subdue the spirit of the wilderness that it diffused on every side. I
had its lower channel across the place (K K) cleared out, thinking
that this might answer for the present; and the gurgle of the little
streamlet along the bottom of the ditch seemed a low laugh at the idea
of its ever filling the three square feet of space above it. Deceitful
little brook! Its innocent babble contained no suggestion of its
hoarse roar on a March day, the following spring, as it tore its way
along, scooping the stones and gravel from its upper bed and
scattering them far and wide over the alluvial meadow. Instead of a
tiny rill, I found that I would have to cope at times with a mountain
torrent. At first, the task was too heavy, and the fitful-tempered
brook, and the swamp-like region it encompassed, were left for years
to their old wild instincts. At last the increasing demands of my
business made it necessary to have more arable land, and I saw that,
if I could keep it from being overwhelmed with water and gravel, the
alluvial meadow was just the place for strawberries.

I commenced at the lowest point where it finally leaves my grounds,
and dug a canal (K K), twelve feet wide by four or five deep, across
my place, stoning up its walls on either side. An immense amount of
earth and gravel was thrown on the lower side so as to form a high,
strong embankment in addition to the channel. Then, where it entered
the farm above the meadow, I had a wide, deep ditch excavated,
throwing all the debris between it and the land I wished to shield.
Throughout the low meadow, two covered box-drains (L and M) were
constructed so that the plow could pass over them. On the side of the
meadow next to the boulevard and mountain, I had an open drain (N N)
dug and filled with stones even with the ground. It was designed to
catch and carry off the surface water, merely, from the long extent of
mountain-slope that it skirted. The system of ditches to protect and