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the effects of the sun and rendering them less liable to 

 freeze in winter. It lengthens the season of vegetation. 

 It prevents surface washing, by allowing the rain-water 

 to descend through the soil at once. It renders the sur- 

 face dry at all seasons, thus excluding the possibility of 

 miasma. 



For these reasons, I do not hesitate to recommend as 

 the first step in the work of improvement, the thorough 

 drainage of the entire area of the park. 



We have now to determine the character of the artifi- 

 cial drains which, in connection with the water courses, 

 shall put the ground in a condition to be used for the pur- 

 poses for which it is intended. Numerous methods have 

 been resorted to with stones, planks, brushwood and 

 open drains, as temporary expedients ; but experience 

 has shown that the only effectual, and in the end the 

 most economical method, is that of using porous tile 

 drains. If properly laid, they thoroughly extract the 

 surplus water from the soil, and form no impediment to 

 vegetation. There are three kinds of these tiles — the 

 cylindrical, the horse-shoe, and the sole-tile — the latter 

 being the most effective in its results, and most readily 

 adapted to all circumstances of soil. They are made of 

 different sizes, from two to six inches in diameter, and 

 about a foot in length. 



The location, size, distance apart, and depth of drains, 

 has formed a most fruitful subject of discussion in agri- 

 cultural journals, and whenever the subject has been 

 referred to at agricultural conventions, and meetings of 

 farmers' clubs. As a matter of course, much reliable 



