenr asks us whether we recommend 
an open tank as a source of bottom-heat, for he says 
that many persons are using such a contrivance. 
We hear this with regret, because the plan is sure to 
fail. Where an open tank is used three things 
happen: the steam condenses among the soil and 
renders it mere mud; the tanks become foul with 
soil that drains into them ; and by degrees the boilers 
themselves are choked up. All such contrivances as 
placing hurdles, faggots, or other open materials over 
tanks have everywhere failed, or will do so. The 
tanks must be closed with some kind of solid, though 
porous, material. We prefer soft pan-tiles ; but slate 
answers the purpose very well. 
Ture are various systems of draining, according 
to the circumstances in which the water lies in the 
ground. However beneficial draining may be in 
some cases, in others it may do more harm than good 
to remove the moisture under the soil. In grass land 
—provided the water does not stagnate in hollows 
which have no outlet, or remains to soak the ground 
too near the roots of the grass, so as to rot those of the 
finer qualities—a moist bottom is an advantage ; it is 
a reservoir for dry weather, when it rises by capillary 
attraction and refreshes the roots. We read of floating 
islands in great lakes and rivers, naturally formed by 
trees and branches, and covered with vegetable earth, 
which rest entirely on the water, and are covered with 
the finest verdure. 
The first question to be asked, therefore, is, whether 
the land is too wet? and whether the crops are injured 
in wet seasons by the water rising and remaining too 
near the surface?—to what extent the drains should 
carry off the superfluous water ?—whether itis regularly 
distributed through the soil, or lies directly over an | 
impervious subsoil’—whether the water is merely accu- 
mulated by the rains exceeding the evaporation, or | 
rises from springs, or runs down from higher grounds? | 
Each of these circumstances may require a different 
mode of draining; and whoever should think of 
applying the same remedies to all cases, must be con- 
sidered as one of those quacks who, having a nostrum 
to sell, insists? on its curing all disorders, whether 
dropsy, consumption, or any other. 
The following directions on draining are intended 
for one kind of land only; that is, where a thin 
stratum of earth, mellowed more or less by the 
influence of the contact of the atmosphere, and 
enriched by cultivation and occasional manuring, lies 
over a stratum, more or less deep, of a compact loam 
or clay, through which the water cannot percolate ; so 
that, In wet weather, the lower portion of the soil 
becomes like mud, or, at least, quite saturated with 
water, and the roots and delicate fibres of plants are 
injured, ifnot destroyed, by excessive moisture, unless 
they be coarse aquatic plants, suited to sucha soil. If 
the surface is nearly level, the whole of the soil, at a 
certain depth, will be found equally soaked with water; 
but if it be irregular, with risings and hollows, the 
water will slowly run over the subsoil, and render the 
hollows still wetter, so that it may there rise up over 
the surface, producing temporary pools. The effect 
of water standing long on one spotis to kill vegetation, 
and also so to dilute and wash out the soluble portions 
of the soil as to render it much less capable of bearing 
a crop, even when the water has been carried off. 
These circumstances must be well studied by the 
scientific drainer before he lays down his plan. © The 
straight line, being the shortest, is always to be pre- 
ferred for carrying off water speedily ; but a straight 
line may not suit the variations in the surface: you 
may have to go round the foot of a hillock, to collect 
what filters down between the soil and subsoil ; and 
you may have to go round a hollow, to prevent the 
water from running into it, and so save the trouble of 
very deep drains to draw it from the bottom when it 
is once lodged there. 
A section of the land, which canmlways be obtained 
by digging holes and boring, is essential to lay down the 
best plan for the drains. The drains must be sufti- 
cient to carry off all the superfluous water ; but it is a 
useless expense to have them larger or deeper than is 
necessary. They should consist of three distinct sizes 
at the least: very small, where they merely collect the 
dripping of the upper soil; somewhat larger, where 
many smaller drains pour in their contents; and the 
main drains, which carry all the water of many acres 
to the ditches where they empty themselves, should 
be proportioned to the quantity of water. The depth 
must also be regulated by the size of the drain—the 
larger it is the deeper it should lie, and better pro- 
tected from accidents which might choke it. In a 
soil where the upper soil is nine or ten inches deep— 
that is, where the plough has gone to that depth—and 
the hard impervious subsoil is found a few inches 
lower, a drain should be dug first so deep as to reach 
the solid clay, which comes out in spits without any 
crumbling, as if cut out of soap or cheese ; and in this 
solid mass the main drains and the secondary drains 
should be cut to the exact width of the tiles to be 
used, if this be the mode of draining: if they are to 
be filled up with broken stones, such as are used for 
macadamising roads—an excellent material—they 
must be made wider and deeper. On an average, the 
main drains should be three feet below the surface, if 
they are five or six inches wide at bottom. They 
should be filled up with solid clay or loam, rammed 
down over them; for it must be recollected that 
they are mere subterrancous channels, and do not 
at all dry the land around them,—they merely 
carry off the water collected by the secondary 
drains. The main drains should cross the greatest 
declivity of the field at the bottom, and have 
a sufficient fall into a river or deep ditch. In most 
cases one main drain may suffice; but in fields of 
great extent several main drains will be found neces- 
sary, that they may never be so full as to burst 
upwards, which would be a continual source of trouble 
and expense. The secondary drains may run down 
the declivity of the land; if this be not too steep 
they may in general be laid in the direction in which 
the land has been usually ploughed. Two feet six 
inches will in general be sufficient depth, and this 
will bring the tiles directly over those in the main 
drain,—much the most advantageous mode of union. 
Immediately over the tiles or stones in the secondary 
drains it may be useful to press down some strong 
heath, if it can be readily procured, or any porous 
material which will not rot soon ; and the earth thrown 
over the heath may be a mixture of the soil and sub- 
soil, trod in well, but not quite impervious to water. 
Thus these secondary drains will act as collectors of 
water, as well as conductors, and keep the soil dry 
from 10 to 15 feet on each side. We are well aware 
that we have hitherto only described the common 
mode of thorough draining, such as has been so ably 
advocated by Mr. Smith, of Deanston, and applied 
with muclt success by many proprietors and practical 
farmers. This is the mode we adopted ourselves. 
The secondary drains, as we now call them, according 
to the present mode of draining, require to be at 
no greater distance from each other than 1z, or at 
most 15, feet; the tiles being four or five inches in 
diameter outside, and two or three inside, with a flat 
tile to rest on. This is expensive ; and by the sug- 
gestion of a friend we are about to try an experiment, 
which, if it appears likely to succeed, may perhaps be 
also tried by some of our Agricultural readers. It is to 
have the secondary drains, in parallel lines down the 
declivity,as before, but 50 or 60 feet apart, and cohvert 
them into conductors; and to form smaller and 
shallower drains to collect the water from every spot 
in the field and pour it into the conductors. We shall 
explain the plan by a diagram. 
@ 
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b ra ~ ie 
Le 4 lla 
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BEN a | Seared S| a eee 
areal 
Ditch, 
1 
Main dracne 
The collectors are small drains, about 20 inches 
deep, made in the solid clay, as is the practice in 
Suffolk and Essex with a shoulder, as described in 
the last Number of the “ Journal of the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society of England,” and a sod of grass, or a peat, 
or any porous substance pressed into it to support the 
earth thrown over it. These drains are very cheaply 
executed by men who have the practice. T hey are 
only two inches wide at bottom, and a horse happen- 
ing to step over them, will not have room for his foot 
to make any serious impression. The subsoil-plough 
may work to the depth of 14 or 16 inches without 
fear of injuring them. If one should be choked, it 
will cause no stoppage in the others, and can readily 
be repaired ; or, which is safer, another may be dug 
by the side of it. Thus the expensive and regular 
tile-draining is united with the shoulder-draining, and 
at a great saving of expense. ‘The collectors may be 
25 feet long,—the portion of the drain which carries 
the water four inches deep and two wide, and the 
adhesive subsoil will not allow this to All up. The 
distance between the collectors must depend on the 
nature of the climate, and the average quantity ° 
evaporation, but in very wet soils 12 feet will be quite 
near enough. The conductors can be made an! 
finished by a practised workman for 2d. per pole of 
162 feet. The expense is easily calculated. ‘The 
main drains will cost altogether Sd. a pole, the 
