he drain-channels. Hence, we
never observe running water upon the surface of any of our drained
lands, either during the heaviest rains, or when snows are melting,
and the wasteful "washing" from the surface that formerly injured
our plowed grounds, has ceased.

It is fair to suppose that it is the considerable descent which
renders the drains so effectual at four rods apart; and that where
there is but slight fall, other circumstances being the same, it
would be necessary to lay drains much nearer, for equal service.

The results of one man's experiments, or practice, whether of
success or failure, should not be conclusive to another, unless all
the circumstances are identical. These are ever varying from one
farm to another; and only a right understanding of the natural laws
or principles brought into use, can determine what is best in each
case. Therefore, a description of the methods I have used, or any
detailed suggestions I may give, as the result of experience, would
not be worth much, unless tested by the well-ascertained rules
applicable to them, which men of science and skill have adopted
and proved, by the immensely extended draining operations in Great
Britain, and those begun in this country. These are now given in
elaborate treatises, and quoted in agricultural journals. But they
should be made familiar to every farmer, in all their practical
details, and with methods suited to our country, where labor is
dear and land cheap, as contrasted with the reversed conditions in
England, where the practice of "thorough-draining" has so generally
obtained, and has so largely improved the conditions of both
landlord and tenant. Your book will do this, and thus do a great
good; for draining will greatly enlarge the productive capacity of
our land, and, consequently, its value, while it will render labor
more effective and more remunerative to the employer and the
employed.

The fact of increased production from a given quantity of land, by
draining, being ascertained beyond question, and the measure of
that increase, at its minimum, being more than the interest at six
per cent. upon the sum required to effect it--even at $50 per
acre--the question of expediency is answered. To the owner of
tillage lands there is no other such safe, sure,