1886.] DRAINAGE OF LAND. 553 



DRAINAGE OF LAND FOR PLANTATION PURPOSES. 



IN preparing the following paper I am fully aware that the theories 

 laid down, and the accompanying plans, introduce into the 

 question no new feature, nor declare any novel principle. Nor are 

 they intended to do so, for my endeavour is merely to bring together 

 and condense some of the scattered information on tlie above subject, 

 which is only to be acquired by a study of the collected writings of 

 various authors, and which is in consequence inaccessible to many 

 to whom a knowledge of it would prove of service. 



The necessity for the drainage of ground intended for afforestation 

 purposes is in these days very generally recognised, but the repetition 

 of a few remarks by an eminent authority, setting forth the action 

 of an undue amount of moisture in the soil, will hardly be considered 

 out of place. He says : " The deleterious effects of water . . . 

 may be explained, — in the freezing of the ground in winter in one 

 mass around the roots of the trees, as long as they are young, — in 

 obstructing the sun's heat entering the soil, and finding its way to 

 the roots in the early part of every year, — in preventing the passage 

 of the air to the roots of the trees, tlie presence of air being 

 essential to their good health, — and the particular effects produced 

 by all these causes may be witnessed in every tree becoming the 

 victim of lichens and mosses, or other parasitic plants, or of being 

 evidently stinted in its growth, or diseased in the interior of the 

 trunk. The consequences are, the trees are a very long time of 

 reaching a state of usefulness as timber or shelter, and can never 

 realize the price of those grown on dry soil." And again : " The 

 cliief injury sustained by the soil is caused by the stagnation of 

 rain-water upon an impervious soil. Most of the soil of Scotland 

 consists of loam of different consistence resting on tenacious clay of 

 unequal depth. Where the soil is shallowest it is injured by the 

 stagnant water remaining constantly beneath it ; and where diBcpest, 

 it is injured l»y chilly exlialations." 



In ground set apart for plantation purposes, it is not to be 

 supposed that the whole extent will require to be drained : the 

 chances are that only a small portion may call for it. An intelligent 

 observation of the locality itself must be the sole reliable method of 

 discovering the area or different areas where drainage will be 

 beneficial. 



Again, as to position and direction of drains, it is impossible to 

 lay down fixed rules, as the ever-varying conformation of the ground 

 demands ever-varying treatment, examples of the principal of which. 



