After the ditch is dug, I take a hoe and begin at the upper end of it and clean out all loose dirt, and commence laying the stone or tile; if the latter is used, I lay one and then stand on it, and then put put another as close to the first as possible, and then step on that and if it is firm, proceed in like manner to the last; if any inequality is in the bottom, it is removed till the tile will lie firm and level; if the bottom is too soft, as is sometimes the case, flat stones are laid in under the tile till they will fit firmly in their places; a row of stones are then placed along the sides, care being taken to have them fit close at the joints of the tiles to keep them in place; a few strips of cedar bark are then laid on the top of the tile, and the whole covered with a team and plow, by turning the furrows towards the ditch, as in the common method of backfurrowing, until it is completed.

If stones are used in filling the ditch, my method of cleaning out is the same as for tile. I then commence as in the case of tile, at the upper end, and fit a flat stone close at the side of the ditch, then another side of the first, and then along the side of the upright ones thus placed at the side of the ditch, we set about two rows in the form of an A, as is shown in the annexed diagram; and the row of flat stones is continued at the side, and the other in the manner shown, to the end of the ditch; small round stones. are placed on the top of the flat ones, and all covered in like manner as where tile is used which completes the operation.

I put about 15 or 18 inches of stones where they are used in depth in the ditch, calculating to have 2 feet of earth on the top of the stones, in all cases where the required depth can be had for a good outlet.

I hire my help by the month, and the expense is 35 cents per rod for tile, and 30 cents for stone, as near as may be calculated with whole numbers; and the soil and subsoil through which I have to dig, some cases occur where the expense will be a little more, and some a little less, but this is a fair estimate for the work done by me the past year.

Number of rods made the past year, 330. I have about 2 miles of drains on my farm and they operate finely. I walked over a

piece of drained ground on my farm last spring, in company with a neighbor, who expressed his surprise at the condition of the piece; "it was so dry," said he; "you have made this what it is now, for it was good for nothing before you drained it, and now you can raise just what you please here, let the season be wet or dry."

3. The result, in all cases operated upon, is very favorable; there has not been a failure yet with me; I have not cropped any that was operated upon the past year but a small portion of one piece mentioned in this statement; but judging this by preceding oper-ations, I think that no outlay of money on the farm, of like sum,. will be as beneficial and lasting as this.

In doing what I have done, about $20 per acre has been expended as an average. The last piece mentioned in this statement is not yet fully drained, although what was commenced is complete; but more drains will be necessary to a thorough draining of the soil; and as I have done the most of what I have done on the parallel system, more can be done as opportunity shall offer; I think when it is completed, that $50 per acre wil not be too high to estimate the increased value of the last piece mentioned in this statement, and that $25 or $30 will be about the increased value of the two first pieces per acre; although a few years of cropping will better test the correctness of the estimate of the increase in value of all of them.

I will here state, that my draining the past year was about equally divided between stone and tile, as to number of rods of each, using the stone where the ground was firm, and the subsoil free from quicksand and quite hard, as I think a stone drain more likely to fill in a porous subsoil than tile, and then become useless, thereby disappointing the expectations of the operator, and becoming a hindrance to any farther experiments in draining.

I think that when the subject of draining is better understood in this State, that all the operations in that line will be better performed, and, as a consequence, will pay better on the investment, as in very many instances at present it costs more than it need to perform the work; for instance, many work at it too late

in the fall, and are retarded in their operations by heavy rains and freezing nights; this ought not so to be; the ditches should all be dug, and the tile or stone laid before freezing nights and heavy rains come, as the banks are very liable to slide in and cause delay and unnecessary expense when the operation is performed so late in the season. If the operation is performed sooner, the covering settles and becomes firm, and as the rains come, the drains are performing their work of silently carrying away the surplus water, and the soil will be in better condition for a crop the following year.

Very respectfully, &c.,

JONATHAN TALCOTT.

DAIRY STATEMENTS.

BUTTER.--JOSHUA BALLARD 2D, HOMER, CORTLAND COUNTY. Method of Manufacture.

The sample of butter presented to your committee for your inspection, was manufactured by the undersigned in the following manner: After the process of milking was over, the milk was strained into tin pans, and set away on what is commonly called milk racks, and was permitted to stand there until it began to thicken; as to the length of time it stands, depends entirely upon the state of the weather. The cream is then taken off, and kept as cool as possible until the next morning, and then churned in a dash churn, when it begins to have the appearance of souring, cold well water is applied in small quantities, until the butter is sufficiently gathered, it is then put into a bowl and washed usually twice in cold water, then salted in the proportion of about one ounce of salt to a pound of butter, and then worked as little as possible, or sufficient to mix the salt well through the butter. The butter is worked with a lever, then it is set in the cellar until the next morning, when it is again worked lightly, then put into the cellar again until the next morning, then worked again and packed in tubs, a cloth is then spread over the butter and covered with about half an inch of salt moistened with water, and a tea spoonful of saltpetre dissolved in the water for each tub, after which it is kept as near air tight as possible.

The three tubs presented were made between the first and fif teenth days of October last past.

All of which is respectfully submitted,

JOSHUA BALLARD, 2D.

Dated Cortlandville, Feb. 5, 1853.

H WORDEN, LEE, ONEIDA Co.

Method of Manufacture.

I milk ten cows, and give them only grass and hay, summer and winter. The milk, as soon as taken from the cow, is strained into pans, and set in the cellar. The cream is skimmed as soon as there is appearance of souring, and churned with a dash churn. The milk is worked out with the ladle without washing, and packed in white ash tubs. I salt at the rate of one ounce to the pound, with Ashton Liverpool salt, a fine cloth is put on the top of the butter, when the tub is filled and covered with wet salt.

H. WORDEN.

CHEESE. MOSES EAMES, ROTLAND, JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Method of Manufacture.

The three cheeses on exhibition were made from the milk o forty-six cows, on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of June, 1852.

My manner of manufacture is thus: the milk drawn at night is placed in a tin vat, around which is one of wood, with a space of one inch, into which cool water is kept running all night. Is the morning the cream is removed from the surface, and steam is applied through a pipe to the water, by which the milk is warmed to eighty-eight or ninety degrees, the morning milk being put in with the same.

The cream is now warmed, and put into the milk. The rennet and annatto is then put in, and the whole suffered to stand for one hour or more; then it is cut with a wooden knife into small pieces, and left to harden for thirty minutes, it is then carefully broken up by hand, and is again warmed to ninety-four degrees, and left to settle for fifteen or twenty minutes, the whey

is then taken off to the curd.

Then I commence to break it fine

by hand, using a gentle pressure to separate the whey from the curd, and after it is evenly and finely broken, the steam is let on and the heat is raised to 102 or 105 degrees, the whole is kept moving while heating; the steam is now taken off, and the curd remains in the scalding whey for thirty minutes, or until the whole is sufficiently scalded, which is known by feeling or tasting; the remainder of the whey is then taken from the curd, and the curd is left to cool for ten or fifteen minutes, then it is taken into the sink, where salt is worked in at the rate of one pound of salt to fifty of cheese; it is then put into the hoop, and pressed for twenty-four hours, with a pressure of seven to eight tons weight to each cheese. When taken from the press, it is placed on a table in the cheese room, and a slight coloring of annatto is put on the outside; it is now to be turned every day, and oiled with whey oil when required, to keep it from checking.

Yours with respect,

MOSES EAMES.

RUTLAND, Jefferson Co., New-York, Feb. 5, 1853.

GRAIN STATEMENTS.

WINTER WHEAT.-IRA APTHORP, RIGA, MONROE COUNTY.

Cultivator's Statement.

The kind of soil, on which my crop of wheat, as mentioned in the annexed certificate, was grown, is gravelly loam. The previous crop was wheat. Amount and kind of manure to previous crop, clover plowed in. Time and frequency of plowing, harrowing, &c., in preparing for the crop; latter part of June, plowed once only. Time and manner of sowing, thirteenth day of September, proad-cast. Kind of seed, and quantity per acre; white flint, two bushels per acre. Time and manner of harvesting; cut with reaper, the last days of July. The whole expense per acre of producing and harvesting the crop, as near as can be stated, including the value of the manure and seed, the labor of men, and teams at cost, or at current rate of wages,