Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1856-07-04

thtrus, or thtce-QuaItVIe' ANu' Ahtouhu-
ing as the fact may appear, permanent un.
dcr-drainago has been confined to mere plots
and corners, as it were and only one pant
oui Of aIiorn Of the English acres needing
il have received this improvement.
Mr.. Bailey Denton computes the area Of
land in England, cultivated or capable Of
cultivation, to be 43,9js 900 acres; and
estimates the proportion of "wct land " in
this area at o, 500, 600 acres, or rather more
than half. And Of this quantity OF wet
land he assumes that 81 ,j2j 900 acres siill
remain to be drained. Had wo an orgauir.
cd system Of collecting the statistics Of our
produce, II would be comparatively ca,y to
arrive at a pretty accurate estimate Of the
cxtcn, Of land undcr-draincd or, indeed,
to discover the relative prevalence or re-
s,ric,cdncs, Of any other practice Of hus-
bandry. But, reckoning from tho public
and private moneys borrowed, from reports,
from correspondence with nll parts Of the
country, and practical acquaintance with
many different countries, Mr.. Denton has
tabulutcd nTproximutivc results, which no
person, during the consideration Of h!s pa
nor. ever vcuturcl 70 call in question; and
which, indeed, agree with calculations pre-
yi,u,ly malo by Mr.. Scott.
A. only r,rmar~ri drainage il included,
however, there mus; be o considerable cJ-
ten. Of land besides, which is receiving tho
benefit Of partial or temporary drainage;
n,, for instance, such as is treated every few
wear. with thorn or bush draining, tho use
Of the molc-plow, &c. But If we take the
area % periodically drained as equal to that
permanently drained with tlcs, and thus
double the above estimate, we shall then
hav, only o,73O,OOO acFcs, or about ono.
eighth Of the wet lands, lToush; under tho
Improvement
II Is natural to suppose that hc most
dr1r.iral ground. have '~rn hofrtuplel;
lands %, most obviously AMI ruiuouslywct
hay, l,,n f1r ihc mos, part drained or hr-
gun with, excepting low places oppressed
by no1din. STRAINS, still, however, the
enormous remainder consists or corn.pro.
ducinr folds, upon which unlrr-,lrainar'
would o, followed by an augmented yield
uran which high ridges and slrIaccrriTs
arc q necessary anl prolonged nuisance,
tllirs operations ar, hini.r-l many sca.
sons, and no valuable plants crow hoal,hily.
II dninneo. then. b. sltcr M comrara-
tiygly rarc and undcyc'orcI improvement
almost unknown in some districts, AMI fully
completed in nonc-how can We expect that
the 'uls,lucn, practices Of suh-s1iIinc, do'p
tr.nchin., and high farming, should unj,er-
sallv rryyail2 Here arc We, setting Prof
Way 70 work, to investigate the action %
tho atmosphere in tho rccossrs Of the soil,
offering great premiums for the invention of
a steam cultiyat0r that shall surpass the
spade. and vet, over the larger portion u
our country, the want Of the very frs; rc-
uui.itr of god husllulry j. practically re-
rudiatiu. an such advances as inarplicahlc,
and therefore absurd We will not say, lrt
us rclinqu,h an other srccula,iou' and i'm.
rroygmcnts until the land has 'crn drained;
but we DO assert that no land owner has a
claim 10 De- hcarl on thr side or agricultural
Improvement, until he has shown himself
in good Earnest in draining p much of his
property A. requires il and that no tenant
farmer has q right 20 b. considered as a
practical authority" a, long as he live
resigned % hs fl;c upon anurlnincl farm.
Irlaul owner, will not attend TO their duty,
occupicrs must b, instructed % ftcl the Dis
advantage under which ,hcy labor, anl y
publ, cry r1r the drainage Of the '1il oush;
TO proclaim itsslr in q yoico which no one
shall dare to disregard or deny. Farmers
MAGAZINE.
We uc,d no, remind our readers Of our
long advocacy Of thorough drainage, nor Of
i,s Importance, other than tie getting rilof
large czcgsss Of water in very wet l5caliti.s;
we have shown the advantages arising from
the continued and active humidity ol under
drained soils, and Of the ciroct Of atmosphere
while circulating in such prepared soils,
The above article shows Us that but a
small portion or England whcr, uuicr-drains
have longest hcCn introduced, as yet, SO i'm.
Troyod,bu; even thi. portion has 80 matori-
ally increased tho amount Of English pro-
duets, as 70 nearly or quite relieve them from.
icing importers. Millions Of pounds ster-
ling have been loaned on understanding
mortgages, only active as mortgages alter a
fixed value Of the farm. Tho government,
large chartered companies, and wealthy in
diyiduals, have each found it to their inter
est TO make suchloans. Even the hereditary
estates OF England, which have been 80 jcal-
ously protected as such, by the government,
may be mortgngcd for purposes Of under
drainage, and for no other The rcsul, has
always been to enable the farmer to pay the
mortgage and It's interest FROM his increased
crops and after a term Of twenty years or
less, the land is permanently increased in
value, equal to the cost Of the under
drainage, while lis cost has been entirely
paid by the current increased profits during
that term. 4, it not evident that the coun-
try at large has been benefited by ths in
creased power Of production; Has 1t cost
enc dollar to England in its relations with
other countric,2 Does the understanding