Agriculture of Nottinghamshire. 
31 
Of late years efforts have been made in this way by individuals 
which have been attended with the most complete success, which 
it is our intention to describe. In many instances, however, the 
work has been performed by those who did not understand the first 
principles of the art, and who have in consequence failed to give 
satisfaction to their employers, the work when done being found 
incomplete. 
We allude in particular to various attempts that have been 
made to overstrain Elkington's principle of deep-draining, the 
object of which was more especially the interception of spring- 
water and the conveying it away before it had occasioned injury 
to the land lying below. To effect by the same means the re- 
moval of surface-water is where those individuals have erred: the 
latter can only be done, where the evil is in a soil of an adhesive 
nature, by making a sufficient number of surface-drains in addi- 
tion to deep drains for the removal of the spring-water. We will 
exemplify, by reference to an individual case, what we consider 
the only efficient means of draining strong land, and which we do 
with the greater confidence from our knowledge of the results 
having proved highly satisfactory. The instance we allude to is 
upon the farm of Mr. Parkinson, of Leyfields, where may be 
seen the principles of drainage carried out to the greatest per- 
fection. As it is a subject of paramount importance, we shall 
attempt in a few words to show what his system has been ; at the 
same time remarking on other improvements which have been 
gone into there. About a year and a half ago we were much 
gratified by an inspection of every part of the farm, and the con- 
clusion we then came to was, that taking into consideration the 
difficulties that have been overcome, and the success which has 
been attained, it offered the highest example of first-rate farming 
we had ever seen ; an opinion which remains to the present time 
unchanged. 
The soil varies from a heavy sand to a strong loam ; the 
whole lying on a substratum of cold clay. The spring-water has 
been drawn off" by deep drains, some of which are not less than 
15 feet in depth, and are in most cases independent of the surface 
drains. These deep drains are made subservient to furnishing 
water for the use of the stock upon the whole farm, by conveying 
it into troughs, all neatly paved around and kept perfectly clean. 
The drains are formed of large tiles, and overlaid with stones 
when needful. Those for taking away the surface-water are laid 
about 24 inches deep, in some places more, and are formed of 
smaller tiles laid on flat bottoms, where necessary, at distances 
from 18 to 24 feet apart. The old ridges where requisite are still 
slightly preserved, the drains in such case being laid down the 
furrows ; otherwise the drains run parallel with the fences. 
