112 
DRAINING LAND. 
which may be applied here either directly or with 
modifications, we shall be happy to hear from him. 
Our orders for them are constantly increasing, and 
we wish to be immediately apprized of all new 
inventions or improvements in this line. This is 
a very important subject to the farmer and planter. 
Pittsburgh Feb. 17 th, 1844. 
Upon reading the letter of Mr. John C. Potts, 
at page 365, Yol. II., of the American Agricultu¬ 
rist, and seeing the cut of the three-share plow, 
(which he mentioned,) in your last February No., 
it occurred to me that an implement lately used 
in Scotland with universal approbation , would be 
just the thing for the south. It is known by the 
name of Wilkie’s Horse Hoe and Drill Harrow. 
This implement, a rough sketch of which I send 
you, is guided and drawn like a plow between 
the rows, thoroughly scuffling or clearing the land 
from its numerous weeds. The depth to which 
its prongs and feathered feet go in the soil, is regu¬ 
lated by elevating or depressing the wheel in front. 
It likewise answers as a rake by dragging along 
with it the heaps of destroyed weeds, so that a 
hand can basket them off with ease ; it also keeps 
the soil in fine order. I have seen the same im¬ 
plement fitted with light moveable mould-boards 
on each side, which answered exceedingly well 
where necessary to throw the mould round the 
roots of the growing plants, as in the case of pota¬ 
toes, &c. It performs its work in a superior man¬ 
ner, and at less than half the cost of plowing. 
There are two or three minor improvements which 
I could adapt if I were making the implement; 
but in its present state it is the most effective thing 
of the kind with which I am acquainted, and I 
have seen many. If you think the implement 
worth notice in the Agriculturist, I would give you 
any further particulars you might require, or you 
might send a tracing of it to your southern friends. 
If you think this communication worth your no¬ 
tice, I could send you descriptions of other impro¬ 
ved implements, which are considered (in Eng¬ 
land at least) superior to anything of the same 
kind in use. 
DRAINING LAND. 
It is now a well-established fact, that land must 
be dry before any permanent improvements can be 
made. Lime and manure are almost a total loss 
when used on lands that are saturated with water 
a great part of the year. In some cases this arises 
from springs, in others it arises from a heavy re¬ 
tentive subsoil, and the land laid down in such a 
form that the water can not drain off. Under¬ 
draining is the only proper remedy for lands wet 
by springs. The cheapest and most durable man¬ 
ner of doing this, is the knowledge that farmers 
want; and the best way to impart this knowledge 
is to state facts arising from experience. 
In the fall of 1834 I drained six acres of land; 
after grubbing off the bushes which had held pos¬ 
session of it from time immemorial, I run three 
drains 2 feet wide, and 20 inches deep, over the 
land, all uniting at one corner of the field. 
b, b, b, represent slight rises of ground 6 to 8 feet 
high, the rest of the six-acre field being nearly 
level, slightly declining to where the ditches meet 
in one; a, a, a, springs which before the ditches 
John Nelson. 
