t*HE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



depths aud distances will often effect the same object. That 

 is the first case. Another case is that of a hill of porous cha 





[Diagram No. 2]. 



racter, with a valley cousisting of clay, and the water con- 

 tinually running over the edge of the clay where it abuts upon 

 the gravel or other porous soil at the point F, as represented in 

 diagram No. 2. Now the plan of Elkington was simply to 

 make an outlet in the bottom of the valley, to cut towards the 

 hill, and at the proper point to bore down until he tapped the 

 poroui soil g. The water immediately issued forth, the 

 level was reduced below the junction F, and the whole land be- 

 tween F and d was consequently laid dry. His great point was 

 to hit the porous gravel at the point 6, as he might have 

 bored to any depth at d without any effect. By opera- 

 tions of this kind he often succeeded in laying dry 

 very considerable tracts of land. Take another case 

 diagram No. 3 represents a porous soil resting on clay. 



[Diagram No. 3 ] 



Here is a stratum of gravel or porous soil, resting 

 on clay. All the water wliich falls between the 

 points (J and m issues at ?«, and makes the subjacent 

 land beyond m wet and swampy. A cutting at the point 

 d, simply into the clay, where (ihere is an outfall, will cut 

 off all tile water between r/ and d. If there be a porous 

 stratum below the clay, even without an oatfall, the Ian i 

 can be drained by cutting tlirounh the clay to the porous 

 subsoil, into wliich the water will empty itself. I believe 

 I could [loint to gentlemen in this room, who have adopted 

 this plan of proceeding in many instances. Many similar 

 cases of ju.xtapositioii of porous and retentive soils, where 

 similar means may be made use of, will occur to every gen- 

 tleman present. We now come to general, ordinary drain- 

 age. And the first question which here presents itself is, 

 whether the drains ought to be on the greatest slant, or 

 horizontal, or at some angle between. I have here two dia- 

 grams which will serve to illustrate this point. Diagram No. 4 



[Diagram No. 4.] 

 represents a section of a hill, with drains running horizon. 



tally— that isto say, at right-angles to the fall of the hill. 

 Now it is quite clear that each of these drains only acts 

 in a horizontal direction. Each drain is acting separately 

 on a small piece of land : it cannot act upon the general 

 mass of the land below it. On the other hand, where there 

 is a drain running down the hill— that is, in the line of quick- 



[Uiagram ino. 5.] 



est descent — that drain will act upon the whole of the hill, 

 from the top to the bottom. So that it is perfectly clear 

 that }-ou apply your labour and time and money to the 

 greatest advantage when you drain on the line of quickest 

 descent. There may, however, be some exceptional cases 

 where a deviation at some angle from the line of quickest 

 descent may, owing to local peculiarities, be necessary. 

 These cases cannot affect the general rule. These are 

 principles which I am attempting to lay down distinctly 

 for consideration. Of course they are open to discussion ; 

 and I hope myself to obtain a great deal of information, 

 though I think that what I have said is for the most part 

 sufficiently simple. Another question to be considered is, 

 What should be the distance of the drains apart ? On this 

 point, 1 wish to illustrate that the different capillary attrac- 

 tion of various soils, and their rates of resistance to the 

 passage of a certain amount of water in a given time, must 

 be distinctly taken into account, not only in regulating the 

 depth of drains, but also their distance. This applies more 

 particularly to porous soils, which have a water-level more 

 or less near the surface. It does not equally apply to 

 those real clay or other retentive soils having no real 

 water-level, which, in fact, give no trace of water, even 

 when penetrated to the depth of fifty or one hundred 



[Diagram No. 6.] 



feet. In diagram No. G, S represents the surface-soil, a a 

 the subsoil, d d the drains, and C C the water-bearing soil 

 beneath the drains. According to the varying degrees of 

 fineness of the particles of the soil, and consequently the 

 resistance to the passage of the water, so will the vvater 

 rise higher in the soil between the drains ; the water- 

 level in drained lands not being a horizontal plane, but an 

 undulating or curved surface, the heiglit of which, above 

 and between the drains, must varj' according to the me- 

 chanical fineness and condition of the soil. The light line 

 passing the drain.s represents the water-level. From these 

 facts it would appear that the greater the distance of drains 

 apart, the higher will be the water-level between them ; 

 and that tliis ought to be taken into coniideration by prac 

 tical men in their practice of drainage, in respect to both 

 depth and distance. The amount of the resistance of differ- 

 ent soils to the passage of water in a given time has, in my 

 opinion, not yet been taken into sufficient account. In con- 

 tinuation : I mentioned before that if the water came near 



