

1)11 A I 



Ori 



. " 



Thf remedy is obviotn ami simple. Proceed to tlic 

 upper line of wet ground, mid examine if the springs 

 there arc flowing as abundantly as those below ; if that 

 be the case, you inny conclude that the water is delivered 

 by the " cropping out" of a l>od of snnd, gravel, or open 

 rock, over a bed of clay or other close- suhstancc, at that 

 place, and the lower patches arc merely the overflow 

 from thence ; ascend to the level of a yard or so higher 

 than the springs: you must then be in the open stratum. 

 Cut down a ditch, until you penetrate some way, (a foot 

 or more,) into the solid bed or close substance ; you will 

 then perceive the water oozing from the soil above, and 

 dropping into the trench which you have cut in the clay : 

 continue the trench horizontally along the line of springs, 

 making sure at all times to cross-cut the watery stratum : 

 in this trench put a proper hollow drain or conduit, fit 

 to convey the quantity of water, or if it be but short, 

 you may fill it with stone ; and it will not be unadvistiblc 

 to build up a water-tight partition of the clay on the 

 lower side, so as to prevent the water from overflowing 

 the drain, and passing again into the soil below in wet 

 seasons. Fill up the rest of the drain with stones or 

 the |Kirous soil, in the way already described. All the 

 spare earth must be put on the lower side. 



From this catch-water drain there must be, in con- 

 venient places, tail drains to convev the water to the 

 nearest brook. It is most advisable to make the fences 

 of the fields answer this purpose ; for as the slope is some- 

 times considerable, these drains must generally be left 

 open, lest they should cut their beds, and hurst. 



Rut a drain may be made at the level of the catch-wa- 

 ter, and brought out under cover until it reach the sur- 

 face, along which it may then be conveyed as an open 

 rill. 



In carrying the catch-water drain along the line of 

 springs, it may sometimes happen that springs appear 

 above the level at which we are proceeding, in conse- 

 quence cither of a dislocation of the stratum, or by be- 

 ing in a small bay or glen, and that it would require very 

 deep cutting to bring it into these springs on the same 

 level. In such cases the drain may he carried across the 

 bay, care being taken, if the soil through which it pro- 

 ceeds be porous, to prevent the water from escaping; for 

 it is evident, that if we form a clear channel along the 

 lower parts of the .sand, that the water will be so far 

 drawn off thereby as to drain all springs on a higher level 

 that have their origin in the same stratum. But in case 

 the bay or glen thus left out should become watery in 

 jnoist seasons, a little horse-shoe drain should be run 

 round it, upon the same principles, and delivering its 

 waters into the general catch-water at each end. This 

 little catch-water having n greater slope, might carry stuff 

 into and choke the greater one, unless proj>cr precautions 

 be taken. 



But the same measure will by no means answer in the 

 event of our finding the sand stratum take a dip, or run 

 out below the level of our catch-water. In such a case, 

 it becomes necessary either to make nn entirely separate 

 IN h-water round this lower tail, or to cut down acioss 

 the porous !>cd into the solid floor, and bring up a regular 

 puddle wall from thence to the surface. 



When the upper waters are thus cut off, the grounds 

 beneath deprived of the sources that supplied them with 

 Null nmisiurc, may be expected in n short lime to 

 become dry, as the water which they retain gradually 

 wy. la order to accelerate this operation, and 



nt the same time to have an opportunity of cutting oft' 

 nny lower springs that may exist in the wet surface, it 

 may be proper to draw other drains, parallel to and of 

 the same description with the former, at some di 

 down the slope. And it must be evident, that w here 

 there are various strata of sand and clay alternating, each 

 of them will produce, Iteneath it, similar effects, winch 

 must require to be obviated by the same mode of pro- 

 ceeding. 



The declivity of the surface is frequently so little dif- 

 ferent from that of the strata, that a bed of sand, as DC, 

 instead of ending abruptly, as in Fig. 8, may continue 

 along the surface for a considerable extent before the 

 inferior layer of clay crop out, or become distinguish- 

 able. 



Thus, in Fig. 9. the bod of sandstone DC, which 

 conies from under the hill EDF, continues to run along 

 the surface from F to C, and is not entirely lost until 

 we find the clay at C rising or cropping out from be- 

 neath. The upper part of this stratum decomposed by 

 the weather, forms a sandy soil throughout the space 

 from F to C, which having an open substratum, will, in 

 general, be friable and dry, and if covered with a rich 

 loam, will form a peculiarly valuable soil, well fitted for 

 the turnip husbandry. If the quantity of water which 

 sinks into this porous bed be tolerably uniform, and the 

 bed of sand be deep, the moisture will never rise so high 

 as to injure vegetation. But if it be so circumstanced 

 that a considerable quantity of upper waters, during great 

 rains, sink into and are absorbed by this bed of sand, 

 then the difficulty of transmitting such a quantity will 

 make the water rise higher in the soil, and though the 

 upper parts, as at F, may be dry, the lower, towards C, 

 will be gorged to the surface, and the water will ooze 

 out of it in peering springs, forming a field there of 

 damp sand, the most worthless that the farmer can pos- 

 sess. 



In this case, the first subject of enquiry is, whether 

 there be not at the tail of the sand an obstruction, such 

 as the clay C, rising up and forming a kind of dam 

 against the water lodged in the sand. If that be the 

 case, let a drain be cut through the clay, and at the level 

 of the bottom of the sand, or somewhat lower, as CB. 

 Then along the tail of the sand form a drain CE, which 

 giving free emission to the waters within, will allow 

 them to sink to that level, so as not to be injurious. 

 If this operation has not a sufficient effect, it must be 

 owing to the pores of the sand bed not being sufficiently 

 open to admit of the water passing with freedom In 

 that case, carry up the bleeding drain into the .sand, giv- 

 ing it branches on either side, which, by enlarging the 

 surface of emission, may make amends for the retentive- 

 ness of the soil. 



15ut in such cases, it is often worthy of enquiry, whether 

 it might not be belter to cut off this load of up|>cr waters be- 

 fore they descend into and injure the field in question; and 

 that, either by leading away the sources from which they 

 arc dcrhed, or by forming a dam against them at the up- 

 per margin of the field so as to bring them to the surface, 

 and in that way not only protect the lower field, but ob- 

 tain a useful supply of water for other purposes. In this 

 way (Fi;,'. <>.) a ditch or trench is cut at G, being the up- 

 permost p.ut that appears damp in the wettest seasons, and 

 is carried down through the whole depth of the sandy stra- 

 tum into the .solid clay below. If it is then formed into a 

 dram in the usual way, the water from above will be com- 





PLATE 



vili. 

 Fig. 8. 



Fig. 9. 



