of much greater
consequence.

Barley will not thrive in wet soil, and there is no question that drainage
would give it much more than the increased yield prescribed above.

As to hay, there are many wet, rich soils which produce very large crops
of grass, and it is possible that drainage might not always cause them to
yield a thousand pounds more of hay to the acre, but the _quality_ of the
hay from the drained soil, would, of itself, more than compensate for the
drainage charge. The great benefit of the improvement, with reference to
this crop, however, lies in the fact that, although wet, grass lands,--and
by "wet" is meant the condition of undrained, retentive clays, and heavy
loams, or other soils requiring drainage,--in a very few years "run out,"
or become occupied by semi-aquatic and other objectionable plants, to the
exclusion of the proper grasses; the same lands, thoroughly drained, may
be kept in full yield of the finest hay plants, as long as the ground is
properly managed. It must, of course, be manured, from time to time, and
care should be taken to prevent the puddling of its surface, by men or
animals, while it is too wet from recent rain. With proper attention to
these points, it need not be broken up in a lifetime, and it may be relied
on to produce uniformly good crops, always equal to the best obtained
before drainage.

So far as Cotton and Tobacco are concerned, there are not many instances
recorded of the systematic drainage of lands appropriated to their
cultivation, but there is every reason to suppose that they will both be
benefitted by any operation which will have the effect of placing the soil
in a better condition for the uses of all cultivated plants. The average
crop of tobacco is about 700 lbs., and that of cotton probably 250 lbs. An
addition of one-fifth to the cotton crop, and of only one thirty-fifth to
the tobacco crop, would make the required increase.

The failure of the cotton crop, during the past season, (1866,) might have
been entirely prevented, in many districts, by the thorough draining of
the land.

The advantages claimed for drainage with reference to the above-named
staple crops, will apply with equal, if not greater force, to all garden
and orchard culture. In fact, with the exception of osier willows, and
cranberries, there is scarcely a cultivated plant which will not yield
larger and better crops on drained than on undrained land,--enough better,
and enough lar