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trees, disposed in masses of one kind, of considerable breadth; indeed there are very few cases where I would not exclude thorns entirely; indolence I know will say they will be cropped by cattle and sheep; so they will if the usual fences are obstinately made. I know that they will succeed in this situation better than in many others, especially if kept scrupulously clear from weeds. Where double ditches are made, they are generally too wide on the top, and as the ends are generally left open, cattle graze on them and thrust out the banks over the quicks, which they destroy by browzing on them; independent of this cause the great breadth receives a large quantity of rain water, which runs in gullys down the banks, and helps to destroy the quicks. Instead of this method they should be brought nearly to a point by hard beating, and particular care taken that no beast can jump up upon them. In most parts of this county, especially the barony of Killyan, where I have made upwards of sixteen miles of ditches and drains on one estate, it is necessary to leave a considerable set off to the bank of the ditch, for the land is so overcharged with water that when it gets vent it washes away the stratum in which the chief supply originates, and ruins the ditch. Where I have any apprehension of this, I generally the first year cut the drain much less than it is intended finally to be, and the following year cut off all that has fallen in, which, with the widening, makes a sufficient back to the ditch. As to paring a ditch so as to look neat and workmanlike, as every one should be, and as may be seen in Meath and other counties, it is frequently impossible, as in most instances the ditch is composed chiefly of lack liagh, a kind of earth that slacks like lime with frost, and washes away with the first shower. It is a very rare thing to see a well laid or plashed hedge; it is not understood by any person of

this county that I have met with: those who may be desirous of having this very necessary operation performed, should apply to some friend in Meath or Fingal, where the practice is known. There is a most shameful want of field gates to almost every farm in this county, even in the demesnes of many men of fortune, though there may be a superb entrance gate, the demesne is nearly destitute of this great comfort to any man who has stock. Where some provident ancestor had built gate piers, they are usually filled up with loose stones, which must be taken down if stock are to be viewed or moved; to prevent this becoming too troublesome, the herd (proverbially lazy) generally cuts down a fine thorn or two to stop the gate way; when this becomes a little dry, it is stolen for firing, probably by his own children, and new trees are substituted, to the destruction of many a beautiful thorn, for the most destructive animals that ever ruined hedges are the herd and his family: speak to him, or indeed to any peasant, against cutting thorns, and they are astonished at your partiality to them; indeed where thorns or other trees are attached to holy wells or any other remarkable place, they are fortunately protected by the superstitious veneration of the people.

Many object to furze (Ulex Europeus) on the backs of ditches, but I confess the injury they may do to the land by ejecting their seeds into it, is in my mind more than counterbalanced by the shelter and security they afford; even if they do appear in the land, such as escape the teeth of sheep are easily pulled up after a thaw or heavy rains in winter, when it may contribute to the employment of some poor aged man, able to do little else. In many parts of Ireland and Wales much use is made of them, when bruised, for cattle in winter, and are an excellent food. It is also highly probable

that they are an antidote to the rot and many other disorders of sheep.

SECTION VIII.

MODE OF DRAINING.

HITHERTO draining has not been much practised in this county: the general mode was by open surface drains, which, except in bog, are the most useless and disgraceful kind to an improver of land. A few gentlemen of fortune have lately made considerable drainages in their demesnes, but the practice is far from being as general as its importance deserves. It would be a happy day for Ireland if they extended this improvement to their numerous bogs and mountains. Hitherto, from not understanding the subject, and from Irish impatience, and often want of capital, little has been done on an extensive and unbroken scale; a spirited effort is sometimes made, but seldom continued with that perseverance which the subject requires, and from which only a beneficial result may be expected. A few years since Mr. Elkington, nephew to the celebrated drainer in England, came over to this country under an engagement to a few spirited gentlemen, at (if I am rightly informed) one hundred guineas a month and his expenses paid; this gave such an impulse to draining that hopes were very generally entertained that great and permanent advantages would accrue to Ireland; certainly his works were excellent, and more neatly executed than the general practice had been, but the di

rection of his drains, depth of sinking, and mode of covering, were little or nothing different from those in practice by every other scientific drainer. His auxilliary mode of tapping the springs in the bottom of his drains was almost unknown in Ireland before his arrival. But the general idea at that time, that nearly the virtue of the rod of Moses was attached to his auger, was found to be much exaggerated, and in a multitude of trials it was discovered that success was frequently very partial and accidental; however, I deem it a very valuable discovery, and in many instances it may be highly useful. Since that period many itinerant quacks have started up in this branch, as well as in irrigation, whose low terms have blinded the judgment of some landed proprietors, that in this, as in landscape gardening, have mistaken neatness of execution for correctness of design, and then parsimony has been justly punished by failure. Mr. Hill, a native of North Britain, followed Mr. Elkington; he was imported by the Farming Society of Ireland, and as far as I can judge from what I have seen of his works, is an excellent drainer, and a general good judge of the value of work; as such I highly recommend him. Since that period I have not heard of any person of eminence; probably there may be many; if I knew their names I would with great pleasure give them publicity. A Mr. Howley, a native of the county of Mayo, but many years a pupil of the celebrated Mr. Webb in England, has executed a bog improvement at Mount Bellew, with great credit to his professional acquirements. I shall never imitate the illiberal remarks Mr. Hill has thought proper frequently to make on my works; I feel myself, from the partiality of my friends, high enough to look down on them.* Some draining

* One of those itinerant gentlemen, I understand, has done me the

by covered stone shores has been made, but the amount has been trifling: when they are made in the proper direction, sunk to the proper depth, and carefully finished, they are very effectual; but I have seen much money thrown away on those drains by ignorance and carelessness. Sod drains, if properly executed, are very useful as auxiliaries, but not for principal drains where much water is to be conducted; they are scarcely known in this county, and consequently there is little likelihood of their being well made; for this reason they have been decried by those who have executed them badly. I have discovered a method of draining in these soils with an impervious substratum, that I presume to think will supersede every other kind in such soils; the materials are to be had in almost every field, the expense trifling, and it cannot be injured by the plough or the tread of cattle. When the immense quantity of land of this description in England and Ireland is considered, and that it is the most difficult of any to drain, I presume to hope for parliamentary reward, which I shall not claim unless I can prove my statement in the fullest manner. An immense quantity of land could be reclaimed in this county by draining, but there seems to be an almost total neglect of it, except by a few, and even many of those get tired after making a few efforts. I venture to think I have made more ditches and drains

honor to assume my name in many places where I am not known, and has arrogated to himself the designing of the lake at Mount Bellew, &c. A letter to Mr. Bellew, Mount Bellew, Castle Blakeney, will immediately detect the impostor. I never pay a professional visit without a previous invitation.

• Some years since I mentioned this officially to the late secretary of the Farming Society of Ireland, but was not fortunate enough to create the slightest interest in my favor.-Alas! it was an Irish invention, and probably may die with me.

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