On Draining. 
251 
with the action of other natural forces inherent in soil, or depen- 
dent on meteorological phenomena. I need not again refer in 
detail to the points discussed in that essay, nor further than to ex- 
press the conviction, that without a pretty clear knowledge of the 
nature of those bodies, forces, and phenomena— without, in fact, 
informing ourselves of the properties of the tools with which Na- 
ture works, our own efforts and performances must be imperfect, 
and come short of the mark. A number of instances of draining, 
collected both previously and subsequently, and published by 
others as well as myself, induced in me a firm belief in a very early- 
formed opinion, that the general drainage then carrying on in this 
country was of a depth too shallow to realise the valuable results 
which a given expenditure of money was capable of effecting. 
Growing experience, with extended observation, have only served 
to strengthen my confidence in the superior efficiency of a deeper 
system of drainage, and the fortuitous discovery of the simple 
cylindrical pipe-conduit came in aid of those agriculturists and 
drainers whose convictions and practice were enlisted in the same 
cause. The Society owes to Mr. Pusey the first announcement 
that there were drain-tiles of that form in use, in his paper ' On 
the evidence on the antiquity, «.Scc. of thorough draining,' pub- 
lished in the May Journal of 1848; and in the same year, at the 
Derby show, Mr. John Read exhibited a few specimens of pipes. 
This was followed by an investigation into the use and merits of 
pipes made at the instance of the Council by myself in Kent, and 
reported in the second part of the Journal of the same year. 
There existed only at that time a machine of a rude kind for ma- 
nufacturing drain-pipes, but through the wide-spread information 
conveyed by the pages of the Society's Journals, and the prizes 
offered by it for superior machines, we have arrived, in the short 
space of three years, to that agreeable dilemma which actually 
renders the selection in our show-yard of the most meritorious pipe 
machine a matter of no little difficulty. From a machine having the 
faculty of producing about 1000 feet of pipes per diem, we have 
advanced, in less than three years, to the faculty of making 20,000 
feet in the same time ; in truth, the power of production by many 
of these machines is considerably, though usefully, greater than 
the requirements of any tilery. It may be also asserted that we 
have, during the same period, vastly enlarged our knowledge of 
the art of draining. We have come to consider, scientifically, 
what is meant by draining. Instances of the truest kind for guid- 
ing our judgment have been elicited from the practice of many 
farmers living in different counties, and occupying different kinds 
of soil; we have had collected and placed before us in juxtaposi- 
tion the fact and the effects of drains made at different depths, 
not only in similar soil, but in the same field ; we have the fact 
