294 
Farvihg of Kent. 
assisting^ the inventor to mature his discoverv and brin^ it inio 
practical operation.* It would appear that on any estate requir- 
ing draining and possessing a suitable clav for makirg tiles or 
pipes, a temporary tilery might be erected adequate to all common 
wants, including the purchase of machine, pug-mill, &c., for the 
small sum of fifty pounds ! The discovery of so cheap and expedi- 
tious a means of manufacturing tliat upon which the further ad- 
vancement of agriculture in tlie cold clay districts of Britain 
essentially depends, cannot fail to confer upon this nation unspeak- 
able advantages. 
Before, however, draining can be successfully carried out in the 
Weald and other enclosed portions of the county, the small fields 
must be enlarged by grubbing hedges and felling trees. Xot less, 
perhaps, than an eighth of the entire area of the arable land of 
this extensive district is occupied by hedges and trees, taking into 
calculation the ground that is injured by their roots and shade. 
Many of the fields consist ofoaly three or four acres: the mere mecha- 
nical disadvantages, therefore, of cultivation are obvious, especially 
when it is considered that upon this heavy soil four horses are 
usually worked at length in ploughing. I'he corn too near the 
hedges is always of a verj' inferior quality as well as deficient in 
quantity, being much injured by birds and lodged by wind. In 
s.howery harvests it is always sure to be damaged by sprouting, 
and is frequently worthless. In small fields a large proportion of 
the gromid consists of headlands, which on an adhesive soil in wet 
seasons are made into a perfect puddle bj- the turning of the 
horses employed in the various processes of cultivation, the ground 
thus becoming useless. " Lost falloicsj" as they are aptly 
termed, not uufrequently occur in wet autumns in small enclosed 
fields, where light and air are in a measure shut out, and the 
impoitant process of evaporation is as a consequence greatly 
impeded. Thus nearly a whole year's expenses, and perhaps a 
dressing of manure, are almost lost. There are many thousands 
of acres in the Weald of Kent which cannot under existing circum- 
stances be cultivated without a positive loss, that might be made 
to vield of most kinds of corn a full average of the kingdom. It 
is a mistake to suppose that this portion of the county is in itself 
so much inferior to the rest in the natural productiveness of its soil. 
Its stately timber trees and productive wood-lands afford demon- 
strative proof of the capabilities of the soil. All that is required is 
to allow free access of light and air, in connexion with an efi'ective 
system of cultivation and drainage. Enough has already been 
• For particulars, see Mr. Hod^es's paper " On the cheapest method of 
Making and Burning Draining Tiirs," in the current number ot the Society's 
Journal, vol. v., p. 551. 1 regret to add, that since that paper was 
written the inventor of the machine is no more. 
