Steam Husbandry with Open Drainage. 99 



over the old tile drains, and in some fields in between them, 

 and in certain cases a centre tracker was opened from 

 middle-walk to side-line and then surface water was 

 drained into this by shallow drills leading into, and dug 

 at right angles to this tracker. Temporary relief was 

 thus obtained but the grave question had then to be 

 considered, whether by degrees to open the drains alto- 

 frether and by so doing pra6tically condemn not only the 

 tiles which had been laid with so much care, and at such 

 an outlay, but also steam tillage, or, whether this should 

 only be done here and there in individual fields. No 

 hard and fast rules could be laid down, and the advan- 

 tages of steam tillage being so enormous, other expe- 

 dients had to be carefully thought over, and if decided on, 

 put into execution with great caution, guided by weather 

 conditions and other circumstances as they existed. 



It will be understood that the temporary "deteriora- 

 tion of the cultivation" referred to by Mr. Crum EwinG, 

 a deterioration which I am happy to say no longer exists, 

 was partly due to insufficient drainage caused by the tiles 

 silting up, and in some fields to surface water in very heavy 

 weather, being unable to drain through the land quickly 

 enough, and deep enough to reach the tiles. This lack of 

 drainage was worse in some fields than in others, and the 

 conclusions arrived at, were, that in a heavy season and in 

 stiff soil, the tiles would never prove as efficient as open 

 drains, and it therefore became necessary to set about 

 considering how a system of open drainage could be 

 established, without at the same time abandoning the 

 use of the plough, which carefully superintended does 

 such excellent work and at such a low cost. The 

 only course I could think of, and in this I was greatly 



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