ith called it the "frequent drain system," and Mr. Denton says,
that, "for distinction sake, I have ventured to christen this ready-made
practice, the _gridiron system_," a name, by the way, which will,
probably, seem to most readers more distinctive than respectful.
Whatever may be the improvements on the Deanston method of draining, the
name of Mr. Smith deserves, and, indeed, has already obtained, a high
place among the improvers of agriculture.

VIEWS OF MR. PARKES.

About the year 1846, when the first Act of the British Parliament
authorizing "the advance of public money to promote the improvement of
land by works of drainage" was passed, a careful investigation of the
whole subject was made by a Committee of the House of Lords, and it was
found that the best recorded opinions, if we except the peculiar views
of Elkington, were represented by, if not merged into, those of Smith,
of Deanston, which have already been stated, or those of Josiah Parkes.
Mr. Parkes is the author of "Essays on the Philosophy and Art of Land
Drainage," and of many valuable papers on the same subject, published in
the journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, of which he was
consulting engineer. He is spoken of by Mr. Denton as "one whose
philosophical publications on the same subject gave a scientific bearing
to it, quite irreconcilable with the more mechanical rules laid down by
Mr. Smith."

The characteristic views of Mr. Parkes, as set forth at that time, as
compared with those of Mr. Smith, are--

"1st. _Less frequent drains_, at intervals varying from twenty-one
to fifty feet, _with preference for wide intervals_.

"2nd. _Deeper drains at a minimum depth of four feet_, designed
with the two-fold object of not only freeing the active soil from
stagnant and injurious water, but of converting the water falling
on the surface into an agent for fertilizing; no drainage being
deemed efficient that did not both remove the water failing on the
surface, and 'keep down the subterranean water at a depth exceeding
the power of capillary attraction to elevate it to near the
surface.'

"3rd. _Parallel arrangement of drains_, as advocated by Smith, of
Deanston.

"4th. _The advantage of increased depth_, as compensating for
increased width between the drains.

"5th. _Pipes of an inch bore, the 'best known conduit'_ for the
parallel drains. (See Evidence befo