On the Advantage of Deep Drainage. 



497 



to drain a small field of seven acres, and to put the drains at the 

 depth of 4 feet, and at wide intervals between the drains. This 

 was effected as I had desired. My bailiff, being a very intelligent 

 and unprejudiced man, made no objection, but he only doubted 

 much whether the very wet and most tenacious clay which I had 

 selected could be rendered dry by drains at wide intervals and 

 4 feet deep. 



The field in question, at the time of trying the experiment, 

 was old grass-land, which, previous to the deep draining, was 

 pared and burnt ; and being in high ridges of various widths, it 

 was necessary to place the deep drains at intervals of unequal 

 width. The width of the intervals was 40 feet upon an average. 



My experiment succeeded so completely that I was then 

 anxious to communicate with Mr. Parkes, but I neither knew him 

 nor where he resided. You may perhaps remember that I sent 

 to you the letter which I had written to him, desiring that you 

 would be so obliging as to forward it. 



Since that first experiment I have drained a considerable part 

 of my cold clay land on the same principle, and invariably with 

 the same success. It would, therefore, be quite unnecessary to 

 enter into further details as to my own practice; but, neverthe- 

 less, I must be allowed to notice one particular field which has 

 been subjected by me to the deep- drainage system. This was a 

 field rather varied at top, but chiefly of strong clay ; and the 

 subsoil in particular is so tough, and so difficult to work, that 

 doubts were entertained as to the practicability of laying the land 

 dry by means of drains sunk so deep as 4 feet from the surface. 

 The work, however, was perfectly well executed ; and the ques- 

 tion then was, what should be the first crop on this deep-drained 

 field. My bailiff, who had become a perfect convert to deep 

 drains at wide intervals, resolved to sow it with turnips. The 

 farmers of the neighbourhood said that such strong clay land was 

 not calculated for turnips. They, however, turned out the best 

 that I saw that year ; and my bailiff, having gone in the autumn 

 to see his father in Roxburghshire, declared to me on his return 

 that he had seen no crop superior to it in Scotland. More than 

 this, it had happened that Lord Lilford, living not many miles 

 from me in Northamptonshire, saw that particular field while 

 under the process of draining. He was struck with the very bad 

 appearance of the soil, consisting, as I have said, of very strong 

 clay above and below ; and his lordship was again at my place 

 when the field was covered with a magnificent crop of turnips. 

 His astonishment was the greater, from seeing upon that field of 

 strong clay a flock of sheep, which remained there without the 

 slightest injury to the land during the winter till all the turnips 

 were consumed. 



