1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



525 



Draining of mixed soils. 

 Plate IV. 



in 



J^'Ye/. 2 







AAA Drain cut in the hollow part of the field. 

 B B B Ditto. 



C CC C &c. Branch drains. 



than carrying off the water, after it haf3 passed 

 over the "ditlerent strata, and would lodge in the 

 hollow, if there was no outlet given to it. When 

 the ground lies in this manner, therefore, besides 

 the drain in the hollow, others must be cut li'om it 

 in an oblique direction across the declivity, which, 

 crossing all the different veins of sand, will extract 

 the water li'om each. See Fig. 2 of plate No. IV. 

 The first thing to be considered, in draining these j 

 mixed soils, is to examine minutely the inclination 

 of the alternate strata, and how they lie with re- 

 gard to the slope or situation of the field to be 

 drained, lor on this the proper direction of the 

 drains depend. The external signs that distin- 

 guish the different beds, are easily perceptible from 

 the appearance of the surface, and nature of the 

 herbage that each produces ; and this object is at- 

 tained with least difliculty, when the ground is in 

 pasture. When in tillage, however, it can also 

 be ascertained, by observing the darker and wet- 

 ter appearance which the soil, affected by the wa- 

 ter, exhibits. One thing more requires attention 

 in completing the drainage of these soils. If the 

 field lies very much on a descent, care must be ta- 

 ken to lay out the side drains in a direction suffi- 

 ciently horizontal, so as not to make the ILtll too 

 precipitant, by which the bottoms of them would 

 be worn uneven, and the passage of the water ob- 

 structed ; but, to give them just fall enough to 

 make the water clear its course. Where alternate 

 strata are of greater extent, and where the wetness 

 produced by stronger springs forms swamps at dif- 



ferent levels, on the sides of hills and sloping 

 grounds, and where deeper cutting, and the use of 

 the auger is necessarry, the modes of draining will 

 be explained in Part 11. 



SECTION VII. 



On ihe draining of grass-lands not intended for 

 Ullage^ as depastured with cattle or sheep. 



This branch of the subject forms an important 

 part of the system of draining. 



In high countries, where black cattle and sheep 

 are reared and led, less attention is paid to the 

 drainage ol' the pastures, that are wet and unpro- 

 ductive, than to that of the arable ground, although 

 the eflects in the one case be equally beneficial 

 with those in the other. This neglect is often at- 

 tended with serious loss. From the nature and 

 unwholesome quality of the grass, which a super- 

 abundance of moisture produces, whether stag- 

 nant on the surface or confined under it, proceeds 

 that incurable malady, the rot, and other diseases, 

 to which many thousands of valuable animals fall 

 a sacrifice every year. For this, draining is the 

 most infallible preventive, and in such situations 

 is attended with little expense, as the drains do not 

 require to be of that depth which is necessary for 

 tillage land, and may in all cases be left open, ex- 

 cept in such places where the depth requires cov- 

 ered passages, to enable the sheep to cross over 

 them in safety. In the southern districts of Scot- 

 land, particularly in the counties of Berwick, Rox- 



