AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 293 



tween undrained and drained land, and tlicy consequently cannot judge 

 when land needs drainage. When such is the case, it dries up in the sum- 

 mer season, the soil cracks, and forms open fissures in every direction, the 

 surface becomes too hard to plow, is inelastic, and entirely too dry for the 

 growth of vegetables. 



In the fall, the cracks fill with water, and, having no outlet, become soft 

 and wet, sinking under foot like a sponge, and entirely unfit for advanta- 

 geous cropping. 



In the spring, there is no vigor in the plants, they appear sickly, their 

 color is bad, their parts undeveloped, and if they grow at all, ripen une- 

 qually, and if stock are turned in to graze, they will invariably avoid the 

 «ndrained portions. 



The condition of the soil, and drainage that may be required, can always 

 be ascertained by test-holes, dug here and there, from four to eight feet 

 "deep, and wide enough for a man to work readily in. The water issuing 

 from the sides, will invariably show at what levels it is accumulated, and 

 the necessary depth of drains to carry it away. 



Drains frequently fail to produce the desired effect, from the want of a 

 perfectly regular inclination. If, instead of a gradual and uniform fall, 

 they rise in the bed. the descending water will of course accumulate, until 

 at reaches the level of the rising, and there form permanent stagnation. 

 Therefore do not, on any consideration, fail to make the bottom of your 

 ■drain, perfectly straight to the out-fall, which may be accomplished with 

 three staves of wood, two of them two feet long, and the third as much 

 more than two feet as the drain is deep ; place one of the short ones on the 

 ground at the he&d of the drain, and the other at the lower extremity. A 

 second party then holds the long one in an upright position, touching the 

 bottom of the drain, and if the tops of the three are on a line, the fall ia 

 wniform. In the alluvial clay districts, west, where the drainage is effected 

 by open ditches, ague and fever is periodically prevalent ; rheumatism and 

 scrofulous affections, also abound. The country is subject to dense fogs,, 

 which invariably communicate a chilly feeling to the people, and the cattle 

 suffer with a disease known as " red water," all of which bad effects imme- 

 diately disappear wben the drains are covered in. 



The depth and distances of drains that are in general use are various,, 

 arising from the difference necessary to suit the different nature of the soils» 

 and the difference in opinion of practical farmers. The soils, likewise, ar» 

 so varied in character, that no settled rule can be established. 



The depths in use since the introduction of thorough draining, have 

 varied from two to three, four, five, six, and seven feet ; the distances 

 apart have ranged from ten to sixty feet, with success. For years it was 

 almost impossible to persuade practical men that depths from eighteen 

 inches to two feet would be effectual in clay soils, at whatever distances 

 they might be placed ; but in the course of experience, depths from two 

 and a half to three feet, in clays, and compacted drift soils, have led to 

 general adoption of such depths. Where beds of gravel, sand, or other 



