96 



Farming of Northamptonshire. 



amount expended in tiles and labour by his tenantry. A great 

 part of the estate has been furrow- drained, but a considerable 

 portion requires to be drained again, from the old drains being 

 worn out. 



On the estate of Wm. Hope, Esq., at Kushton, considerable 

 draining has been done, at the depth of 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet, 

 and from 7 to 10 yards apart ; the proprietor charging five per 

 cent, upon the outlay. Mr. B. S. Pulver informed me that he 

 and two other tenants last year used 300,000 tiles on their farms, 

 and that they should use as many this year. The Duke of Cleve- 

 land has obtained a grant from the Government Fund, part of 

 which has been expended in draining the Duke's property at 

 Brigstock, charging 6 J per cent, on the outlay. The Right 

 Hon. Vernon Smith has a tile-yard at the same place, and does 

 the drainage at 5 per cent, on the outlay. The tenants are 

 also permitted to have tiles, they doing the labour. Stafford 

 O'Brien, Esq., of Blatherwy eke Hall, who farms upwards of 1000 

 acres of heavy land, has a tile-yard and makes his own tiles, and 

 has been draining both deep and extensively. Around that 

 vicinity, which is all heavy land, a considerable quantity of drain- 

 ing has been executed ; also in the vicinity of Rockingham, Great 

 and Little Oakby, Weekly, Warkton, Grafton, and Geddington ; 

 some of the proprietors executing the v/ork and charging interest, 

 others finding tiles and the tenants cartage and labour. 



Considerable draining has also been done by Lord Ellesmere, 

 near to Brackley, J. B. Leigh, Esq., at Guilsborough, Sir Charles 

 Knightley at Fawsley, Sir Charles Wake at Courtenhall, Sir 

 Robert Gunning at Horton, and many other proprietors through- 

 out the county. 



On the large estates of the Duke of Buccleuch, Duke of 

 Grafton, Earl Spencer, Lord Overstone, and Lewis Lloyd, Esq., 

 tiles are given, and the tenants are doing the labour. This plan 

 is more popular with the tenantry than where the proprietors do 

 the entire work and charge a percentage on the amount expended. 

 It affords the occupier the opportunity of having the work done 

 at his own convenience, under his own control, and according to 

 his own plan of draining. When tiles are given care should be 

 taken that the work is done properly, some persons being unwill- 

 ing to incur the expense of putting them deep into the ground. 



With regard to the best mode of executing pipe-tile draining 

 there exists much difference of opinion amongst practical men, 

 and both experience and observation are daily teaching us that 

 710 general rule can he safely laid down for the proper depth and 

 distances of drains. A system which would prove eminently 

 successful on a stratum of porous subsoil, might become a partial 

 failure on a more retentive stratum of clay or marl ; hence has 



