^6o3« Ahii:lge?)icnt of Elkington* s Trcatife on Draining Land. 39 



FOR THE FARMKr's MAG(\ZiNE. 



Jljhort Ahridgeinent of Ellington's Treatife en draining Land, 



As Mr Elkington's work upon draining land is a lar<;e 4tOs 

 ■with plates, at an exorbitant price, wliich few faraiers nvA-j be dif- 

 pof^d to lay out, I have made the following notes from it, which 

 iecm to contain the fubftaiice of the book. 



Introducl-ion, page 3d. The roty that deRrudive malady among 

 fheep, chiefly proceeds from the nature of the herba^^e, wliich tot) 

 much noxious moiflure produces; and as it is a dil'eafe hitherto 

 • deemed incurable, it can o\Xy ht preveiitedhy means of draining., 

 (See the method he propofes afterwards.) 



Exhalations from mofs and niarfhy grounds irun*eafe the humi- 

 lity of the climate, and make the harveils late and precarious. 

 Page 8. Account of the moft approved method. 

 Draining depends upon thr.c^ points, "ift, Upon finding the 

 ^fnain-fpring, or caufe of the mi'.cliiei, without v/hich nothing ef~ 

 -ieftual can be done. 2d, Upon rrddng th-c level of that fpring, and. 

 ■afcertaining its Juhterranean hearing-x, a meafure never prattifed 

 (it is afferted) till Mr Elkington difcovered the advantage to bi 

 derived from it ;* for if the drain is cut a yard below the line of 

 the fpring, you can never reach the water that ilfues from it, and, 

 by aiccrtaining that line by means of levelliuiT', you can cut off the 

 {pring elTeclually, end conTequently drain the land in tf.echeapefi 

 and molt eligible manner, 'jdly, By making ul'e of the augre to 

 reach or tap the fpring, where the depth of the drain is not fuffi« 

 'cient for the purpofe 



Page 17. The great 6bjc£l of Mr Elkin^ton's fyftem is, that oF 

 draining bog5, by cutting off entirely the fource of the fprings, or 

 fubterraneous v.-ater, that caufes the w-etnefs, either by flowing 

 over the furface, or by being longxoniined undtr it. If the fprings 

 have a natural outlet, the objcifc of the drain is to lower and en- 

 large It, which, by giving the v/arer a mere free and eafy channel, 

 will fooncr difcharge and drain it off, or will reduce it to a level 

 ib far below the furface, as to prevent its overflowings : Where 

 the fprings have no apparent outlet, but are either confined fo 

 far below the furface, as to injure it by continued moiflure, or 

 by oozing out imperceptibly by any fmall pores of the upper foil; 

 the object of the drain is to give a proper vent to the water, and 



E 2 to 



I 



* It is faid'Dr James Andeifon, late of Edinbuigh, had pjiblifhcd an account of this 

 ten years before. That others had praftifcd it in the Lothians ; although, *on this 

 idea, Mr Elkington got a large premium trom the Board of Agriculture. As El- 

 kington was merely a labourer, and no fcholar, I believe it was a difcoveiy to him, 

 though others had hit on the fame: "Wivithsr he alone liiould have been rewaidcrf 

 ii tJie qntftioni 



