164 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



where necessary) have been more generally used, and are preferred. The average depth of 

 rain-fall in the neighborhood is a little over 20 inches. 



Mr. G. T. Bosanquet gives the following as the result of his experience in draining ; he 

 says : The result of our drainage operations on all descriptions of land has been most satis- 

 factory. I believe nothing pays better than draining land. The drainage adopted has been 

 generally on the parallel system ; but that must depend a good deal upon the nature of the 

 ground and the fall. The prevailing depth of the drain is about 3 feet. I^have not laid 

 drains quite so near each other on grass land as on arable. The direction of the minor drains 

 has been generally with the fall. I have found 2-inch pipes answer best for the minor 

 drains ; I would not advise that smaller should be used on any ground. I have never used 

 collars, as I think they would have a tendency to displace the pipes and destroy the regu- 

 larity of the channel. I have not sufficient experience to say if there is any benefit by 

 giving air at places to either main or minor drains. The average number of acres dis- 

 charging at the several outlets is about 3 acres, sometimes more. I am quite convinced, 

 from experience, that nothing pays better than draining, if well done, and the drains are 

 not placed at too great a distance. I have one field on my estate which was utterly worth- 

 less until drained : it would not grow the poorest grass ; it now produces good crops of corn 

 and roots. But I strongly advise that whatever is done in draining should be well and effec- 

 tually done, and that the pipes should never be less than 2 inches. I am of opinion, also, 

 that although the water will find its way down to very deep drains, say 4 or 5 feet, this does 

 not obviate the necessity of close draining. We are also less careful than we ought to be in 

 forming the outlets. 



Clay-Ball Draining. 



A PLAN for draining, entitled "Clay-Ball Draining," has been recently patented in England 

 by Capt. Norton, R. A., which consists in using hard spherical balls of clay as the draining 

 medium. The clay of which the balls are made is moulded by any convenient machinery, 

 preserving the spherical form as accurately as possible. When dried, the balls are burned to 

 a crystalline hardness, so that when deposited in the earth they will literally endure for 

 ages. The size or diameter of these drainage balls must be varied to suit different circum- 

 stances ; but a diameter of four or five inches is the average size preferred. Such balls, when 

 laid in drain cuts in the soil, allow the surface water to descend and pass freely through or 

 between them, and thus get clear off the land. Spherical stones would obviously perform just 

 as effectively as the clay balls, but the latter are preferred, for the reason that in them absolute 

 sphericity may be secured, while that would be impossible even with the use of the smoothest 

 and roundest pebbles. 



Fig. 1. is a longitudinal section of a portion of a field drain of this kind, &ndjig. 2 is a cor- 

 responding transverse section. A rectangular cut A is first made in the soil B in any conve- 

 nient manner ; and when a sufficient depth has been attained, the bottom of the recess is le- 

 velled off, and made hard and substantial as a base, by laying thereon lengths of slate or other 

 Fig. i f pig. 2. conveniently and economically available 



material C, filling up the entire width of 

 the drain cut. In this condition of the 

 work, a bottom row or layer of spherical 

 clay balls D is laid into the drain, the 

 two diameters of each transverse pair 

 of balls being in the same transverse 

 line of the drain as indicated in. fig. 2. 

 This drain is supposed to be eight inches 

 in width, so that two clay balls, each 

 four inches in diameter, suffice to fill it. 

 When the entire base of the drain is thus 

 filled in, a second layer of balls E is set above the lower layer, the diametrical lines of the 

 balls coinciding vertically in the manner shown in^. 2. This completes the draining medium, 

 and the two layers of balls are then covered over with a cover layer of slates F, to carry the 



