516 



F A R xM E R S ' R E G I S 1^ E R . 



[No. 9 



To the Hii^'hland and A yricullural Soc-iely ot 

 Scotland, ii is now dedicated, as a mark of llie 

 auihor'fi higli reppect for that usellil body ; and if, 

 throuifh its nseans by such infiueiice, a desire to 

 [)r)seriite the irnprovenient this treatise recom- 

 niirnds fshali be excitei], he will leel a saiislaction in 

 haviu<T, ill gome degree, contributed to establish so 

 important an object ; hoping that the knowledge of 

 it will he thus so much extended, as lo render the 

 practice of it general, in every situation where it 

 iniy be applied with advantage. 



When he has ventured to propose any thing 

 neio, or that do?s not strictly come within the 

 bounds oi" Mr. Elkinirtorrs practice, he has done 

 so, not wiih a view o[' prefarring his own, but from 

 a desire ofgiving hints that may be uselui to others. 

 The observations he has ventured to impress, 

 with regard to the importance of" the object he is 

 describino-, and the real advantages to be derived 

 from JVlr. Elkington's mode of draining, he has 

 eniieavored to establish, by authentic quotations 

 from the agricu'iurai reports of those counties in 

 England, where these advantages are taken notice 

 of in detail, and from other salitfiictory sources ol" 

 information. 



It cannot be expected that he is to enter into a 

 learned disquisition on the nature of springs, a 

 physical intjuir}' into the cause and formation of 

 bogs, or into a chemical examination of the quali- 

 ties ofsoil. These are the researches that would 

 exceed the limits of this treatise ; hut as they are, 

 in some degree, connected with the sul>)ect, he 

 wdl confine himself to a brief statement oi' simple 

 fiicts. so as to explain the principles of the art ; 

 and will endeavor to convey their meaning in the 

 best Iaii2;uage the nature ofthe subject admits of". 



The origin of the discovery of this system, he 

 has thought proper to explain ; which, thouujh im- 

 material in other respects, formeil the subject of 

 much controversy at the time when the reward 

 (£1000) was voted by parliament to Mr. Elk- 

 ington. 



When it comes into the hands of those intelli- 

 gent individuals who have seen, and are acquainted 

 with the nature and method of the sysiem it de- 

 pcribes, tlie writer hopes they will pa>s over any 

 imperfections this treatise may contain, and will 

 not hesitate to correct its errors, or to supply its 

 defects. In a georgical vvork of this kind, provin- 

 cial terms are unavoidable, Ijecause they are those 

 commonly apjilied; but to such, he lias added an 

 explanation, which makes their meaning general- 

 ly understood. 



The subject of embanking is so nearly connect- 

 ed with that of draining, that the writer (having 

 also experience on that Jiead*) has thought it pro- 

 per to include, in this volume, a treatise giving a 

 practical description of all that relates to the prin- 

 ciples, and secure construction, of such safi^guards 

 against the encroachment of these excellent ser- 

 vants, but obstinate masters — the sea, lakes and 

 rivers. 



* An embanlcnjent is often termed a "head," as it 

 makes head, or resii=f3nce, against the encroachment of 

 high tides, or ri\'er floods. 



PART I. 



ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS METHODS OF 

 DRAINING, BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF 

 elkington's SYSTEM. 



SECTION I. 



Of til e benefit derived from draining in general. 



That the knowledge and utility of draining is 

 almost as ancient as that of agriculture itsellj ap- 

 pears from the Roman writers, " De re rustica," 

 for it is mentioned as early as the times of Cato, 

 Palladius, Columella, and Pliny,* who mention it 

 particularly, and describe some circumsiances in 

 the modes of draining at that time, that were lately 

 considered as modern improvements. 



From the description given l)y these writers, it 

 is evident that they were sensible of the advan- 

 tages, and were acquainted with various methods 

 of constructing drains (fbssas) both open and cov- 

 ered ; and that our British agriculturists had little 

 to boast of in that science till the discovery by 

 Elkington, with whose system tliey were wholly 

 unacquainted. Of all the improvements by which 

 the value of land is advanced, to tlie equal benefit 

 ofthe owner, the occupier, and of the community 

 at large, there are none fnun which so many ad- 

 vantages have been, and may be, derived at a 

 moderate expense, as that of draining when skil- 

 fully applied. In the first instance, the owner is 

 benefiied by the increase of rent, the occupier by 

 that of the produce, and the community by a 

 greater supply of useful commodities, and by its 

 affording a source of employment to many indivi- 

 duals in the lower ranks of life. The climate is 

 rendered more healtliy and genial to both animal 

 and vegetable life, by the removal of stagnant 

 water, and the prevention of those noxious exhala- 

 tions arising from large tracts of moss and marshy 

 ground, where the herbage gives little nourish- 

 ment, and only promotes disease. 



Since the introduction of draining into this coun- 

 try, the health ofthe inhabitants has been greatly 

 improved ; agues and other distempers being now 

 comparatively unknown, that were formerly so 

 frequent, occasioned by the humidity of the soil, 

 and consequent impurity of the atmosphere, pro- 

 ducing that miasma which so often proves fatal. 



The pastures that have been laid dry, maintain 

 a larger stock of cattle and sheep than formerly, 

 superior in size and quality, and less subject to 

 disease. The rot, that destructive malady, is un- 

 known in drj/ pastures; for wetness alone is the 

 cause that produces it ; and as no cure has hitherto 

 been found, draining is the only preventive. The 

 produce of the harvest, formerly precarious on 

 such land, becomes, by draining, ample and pro- 

 ductive in quantity, and the quality of the grain is 

 improved also. If land that is in tillage remains 

 wet, every manure that is applied to it loses its 

 effect to a certain extent, and ftiils to produce that 

 abundant crop, which a less quantity would yield, 

 if such land were laid dry. 



In wetland, seasons of tillage are lost, the labor 

 is greater, and the return less. The seed is, in 

 many cases, nearly lost ; the produce is always 

 scanty and inferior in quality ; but when land is 



* Pliny, in his Natural History, says, " It is very 

 advantageous to cut, and make wet land dry, by means 

 of ditches," (drains.) 



