PART IV. 



AGRICULTURE. 



201 



or boring holes ; both which are perfectly simple, and easily 

 understood and executed. The practice of boring and digging 

 pits is sometimes made use of for carrying off water, by letting it 

 sink from the surface into lower strata (as well as for bringing it 

 forth into the cuts or drains) ; and this practice sometimes pro- 

 duces astonishing effects at very little expence. Much may be 

 done, however, and often very striking effects are produced, 

 by cuts alone, without either boring or making pits : a consider- 

 able number of these have come under my notice in different 

 places ; I shall here mention one which occurred at Kersehall 

 some years ago. The two fields in Plate IX. are upon an 

 irregular hill or knoll, and contain nearly thirty acres. The 

 water which issued forth at AAA rendered them not worth 

 20s. an acre; and the drains there shewn were made at a 

 great expence to carry it off, but without effect. My father, 

 however, having paid a good deal of attention to this branch 

 of Georgi.cs, on examining the substrata along with me, caused 

 the drain BB to be cut, which in less than a month drained 

 both the fields, and the land is now worth 31. an acre. This 

 drain, when made, did not cost one-tenth part of the amount 

 of the others ; and the difference of preserving it in repair must 

 be comparatively nothing in this case ; as the others are mostly 

 on a loose bottom, and so small as easily to be choked up. 

 The sections C D and E F will, without any explanation, shew 

 the reason of this success ; which arose from the inclination of 



D D 



