state, and the published statements of
its owner, asserts, that the drains there laid have _no uniformity of
depth_--part of the tiles being laid but eighteen inches deep, and
others four feet and more, in the same field.

Secondly, that there is _no uniformity as to direction_--part of the
drains being laid across the fall, and part with the fall, in the same
fields--with no obvious reason for the difference of direction.

Thirdly, that there is _no uniformity as to materials_--a part of the
drains being wood, and a part tiles, in the same field.

Finally, it is contended that there is no saving of expense in the
Keythorpe draining, over the ordinary mode, when all points are
considered, because the pretended saving is made by the use of wood,
where true economy would require tiles, and shallow drains are used
where deeper ones would in the end be cheaper.

In speaking of this controversy, it is due to Lord Berners to say, that
he expressly disclaims any invention or novelty in his operations at
Keythorpe.

On the whole, although a work at the present day which should pass
over, without consideration, the claims of the Keythorpe system, would
be quite incomplete in its history of the subject, yet the facts
elicited with regard to it are perhaps chiefly valuable, as tending to
show the danger of basing a general principle upon an isolated case.

The discussion of the claims of that system--if such it may be
called--may be valuable in America, where novelty is sure to attract, by
showing that one more form of error has already been tried and "found
wanting;" and so save us the trouble of proving its inutility by
experiment.

THE WHARNCLIFFE SYSTEM.

Lord Wharncliffe, with a view to effect adequate drainage at less
expense than is usual in thorough drainage, has adopted upon his estate
a sort of compromise system, which he has brought to the notice of the
public in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.

Upon Fontenelle's idea, that "mankind only settle into the right course
after passing through and exhausting all the varieties of error," it is
well to advise our readers of this particular form of error also--to
show that it has already been tried--so that no patent of invention can
be claimed upon it by those perverse persons who are not satisfied
without constant change, and who seem to imagine that the ten
commandments might be improved by a new edition.

Lord Wharncliffe states his principles as