Surface drainage may be more cheaply effected, and, on land at all flat and retentive of moisture, it should never be neglected. It may be done while preparing the soil for planting--done with the plow. It has already been premised that the orchard site should be elevated; such land is generally somewhat undulating; indeed, the flattest field that should ever be planted, will always present some inequalities of surface. Let these be noted before laying off the lands for the plow; calculate to have the furrows cross these inequalities of surface, and gather the furrows in narrow lands, lapping them together just where the row of trees is to be placed. This process may be repeated, and thus quite a ridge will be thrown up for the trees, and a corresponding depression will be left in the middle of the space between the rows, which will serve as a gutter to carry off an excess of surface water; thus, a cheap method of superficial drainage may be effected by the mere plowing of the land judiciously; and this will be found of great advantage in level lands with a stiff subsoil. When such fields are selected for the orchard, this plan should always be pursued; nor does it preclude the subsequent use of tile, which is the best draining material, at any period afterward. These gutters being at a distance from the tree rows, can be deepened, and the tile laid, without disturbing the roots; or the mole drain plow may be drawn through these furrows, if the subsoil be of a suitably tenacious character to admit of the use of this implement. Very satisfactory preparation of the soil is done with the plow and a good team; indeed, except for the limited surface of a small fruit garden, no other and no better implement need be desired. With it we can produce a very thorough disintegration and perfect subversion of the soil; these are the objects we have in view. But here we have a choice of instruments, in which we must be guided by the character of the soil to be dealt with. If this be shallow, or thin, and underlaid by a sterile subsoil that would be unfit for the surface, we must plow more shallow, but there are few sites, in the Western country, where we do not find a sufficient depth of soil to satisfy the most thorough plowman, and beneath it a subsoil that will be benefited by aeration, and which will become good surface soil if subjected to the influences of the atmosphere.