CULTIVATION OF WASTE LAND. 
403 
guide him in cutting one side with a tool called a ‘ Tommy spade.’ 
—This spade is heart-shaped, and quite flat, that is, not dished, hav¬ 
ing the two somewhat circular edges as sharp as a scythe, or nearly 
so ; the shaft is about twenty-four inches long, straight, and has a 
strong cross-handle at the top, about eighteen inches long. The 
workman cuts one side of the intended drain to about a foot dee]), 
much in the same way, though, of course, with a different position 
and motion of the body, arising from the difference in the form of 
the tool, as a person would cut hay from the stack. Having made 
this cut to as great a length as is convenient, the line is shifted four 
feet, and the other side is cut. The intervening space is then divided 
into pieces of about a foot square, (with the same tool,) which are 
thrown out by the workman, who, as soon as he has made room for 
himself, standing in the drain, supported by pieces of wood fastened 
to his feet, technically called pattens. If the moss is found suf¬ 
ficiently dry, another sinking of a foot is immediately had, and, on 
one side of the bottom a still further narrow deepening, in the shape 
of a wedge, is made, which while it increases the power of the drain, 
is more dry and easy to take out at some future period. Whether the 
two sinkings, or, as they are called among Lancashire moss workmen, 
draws, can be effected, must be left to the state of the moss and the 
judgment, of the improver; but in almost any case this is the extent 
that should be attempted at once, and the drain may be completed 
when the moss shall have attained sufficient solidity ; to increase 
which, the hollow drains should be commenced : these should be 
three feet deep, and be increased at every five or six yards. A lapse 
of time between the operations for forming them is equally necessary, 
as in the case of the open drains. No foreign material is required, 
such as wood, tiles, or stone, the moss itself is the best, as well as the 
cheapest covering. The form should combine the principle both of 
the shoulder and the wedge drain, and the somewhat square clod 
which is first taken out, when dried to a certain extent by the wea¬ 
ther, becomes the cover. The writer fears that no description which 
lie could give as to the mode of forming these drains, would be suf- 
liciently plain and instructive to enable others, without seeing them, 
to make a correct judgment either as to the propriety of the form, or 
the economy with which they are executed; should, however, the 
approbation of the Liverpool Agricultural Society cause this paper 
to become public, the author will be most happy in personally show¬ 
ing and explaining to its members, or any other gentleman who may 
feel interested in the subject, both the drains and the manner of ex¬ 
ecuting them. The inclination at which the water will have to de- 
