-Drainage in New York. 277 



(7) Stone drains. 



Stone drains have been extensively used in this state in the hill sec- 

 tions. They have been constructed in various ways often with stone 

 which it was desirable to remove from the land. Such drains are effec- 

 tive and have done much good, but the opinion of many reports is that 

 they are unsatisfactory. In the first place they are as expensive if not 

 much more so than tile drains ; second, they are not as efficient and, third, 

 they are less permanent. There is a strong probability of various bur- 

 rowing animals making their home in them and by their operations 

 closing the drains. Many reports are to this efifect. It is only where 

 the stone are abundant and at hand and the cost of tile very great that 

 one should feel justified in using stone. 



(8) Open ditches. 



Open surface ditches are very largely used in New York State. As 

 has been said they are used entirely too much and should be largely 

 replaced by tile. But they have a place in drainage work. Where the 

 volume of water to be handled is very large or where the land is so low 

 and flat that it is impossible to construct any other form of drain, they 

 may be used. As carriers of water they are most efficient when their 

 form approximates that of a semi-circle. This usually means in practice 

 that they will have sloping sides, be twice as wide at the top as at the 

 bottom and one-half as deep as the width of the top. To do good work 

 they should be properly graded and kept free from weeds. 



Where small open ditches are used, as is sometimes necessary to re- 

 move surface water, perhaps to make way for tile drainage when the 

 land has become sufficiently dry, one hindrance to their efficiency is the 

 piling of the excavated earth on the banks of the ditches. This ridge 

 of earth greatly hinders the entrance of water. Also the tramping of 

 cattle tends rapidly to fill up the ditch. Both of these difficulties are 

 obviated by a method of constructing surface ditches used by Samuel 

 Fraser on the Fall Brook Farms in the Genesee valley. He employs 

 the ordinary road machine drawn by four or six horses, according to the 

 character and condition of the soil. The ditches are made very broad 

 with gently sloping sides and the excavated earth is carried back to the 

 crest of the divide between the ditches. Ditches three and one-half 

 feet deep and fifteen feet wide have been made in this way. The width 

 is always proportional to the depth and varies from practically nothing 

 at the head to the maximum dimensions at the mouth. The use 

 of the machine is shown in Fig. 207. Ditches constructed in this way 

 do not interfere with cultural operations and are entirely utilized by the 

 crop. Neither does the tramping of animals destroy their efficiency as 

 readily as the common form of open ditch. At the same time the water 

 finds ready access to the channel. 



