surface, and are thus rendered available for the food of plants. In the case of the potatoe crop, equal advantages will accrue from repeated stirring of the soil; in this case cultivation begins before the young stems make their appearance, the ridges are harrowed down, and set up again several times; this checks the growth of weeds. As soon as the young plants make their appearance, the grubber is freely used between the ridges; the more frequently the soil is stirred to a moderate depth, the better prospect there is for a heavy crop. In the growth of cereal crops the farmer is dependent on the snow and rain, and the thorough drainage of his fields to convey the oxygen of the air to supply the silent workers in the soil. In the application of farmyard manure to the soil, frequent errors are committed by burying it too deeply in the soil; here ancient practice confirms the teachings. of modern science. I have frequently been struck with, to me, the peculiar practice of drawing out and spreading the farmyard manure on the land in preparation for the root crop; it is then covered in with a shallow furrow, rolled down and allowed to remain in this state for a fortnight or three weeks until the period for sowing arrived, generally about the twenty-first day of June; the land was then scuffled, and as a consequence bringing a considerable quantity of the manure to the surface; the seed was then drilled on the flat in rows twenty inches apart. All the after cultivation they received was setting out the young plants and one or two light hand hoeing between the rows; the use of a grubber or scuffler was practically unknown. In dry seasons the crops invariably suffered from attacks of mildew and were often rendered comparatively worthless, whilst in dripping seasons. moderate crops of good quality were grown. Whatever success was attained was due to keeping the manure near

the surface, here nitrification was carried on at a very shallow depth. In the best cultivated districts of Scotland the bean crop is grown on ridges and the horse-hoe freely used and the soil to the depth of six or eight inches well aerated; hence the bean crop acts as a good preparation for the subsequent wheat crop. Undoubtedly our increasing knowledge of science is leading on to improved practice by which the productive powers of the soil are rapidly increasing.

GILBERT MURRAY.

Author of practical articles in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, the Highland Society's Journal, Colman's "Cattle and Sheep of Great Britain," Morton's Handbooks, "Farm Series," Stephen's "Book of the Farm," and most of the leading periodical publications of the day; Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England; Life Member of the Highland Society; Past President of the Midland Valuers' Association: Agricultural Examiner for the B.Sc. degree of the University of Edinburgh; Winner of many prizes for reports and for designs of Farm Homesteads and Labourers' Cottages; Winner of the £100 prize offered by The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the best cattle truck with facilities for feeding and watering in transit; Author of numerous pamphlets on "Dairy Farming," "Agricultural Depression," "The Shire Horse," "Agricultural Education," and many other subjects.

THOROUGH drainage is the foundation of all other improvements on bibulous soils. Whether it be a single field, a farm, or an estate, the first duty which devolves on the drainage engineer is the preparation of a skeleton plan of the subject to be operated upon. Next he must examine the course of the brooks or natural watercourses, and then ascertain the lowest and most conveinent outlet for his chief mains. These are set out on the plan from levels taken on the spot. The direction of sub-mains are next laid down. Before deciding on the size of pipe

to be used it is essential that some calculations be made. Efficiency and economy should rule the practice of every drainer. This is a point that seldom receives much attention from the so-called practical drainer, who boasts

of his long experience and knowledge of the work, consequently he very frequently uses pipes of a capacity far beyond the necessary requirements of the case. I well remember, when a young man, having an altercation with one of this class, whom no argument would convince that two four-inch pipes were not equal in capacity to one eight-inch; the only convincing proof was to place the eight-inch pipe upright on a lump of tempered clay, and stopping the end of a four-inch filling it with water, and emptying it into the former until it reached the top; by this means I gained the confidence of a reliable workman. With amateur drainers it is a common occurrence to use much larger pipes than are necessary, both in the main and the minor drains, hence the cost is piled up to an enormous extent. Employers complain with good cause, though they generally have only themselves to blame, for employing unskilled persons. I have another objection to the use of large pipes, where smaller ones are sufficient, on account of their greater liability to become silted with a slack gradient and only a small flow of water which in a large pipe covers a greater surface and hence is less capable of removing obstructions.

According to reliable datum large and deep rivers flow with sufficient rapidity with a fall of one foot per mile; small tortuous rivers require at the least two feet per mile; small brooks can with difficulty keep an open course with a fall of four feet per mile; covered drains require about eight feet per mile. The quantity of water that will require to be removed during twenty-four hours will not under ordinary circumstances exceed one tenth of an inch of rainfall. With a head of ten feet per mile a six-inch pipe at the outfall will be sufficient to discharge the drainage from a field thirty-six acres in

extent; with a greater head a smaller pipe will be sufficient. With a head of sixteen feet a four-inch pipe would be sufficient to discharge the drainage from a field seventeen acres in extent. If there be sub-mains discharging their waters into the main at different points, the size of the pipes in the main drain may be correspondingly lessened. Wherever practicable the main drain should have a clear fall of six inches from the lower side of the outlet pipe to the level of the brook or river through short lengths of iron pipe corresponding with the different sizes of main pipes. One end of these is cast with a socket into which the drain pipe fits; to the outer end is attached a hinged grating to prevent the ingress of vermin which collect obstructions and imperil the free action of the water. The outlets should be protected both in front and at the sides by a wall constructed of fireclay bricks set in hydraulic mortar; the end of the pipe should project four to six inches beyond the face of the wall, a large flag or other smooth stone should be placed at the outlet; in fact, this stone should be built into the wall. On the low lands of the river valleys I have frequently experienced great difficulty in obtaining sufficient fall for some of the mains which, in flood time, are often many feet submerged. This does not entirely stop the flow, as many suppose. Although the pipe may be full for a considerable distance, there is still a circulation in the drain, the water in which proceeds at the same rate of speed as that of the river. My experience extends over a number of years, and only in a very few cases have I found the efficiency of the drain impaired. We have long since superseded the wasteful and unsatisfactory practice of cutting a hole in a main pipe to receive the sub-main. At every junction or angle in the main drain we form a cesspool, or what in the Derbyshire vernacular is called a panter pit; this