722 



DRAINING. 



torn of the drain, and remove any small pieces of Hay that may 

 have fallen into it. Tin- irr-y side of the turf being turned 

 undermost, they are put down into the drain, the workman 

 -Uinliiii: ujmu them after they are put in, and pressing them 

 ilowii wild his whole weiirht fill they nre 6rmly wedged be- 

 tween the sloping sides of 1 the draiu. The ends of the turves 

 being nit somewhat ol.liqueljr, they overlap each other a little; 

 and by this means, although there is sufficient opening for the 

 surfare water to get down, nothing else can. The open space, 

 below the turf. .. light to b five or six MM in depth, three 

 inches wide at top and an inch and a half or two niches at 

 bottom. (Tram*. Highl. Soc. vol. Yl. p. 571.) 



Tke knliow furrmc drain is only used in sheep pastures. 

 Wherever the water is apt to stagnate, a deep furrow is 

 turned up with stout plough. After this, a man with a 

 spade pares off the loose soil from the inverted sod, and scat- 

 l.-r^ it nvi-r the ti.-ld, or casts it into hollow places. The sod, 

 thus pared, and brought to the thickness of about three inches, 

 U restored to its original situation, with the grasy side upper- 

 moat, as if no furrow had been made. A pipe or opening two 

 or three inches deep is thus formed beneath it, in the bottom 

 >f the furrow, sufficient to discharge n considerable quantity of 

 surface water, which readily sinks into it. These furrows, 

 Indeed, are easily choaked up by any pressure, or by the 

 grow th of the roots ot the grass ; but they are also easily re- 

 tor4, and no surface is lost by means of them. 



The earth drain, called also the clay-pipe drain, is better 

 calculated for the purpose of an aqueduct, or conveyance of 

 water, than for drying the soil. A drain is dug to the neces- 

 sary depth, narrow at bottom, in which is laid a smooth tree, 

 or cylindrical piec* of wood, tenor twelve feet long, six inches 

 in diameter at the oue end, and five at the other, having a 

 ring fastened in the thickest end. After strewing a little s and 

 upon the upper side of the tree, the clay or toughest part of the 

 contents of the trench is first thrown in upon it, and then the 

 remainder, which is trod firmly down. By means of the ring 

 and a rope through it, the tree is drawn out to within a foot 

 or two of the t-uiall or hinder end, and the same operation re- 

 peated. A gentleman who has tried this experiment says, this 

 clay pip* ha" conducted a small rill of water a considerable 

 way under ground for more than twenty years, without any 

 sign of failing. 



Peano*'t method of pipe-draining will be found described 

 at length in the Trantactiont of the Society of Arti, vol. xlvii. 

 for lft. 



The trtitel drain is a very ingenious invention, described in 

 the Agricultural Report of the County of Eitex. It consists of 

 a draining wheel of cast-iron, that weighs about four cwt. It 

 is four feet in diameter : the cutting-edge or extremity of the 

 circumference of the wheel is half an inch thick, and increases in 

 thickness towards the centre. At fifteen inches deep it will cut 

 a drain halt an inch wide at the bottom, and four inches wide at 

 the top. The wheel is so placed in a frame, that it may be loaded 

 at pleasure, and jnade to operate to a greater or less depth, ac- 

 ^ cording to the resistance, made by the ground. It is used in 

 winter when the soil is soft ; and the wheel tracks are either 

 immediately filled with straw ropes, and lightly covered over 

 with earth, or they are left to crack wider and deeper till the 

 ensuing summer; after which the fissures are tilled with 

 ropes of straw or of twisted twigs, and lightly covered with 

 the most porous earth that is at hand. Thus, upon grass or ley 

 lands, hollow drains, which answer extremely well, are 

 formed at a trifling expense. It is said that twelve acres may 

 be fully gone over with this draining-wheel in one day, so as 

 to make cuts at all necessary distances. 



In forming small drains, chiefly for retentive soils, the com- 

 mon plough has been used in many places, and with gome ad- 

 vantage. The method practised by Young, as described in the 

 Annals of Agriculture, is this : When he has marked the 

 drains in a field usually a rod asunder, he draws two furrow s 

 with a common plough, leaving a balk betwixt them about 

 fifteen inches wide; then with a strong- double-breasted 

 plough, made on purpose, he splits that balk, and leaves a 

 clean furrow fourteen or fifteen inches below the surface ; but 

 where the depth of soil requires it, by a second ploughing he 

 sinks it to eighteen or twenty inches ; it is then ready for the 

 land-ditching spade, with which he digs, fifteen inches deep, a 

 drain as narrow as possible. But the method followed by some 

 farmers, who do not possess ploughs made on purpose for the 

 work, is this With their common 'plough, drawn hy four or five 

 horses, and usually stirring about four or five inches deep, they 

 turn a double furrow, throwing the earth on each side, and 

 leaving a balk in the middle. This balk they rai-e by a second 

 bout, in the same manner: then they go in the open fur- 

 row twice, with their common double-breast plough, getting 

 what depth they can. After this they shovel out all the loose 

 mould and inequalities to the breadth of about a foot ; and thus 

 having gained a clear open furrow, the depth varying accord- 

 ing to the soil and ploughs, but usually about eight or nine 

 inches, they dig one spit with a draining spade sixteen inches 

 deep, thus gaining in the whole twenty-four or twenty-six 

 inches. But as this depth is seldom sufficient, when neces.-ary, 

 they throw out another, or even two other spits, which makes 

 the whole depth from thirty to forty inches. 



The best season for marking out and forming drains is the 

 spring or beginning of summer ; because then the land springs, 

 being still in vigour, are more easily discovered and traced 

 than at a later period. 



DRAKE,'SiR FRANCIS, a distinguished English navi- 

 gator, was born at Tavistock, in Devonshire, 1545, 

 t?r.d served as a sailor in a coasting-vessel, which 



sometimes made voyages to France and Ireland. He 

 pained the favour of his master, who, on liis death, 

 left his vessel to him. Sir John Hawkins, one of his 

 relations, then took him under his care, and, at the 

 age of eighteen, he served as purser of a ship which 

 traded to Biscay. At twenty, he made a voyage to 

 the coast of Guinea ; at twenty-two, received the 

 command of a ship, and distinguished himself by his 

 valour in the unfortunate expedition of Sir John 

 Hawkins against the Spaniards, in the harbour of 

 Vera Cruz. In this affair, however, he lost all which 

 lie possessed. Hereupon he conceived an inveterate 

 hatred against the Spaniards, and projected new ex- 

 peditions against them. He had no sooner made liis 

 plans known in England, than a multitude of adven- 

 turers joined him. He now made two cruises to the 

 West Indies, but avoided an engagement with the 

 Spaniards. The result of these voyages, however, 

 was so successful, that he received the command of 

 two vessels, in 1572, for the purpose of attacking 

 the commercial ports of Spanish America. One of 

 them was commanded by his brother. He captured 

 the cities of Nombre de Dios and Vera Cruz, lying 

 on the eastern coast of the isthmus of Darien, and 

 took a rich booty. After his return, he equipped 

 three frigates at his own expense, with which he 

 served as a volunteer, in an expedition to Ireland, 

 under the command of the earl of Essex, father of 

 queen Elizabeth's favourite. 



On the death of his protector, he returned to Eng- 

 land. Sir Christopher Hatton, vice-chamberlain and 

 privy councillor or queen Elizabeth, introduced him 

 to this princess. Drake disclosed to her his plan, 

 which was to pass tliroflgh the straits of Magellan to 

 the South seas, and there to attack the Spaniards. 

 The queen furnished him with means for equipping a 

 fleet of five ships for this purpose. Drake sailed from 

 Plymouth, Nov. 13, 1577, and arrived at the straits of 

 Magellan, Aug. 20, 1578. Nov. 6, he succeeded in 

 leaving the straits, but was overtaken by a storm the 

 day after, which compelled him to steer to the south. 

 Returning to the extremity of the straits, he called 

 the bay in which he anchored The Parting of Friends, 

 on account of the separation of one of his ships. New 

 storms again drove hum to the south. He now found 



himself between the islands which geographers, in 

 later charts, have laid down as 200 leagues west of 

 America. But Fleurieu has proved that they belong 

 to those numerous islands, as yet bat little known, 

 which compose the south-western part of the Archi- 

 pelago of the Terra del Fuego : he has shown, like- 

 wise, that Drake then saw cape Horn, and has, 

 therefore, the honour of the discovery. November 

 20th, Drake came in sight of the island of Mocha, 

 south of Chile, where he had appointed a rendezvous 

 For his fleet. As none of his vessels arrived, he con- 

 tinued his course to the north, along the coast of 

 Chile and Peru, hi search of Spanish ships, and suita- 

 ble places for making incursions into the country. 

 When his crew was sufficiently enriched with booty, 

 tie followed the coast of North America, to 48 north 

 latitude, hoping to find a passage into the Atlantic. 

 Deceived in his expectations, and compelled by the 

 cold to return to 38, he named the place where he 

 repaired his vessels New Albion, and took possession 

 of it in the name of queen Elizabeth. Sept. 29, 1579, 

 tie directed his course to the Moluccas, and anchored 

 at Ternate, Nov. 4. He narrowly escaped being lost 

 near the Celebes. Nov. 3, 1580, he arrived at Ply- 

 mouth; April 4, 1581, Elizabeth herself went on 

 board Drake's vessel, then at anchor at Deptford, 

 dined with him, knighted him, and approved of what 

 tie had done. 



In 1585, Drake disturbed the Spaniards anew in 

 the Cape Verd islands, and in the West Indie?. In 



