AGRICULTURE. 
Injurious moisture in land arises often from 
springs in the bowels of the earth. The per- 
son who first published the method of drain- 
ing land in these circumstances, was Doctor 
John Anderson, of Aberdeen, while Mr. El- 
kington was actually practising upon the same 
principle, in various parts of England, with 
complete success; and at length obtained 
from the British parliament a thousand 
pounds, as the discoverer of so valuable an 
improvement. In Italy and in Germany, 
however, it is stated upon respectable au- 
thority, that the art has been long known 
and practised. Some of the strata of which 
the earth is composed, will admit the free 
passage of water through them, while others 
effectually resist it. Gravel is obviously 
characterised by the former quality, and 
clay by the latter. The upper part of 
mountains is frequently composed of gravel, 
which extends far into their depth, and con- 
veys with it the water received upon their 
surface from the clouds. Meeting with 
layers of clay or rock, however, the water 
is unable to permeate them, and flows 
upon the upper part of them obliquely, 
according to that general direction of the 
layers or laminae, which form the earth to- 
wards the plain or valley. After descending 
for some way, the layer of gravel along 
which the water had passed, and from which 
it could not penetrate the clay, flowing only 
on its surface, often passes, in consequence 
of the obliquity just mentioned, under new 
strata of materials, consisting of clay, or 
some substance equally difficult to be pene- 
trated by moisture. The water is thus con- 
fined between impervious beds. If the 
layer of gravel suddenly stops, in such cir- 
cumstances, as it often does, the water 
which it had conveyed between these two 
beds deriving fresh accumulation per- 
petually from its original source, will at 
length permeate the superior layer, ascend- 
ing through its weaker parts, and arriving 
at last at the surface, will there stagnate. 
The art of draining lands in this situation, 
(the principle of which, in whatever research 
or casualty its discovery originated, is of 
such happy application) consists merely of 
digging or ( boring With an auger into the 
earth, so as to reach the layer of gravel ; 
the water in which, finding an easy and ra- 
pid access upwards by this vent, no longer 
presses in its former diffused manner, to 
the injury of the superior clay, which will 
consequently cease to nourish moss and 
weeds, through redundant moisture, and be 
fitted for the purposes of useful cultivation. 
The application of this principle to the pur- 
poses of improved husbandry may be con- 
sidered at present as in its infancy. It may 
be presumed that, in future periods, it may 
be carried to an extent of incalculable uti- 
lity, and be connected with the supply of 
navigable canals, and the movement of ma- 
chinery adapted to various objects of art 
and commerce. The manner in which the 
various strata are intermingled with each 
other, must, it is obvious, as nearly as 
possible, be ascertained before this prac- 
tice can be applied with certainty of suc- 
cess ; and the surest way of discovering 
their direction consists in examining the 
beds of the nearest rivers, and the appear- 
ance of their steep and broken banks. The 
examination of pits, wells, and quarries, 
in the vicinity, will also contribute infor- 
mation on the subject. Rushes and other 
plants, which grow only in moisture inju- 
rious to other vegetables, will likewise often 
indicate where a collection of water is im- 
peded in its course below, and consequently 
presses upward, to the destruction of use- 
ful vegetation. In draining a large bog it 
will be generally proper to dig a trench 
from one end of it to the other, with cross 
trenches at considerable distances, to allow 
the water a free discharge, by frequently 
piercing the bottom, at which the springs 
are to be found, with an auger. A single 
perforation will frequently, indeed, com- 
plete the object. Instances have occurred 
in which water thus raised has been made to 
ascend, by erecting round the perforation 
a building of brick, lined on both sides with 
clay, above the level of the bog, applicable 
to a variety of purposes, and conveyed by 
pipes, or otherwise, to a considerable dis- 
tance. Detailed regulations for the appli- 
cation of this important principle, so pro- 
ductive a source of improved cultivation, 
are precluded by the assigned limits of this 
article. 
ON FENCES. 
Without firm and close fences, the hus- 
bandman might as well cultivate open fields 
as inclosures, which in these circumstances, 
indeed, are only nominally such. He is 
under perpetual and well-founded appre- 
hensions lest cattle of his own or his neigh- 
bours should break into his corn or hay- 
fields. To prevent these painful apprehen- 
sions and irreparable mischiefs, every at- 
tention must be bestowed on the fences of 
a farm. Large and rich pastures may most 
easily be divided into fields of ten acres 
each, by which the land is less liable to be 
