RECLAIMING- WET LANDS. 
309 
sure line, for Kingston, 180 miles northeast¬ 
ward. 
The north shore of Ontario, below Toronto, 
appears dotted along with small farms, upon 
■which that sign of prosperous condition, a good 
barn, is often conspicuous. The first town of 
any note is Port Hope, which is really a very 
hopeful looking place, occupying a smooth val¬ 
ley that opens up through the hills with a grad¬ 
ual slope from the water. It has an excellent 
wharf and good-looking buildings, and with one 
exception, I must commend the place. “ Port 
Hope whiskey ” has long been the most noted 
and abundant article of export from this town, 
and I fear that some of the bricks of its nice 
looking edifices are cemented with the tears of 
widows and orphans of those made drunk upon 
its wicked abominations. A neat church was 
seen peeping out of the trees upon one of the 
hills, and at the foot of another, upon a grassy, 
shady plot, on the bank of the lake, some doz¬ 
ens of boys and girls were making the earth 
glad with joy, while the setting sun gilded the 
trees over their heads, dancing to the merry- 
notes of a poor old blind fiddler, and as we left 
the wharf, carrying away one of their compan¬ 
ions, they made the earth resound with such 
cheerful notes as only are heard in those spots 
where dwells rural simplicity. 
A few miles further on, and we pass Coburg, 
another thrifty-looking town, containing about 
3,000 inhabitants and a costly artificial harbor. 
Many of the Canada towns seem to have a pride 
in one conspicuous public building. Coburg 
is in the enjoyment of this feeling, in a very 
splendid stone edifice. I regretted after it was 
too late, that I had not made arrangements to 
visit these two towns, and if I had known their 
importance, would have done so. 
From here to Kingston, the passage was by 
night, but I was told the coast possessed no 
great attractions. I arrived in this ancient mil¬ 
itary-looking strong hold, on Sunday morning, 
August 18th, the weather perfectly clear, but 
cold enough to make a fire agreeable, if I could 
get it; but as that is not convenient, let us ram¬ 
ble out in the sunshine, and warm up a few 
ideas for my next letter. Solon Robinson. 
Kingston , Canada , August 19 th, 1850. 
RECLAIMING- WET LANDS. 
The situation of my lands that I have drained 
was formerly springy and cold, and so moist, 
most of the year, that it could not be plowed, 
except after a long season of dry weather. The 
grass which grew upon it was poor, and of very 
little use either for pasture or meadow. 
I have drained on different kinds of soil, and 
in all cases with good success. In some instan¬ 
ces, at the bottom of the ditches, was marl, oth¬ 
ers gravel, and some clay, and the surface an 
intermixture, from the salt ridges in some in¬ 
stances. 
I have tried both open and covered drains, 
but have been most successful with the covered 
ones. I commenced by plowing deep in the 
dryest part of the year, generally in the latter 
part of August. I can ascertain where the 
springy places are, and can better decide how 
to arrange my ditches. I place the ditches so 
as to touch all the portions of the soil that are 
most moist, in order to drain it as complete as 
practicable. [Mr. Gates makes his ditches 
of loose stones on his farm, and covers with 
flat stone, or slabs, when stones are not to 
be had. His ditches are generally from eighteen 
to twenty inches deep, and about fifteen inches 
wide. He has ditches covered with slabs which 
have been made eleven years, and are still in 
good preservation.] 
As to the expense, it is but a trifle more than 
to finish properly, a good open ditch with slop¬ 
ing sides. The objections to these latter ditches, 
are, that they so readily fill up and occasion 
much waste of land. The results of ditching, 
have, I think, increased my land at least three 
times its former value. I have raised on this 
land so reclaimed, the season after the ditching 
was completed, the largest crops on my farm, 
of corn, potatoes, barley, and spring wheat. 
Some of it is now in meadow, which yields the 
first quality of Timothy grass, where, previous 
to its being drained, it was scarcely worth 
mowing and gathering, and the quality was 
inferior.— N. Y. State Transactions. 
Daniel Gates. 
Sullivan , Madison County. 
IRRIGATION.—No. 4. 
Quality and Preparation of the Soil. —The best 
soil for a water meadow is a good gravel, though 
the richest herbage is sometimes found where 
there is scarcely any soil at all; as, on the mead¬ 
ows on the river Avon, in Wiltshire, England, 
which consist of beds of shingle and pebble 
stones, matted together by the roots of the grass. 
From good authority, it seems essential to the 
formation of a good water meadow, that the 
bottom be porous and free from stagnant water. 
Hence, under-draining is often indispensable 
before a meadow can be established ; and a 
marsh or peat bog, if drained and consolidated, 
may have water carried over its surface, and 
produce very good herbage. 
If the soil is a very stiff clay, draining is in¬ 
dispensable where a water meadow is to be 
made. It is found, also, that the more porous 
the soil, the less depth of water is required, 
which may not be obvious at first; but clayey 
soils let the water run over the surface without 
soaking into the roots, whereas, the porous soil 
is soon soaked to a considerable depth. The 
water, therefore, must be longer on the clay 
than on sand or gravel, to produce the same 
effect. If the water is properly applied, how¬ 
ever, almost all kinds of soils may be converted 
into fertile meadows. On very stiff clays, a 
coat of sand or gravel, where it can easily be 
obtained, will greatly improve the herbage. 
The gravel should not be plowed in, but spread 
on the surface, two or three inches thick. Soils, 
also, containing clay in an unburnt state, on ac¬ 
count of their aluminous salts, have the property 
of fixing the ammonia contained in the water, 
an important fact to be observed in regard to the 
distance it has to flow before suffered to waste,. 
