MR. HOGG ON THE EFFECTS OF 
MOLE-CATCHING. 237 
is evident, and not to be wondered at; but it is very delightful 
and entertaining to see with what avidity the lambs begin to the 
spreading as soon as a drought sets in. In the cool of the even¬ 
ing after a warm day, you may see scores, nay, hundreds of 
them, all as busy scraping the mole-hills as if resolved, like your 
honour and your compeers, to kill all the mowdies. You may 
sometimes even see the hogs and the gruff old wedders join the 
lambs in dancing one while, and scraping another, as a piece of 
excellent amusement. So away with your system of extermina¬ 
tion, laird. Mole your own farm if you will, but not one of the 
fellows with the traps and the paddle shall set a foot on my 
ground. If you persist in laying that tax on me, I will pay the 
fellows, but let them stay at home; for if, in future, I meet any 
of them here, it shall not be to their profit.” 
“ But then there is another great evil, against which you can 
neither have an argument nor expedient. We must either kill 
all the moles, or give up draining our land, for the moles destroy 
all the drains, by letting out the water.” 
“ A mere hoax, laird !—a quibble—a begging of the question ! 
I’ll confute it by the argumentum ad judicium. You know r it is 
now r allowed that, in draining sheep-pasture, the drains must be 
so much deepened as to contain the water in the sub-soil. This 
system has been acted on now for these many years, by every 
judicious farmer, for the following palpable reasons : Because, if 
only the mossy or marshy surface of the bogs is lifted in draining 
pasture lands, the drains are worthless, and of no avail; for 
that part being spongy, it sucks in all the wet, and keeps the 
land as moist as ever. The first sod in draining, you know r , 
sir, rises from the till or sub-soil; it is, therefore, now a uni¬ 
versal custom to take another spade-depth out below that, so 
that the water runs all in the sub-soil, which is generally clay 
or till. Now, into any of these the moles never enter, but keep 
boring away in the rich vegetable mould next to the surface; 
so that the argument, that the moles destroy the drains is equally 
futile and void of foundation, with the others which have been 
advanced to their prejudice. It is true, and I admit, that, when 
a great flood or thaw occurs, and the drains are full of water, 
then there are to be seen a number of small spouts here and 
there drawn off by the mowdie holes; but, as soon as the water 
in the drain subsides, these dry up, and the small pieces of the 
bog that were watered by these little foul spouts are greatly en¬ 
riched. But this is only reasoning a priori , laircl: [ shall 
now proceed to positive demonstration, by a simple statement of 
facts. 
“ I shall begin with an instance of the largest magnitude, and 
one on the largest scale that can possibly be adverted to; and I 
appeal to the tenants on the estate in question. Nay, I request 
