132 ox THE AGRICULTURE OF THE 



overflowing and covering the whole of it with water. In its dry 

 state the pasture caused black cattle to turn grey in the course 

 of one season, so poisonous was the stunted herbage the land 

 produced. The soil consisted of the lower stratum of peaty bog 

 and marsh and spirity sand, charged with noxious ochrey- 

 coloured water impregnated with sulphur and saltpetre, i^ormer 

 occupants frequently attempted to drain the flat, but all their 

 efforts were fruitless, in consequence of want of proper outfalL 

 In 1868, shortly after he acquired the property, Mr Matheson 

 besran the drainin^^ of this flat in thorouoli earnest. The first 

 step was the securing of propgr outfall for the waters, and for 

 this purpose a large stone-built 2-feet square drain was run 

 from the sea west of Ballintraid farm-house ridit back into the 

 flat, while a main leading drain laid with '' spigot and faucet ^' 

 vitrified pipes 10 to 15 inches in diameter, and jointed with 

 cement, was continued for about 800 yards through the flat, the 

 depth in some places reaching 8 feet. To relieve this main 

 drain, part of the drainage was directed to the old mill-dam of 

 Delny and part also towards Polo. The land drained by these 

 three outfalls extends to about 800 acres. The subsoil of the 

 whole flat is running sand, and was so much charged with run- 

 ning water that in cutting the drains for the main leading pipes, 

 the sides had to be supported with a framing of wood, and at the 

 bottom of the drain no more than the length of one pipe could 

 be excavated at a time. Each successive pipe was carefully laid 

 in and jointed with cement as its bed was cut out; and to pre- 

 vent the sand getting in, a board was placed at the outer end. 

 At the time the main drains were cut, the 2-feet square stone 

 drain and the lo-inch pipes were fully required to carry off the 

 water led into them, and the water was so charged with noxious 

 elements, such as iron, sulphur, saltpetre, &c., as^to form incrus- 

 tations on the bars of the iron gratings on the air-shaft so hard 

 that considerable force was required to break them off. The silt 

 in the bottom of the pipes had also to be cleaned out at intervals 

 during the first two years. From these main drains a complete 

 network of minor drains, ranging from 3|- to 4 feet deep, laid with 

 tiles from 2 to 4 inch bore, stretches out in all directions. Here 

 and there alonf^ the leadino; drains ventilating shafts with iron 

 gratings were built to admit circulation of air, while at two or 

 three points, where the larger collections of drainage enter the 

 principal drains, large stone cisterns were built for the purpose of 

 receiving the silt. These cisterns are from 8 to 10 feet deep, or 

 from 2 to 3 feet deeper than the drains, and thus there is a space 

 for a considerable deposit of the sedimentary matter brought in 

 by the incoming drain. The mouth of the outrunning drain is 

 covered with an iron grating, and by attending carefully to the 

 cleaninsc out of the cisterns, verv little silt can r^^et into the main 



