116 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



uce is so much increased, that it will, in many instances, pay 

 the expenses in a year or two ; and wet soils, which seemed to 

 be strong clay when wet, become friable, and even light, when 

 completely subsoil-drained, are easily cultivated, and light enough 

 for producing turnips to be fed off with sheep. Complete or 

 perfect drainage is the foundation of all improvements in hus 

 bandry ; it should, therefore, be the first step which we take in 

 attempting to improve or ameliorate the soil.&quot; 



9. THE PROCESS OF DRAINING. In looking at a field or piece 

 of land, which is proposed to be drained, the first thing to be 

 ascertained is, what fall can be had for removing the water. A 

 fall of one in two hundred is stated, by practical men, to be the 

 extreme on one side ; but it is desirable to get, if possible, one in 

 a hundred. With such an inclination, the drains are more likely 

 to be kept free from sediment. The next step to be taken is, to 

 lay out and form a main ditch or drain, into which all the small 

 drains shall empty themselves, and the water be carried off. 

 This, of course, must be in the lower part of the land, and it is 

 generally advised to let it remain open, that the mouths of the 

 small drains may be observed and watched. Where left open, 

 as at the model farm of Lord Ducie, there the inclination of the 

 sides is so easy that they are cultivated to the water s edge. It 

 is advised, in other cases, to let the side drains empty into a com 

 mon main drain, which is to be covered ; and this main drain is 

 to empty itself into an open ditch. The principal reason as 

 signed for having all the underground parallel drains empty 

 themselves into the main, and through that into the ditch, in 

 stead of each emptying itself into the ditch, is, that while, in the 

 latter case, a hundred mouths would require to be kept open and 

 clear of rubbish, in the former only one has to be attended to : 

 and also that, during the summer months, some of the parallel 

 drains would become dry, and allow the entrance of moles and 

 rats, which would soon stop them up ; but that the quantity of 

 water which always issues from a main drain would forbid their 

 entrance, and thus hinder them from injuring it or the others.* 

 Where the bottom of the drain, however, is formed with broken 

 stones, there is no danger from this circumstance ; and where the 



* Morton. 



