88 Mole-draining and the Renovation of Old Pipe Drains. 
attention. The farmer will not only ensure his crops from 
damage by surface water, but will save every year at least one 
ploughing, besides being able in most seasons to get on his 
land at the proper time and have a chance to put his seed in 
on a good tilth. 
Arable land has been chiefly mentioned because the results 
are more easily seen and appreciated on arable than on grass 
land ; but as great or greater results can be obtained on grass 
lands. Grass farms have been absolutely altered in character 
by mole-draining, and have been made worth more than double 
the old rent. 
Another very important advantage of draining is the fact 
that it can be utilised to feed ponds. It is therefore always 
advisable to arrange the main so that it discharges into a pond 
where possible (Fig. 3). Mole drains will as a rule run 
quicker than pipe drains, and thus a heavy thunder-storm will 
often fill a pond quite full through their agency. 
One difficulty in mole-draining lies in the fact that if a very 
dry season follows the spring in which the work is carried out, 
the cut made by the coulter does not close up, in fact, it may 
get larger, and then the earth crumbles and falls into the drain 
and so blocks it up. In order to obviate this, the experiment 
was tried on a grass field of first turning a furrow with the 
plough with the idea of turning it back over the crack, but it 
was found that the mole plough drawn with engines would not 
work with the turf left close beside it, and so the furrow-slice 
had to be replaced in its original position before the work 
could be proceeded with. It is always advisable to pass a 
heavy roller over the drains on grass land as soon as the drain- 
ing is finished. Next spring I shall have a small cutting blade 
fixed on each side of the plough beam behind the main bar, so 
shaped as to close up the crack above the drains. 
Speaking from a land agent’s point of view I have found 
tenants quite ready to pay the bill for the steam work and coal, 
besides doing all the necessary hauling, if the landlord will 
find the pipes and put the mains and mouths in order, or if he 
will put in any new mains that may be required. The land- 
lord should also have an experienced man to superintend the 
draining. 
In order to comply with the Agricultural Holdings Act, the 
cost paid by the tenant is reckoned out and the compensation 
for this is agreed either on a three or on a five years’ basis, 
i.e., if a tenant is on the five years’ basis and he leaves at the 
end of the third year he would receive as compensation 
two-fifths of the money paid by him. These are favourable 
terms, for the tenant generally obtains in the first year heavier 
crops which more than repay the whole of his outlay. I 
