922 



Fx\KMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 



kirk, and Clackmannan, where the draining ofclay 

 soils is so well understood, much has been done; 

 particularly on the valuable estates belonging lo 

 Mr. Paterson of Castle Huntly, Lord Dundas, and 

 the Ear! of Mar. The genera! drainage of these 

 carses has been accomplished chiefly by open cuts, 

 and the proper formation and direciion of the 

 ridges and furrows. As a description of the 

 method adopted for draining one of these extensive 

 clayey tracts, applies to all of a similar nature, the 

 following mode, that has been practised in the 

 carse of Gowrie, will sufficiently explain it. 



In the first place, the proprietors, by mutual con- 

 sent, marked out the most eligible lines where 

 there was any apparent declivity, or where the 

 water stagnated in greatest abundance ; and in 

 these lines cut large drains, called pnws, resem- 

 bling small canals, as deep as the level of the Tay 

 would admit, and of a correspondin£i width, to re- 

 ceive the water from the adjacent fields, and con- 

 vey it to the river. These pows are so sloped at 

 the sides to prevent their falling in, that the plough 

 goes within a little of the bottom of them. Such 

 iarge receptacles being dug, ditches of a smaller 

 size, surrounding and intersecting the farms, were 

 drawn so as to serve for divisions of the ditierent 

 fields, and to empty their water into the adjoininir 

 pows. The size of these ditches was regulated 

 by the extent of the fields, and the quantity of wa- 

 ter they were to convey ; their depih seldom less 

 than four feet; their width at top six, and the bot- 

 tom, from one, to one and a half feet. All these 

 ditches are scoured annually, to prevent that stag- 

 nation of water to which so level a surface is Ha- 

 ble, and give it as easy a discharge as the situa- 

 tion will admit. Where the fields adjoining the 

 ditches, are of a uniform level surf ice, the common 

 furrows between the ridges, if kept sufficientl\' 

 clear, will serve to keep the ground dry ; but as it 

 seldom happens that any field is so free of inequal- 

 ities, the last operation, after it is sown and har- 

 rowed, is to draw a deep furrow throuirh every hoi- 

 low of the field, in such a direction as to commu- 

 nicate with the other furrows that divide the 

 ridges, and with the ditches at the extremities of 

 the inclosure. When this track is once opened 

 with the plough, it is widened, cleared out, and so 

 shaped witii the spade, that it may discharge the 

 water freely. Where there are several inequali- 

 ties in a field, it is necessary lo have as many of 

 these open cuts as will take the water out of the 

 whole. They are called gaas, and to keep them 

 clear, is a very essential part of every carse farm- 

 er's attention. Experience has also taught them 

 the propriety of ploughing so, as to .prevent any 

 inequalityin the fields, and to form the ridges so that 

 the crown shall not be too much elevated and en- 

 riched, nor the sides next the furrows low and im- 

 poverished, but that every part may be rendered 

 as equally dry and fertile as possible. Indeed, 

 the chanse that has taken place in the beauty and 

 fertility of the carses, by draining, squaring, and 

 equalizing the fields, straighting the ridges, remo- 

 ving the baulks* and other improvements, make 

 them now appear equally rich and productive 

 with any similar districts in the south of England. 



'Baulk. A narrow waste space betwixt each ridge, 

 which certainly baulked the operation of cross-plo'igb- 

 ing, &c., and so interrupted the improvement of the 

 soil. 



Loams. — From the excellence of the soil, and 

 their general fertility, the drainage of loams de- 

 serves particular attention. The soil of haiighs or 

 holms (as they are called in Scotland) which lie 

 along the sides of rivers and brooks, is. in most 

 cases, composed of loam, or rich alluvial earth, 

 and is frequently injured both by springs issuing 

 from the adjoining banks, and from water lodging 

 on the surliice where the field is level, as is gene- 

 rally the case. As the subsoil of loams is ior the 

 most part of a porous naUire, from which water is 

 drawn freely, they may be considered the easiest 

 of all soils to drain. The method is, to proceed 

 by making a cut of proper depth (from ibiu" to six 

 feet) along the upper side of the flat, and immedi- 

 ately under the bank or risins ground from whence 

 the sprinirs issue, giving it a lall and outlet to the 

 nearest point of discharge. If the field is exten- 

 sive, a parallel drain of similar dimensions may be 

 necessary across the flat. In surlace draining 

 loams, fewer cuts are necessary than in clays, for 

 the water is easily extracted from every part of the 

 soil. In the surfiice drains, the stones require to 

 be filled to a greater height than in those for 

 springs; but the depth of the trenches require to 

 be less ; from three to four feet is sufficient. 



Peaty and Moorish Suits. — These are more fre- 

 quently wet from surlace, than from spring water. 

 As the upper soil is generally not more than fi-om 

 a foot lo two feet deep, and under that a retentive 

 clay, the whole body of this soil gets filled with 

 water by heavy rains ; and as it cannot subside, it 

 remains soaking and chilling the upper earth till 

 carried off by exhalation, or proper drains. These 

 drains require to be many in number, if the ground 

 is flat, and should always be cut at least a loot in 

 the clay that is below the upper soil. There are 

 manv moors in Scotland of large extent, whe/e 

 this kind of soil forms the upper stratum, which, 

 if drained, might be turned to good account, by 

 being converted into arable land, or laid down in 

 ffrass. The first thing to be done, in draining such 

 ground, is to lay out proper open drains or ditches, 

 in such a direction as to subdivide it into regular 

 fields or inclosures, and to intercept the springs 

 (where these may be,) or pass through such hol- 

 lows as may retain the most stagnant water. Into 

 these ditches, it will be easy to conduct any cov- 

 ered drains, or smaller open ones, as circum- 

 stances may point out. The ridges in land of this 

 description should be very narrovv, but not much 

 raised in the crowns, otherwise the accumulation 

 of soil there will impoverish the furrows, make 

 the middle of the ridire soft and poachy, and, 

 when in pasture, the fiirrows full of rushes. These 

 are the soils, when drained, where paring and 

 burning is an essential aid to their improvement. 

 More will be found concerning them, in the Ap- 

 pendix. 



Sand, and other porous soils on a retentive bot- 

 tom. — It is evident, from the nature of these soils, 

 that surface draining applies to them more prop- 

 erly than deep cutting; for, as the water is all 

 lodged in the upper stratum, there is no necessity 

 for going any deeper than a few inches into the 

 clay that supports it. Where a sjjring or springs 

 do arise in such, they spread their influence to a 

 considerable extent, and therefore by cutting them 

 ofi" completely, one or Cew drains may have a 

 wonderful effect. The whole upper soil being po- 

 rous, the water of the springs either rising along 



