A Treatise on the Practical Drainage of Land

Written in 1844 by Henry Hutchinson, this book, as the title suggests, focuses on the practical aspects of land drainage, advising readers to first consider the plan, cost, and mode of draining carefully. The treatise begins with a general address to the public which offers advice to landlords for dealing with tenant farmers, information on valuing land for fair rent, and ways of improving substandard soil. Lamenting that 'a great deal has been written by parties who really know nothing of the practical working of a system', Hutchinson, a land agent, valuer and 'professor of draining', writes from a zealous desire to educate the public correctly on the art of land drainage. Hutchinson's approach is scrupulously thorough, with separate chapters on shallow draining, deep draining, bastard draining, boring, and impediments to draining, as well as the history of land drainage in England.