528 



FARMERS REGISTER 



[No. 9 



tiori to the cultivation of tlie field. When the 

 field is in pasture, this drain can have no bad ef- 

 ftjcl whatever, as the cattle pass over it with ease ; 

 and being covered with grass to the bottom, no- 

 thing is lost. If there be a constant run ot^ water 

 in it, that may be confined to a narrow channel, 

 cut a Ittle deeper in the middle; but however 

 great the slope, the sides should never be plough- 

 ed with the rest of the field, hut should remain al- 

 ways in grass ; as a sudden or yreat run of water, 

 after heavy rains, passing throuL''h it when loos- 

 ened by [)lougliing, would vvash down the sides, 

 and destroy iis shape. 



Very small and narrow cuts, commonly called 

 grips, are very useful ia the wet hollows of smooth 

 pastures, to receive, and carry oil' from the sur- 

 face, the rain water as it falls. They are com- 

 monlv one foot deep, eight or ten inches wide at 

 top, and the sides so contracted as to meet in a 

 point at the bottom. They are easily stopt by 

 the feet of cattle, but are very soon cleared out. 



Sunk li^nces, (commonly called ha, /ia's), vvhieh 

 are used in parks, for the division of lawns and 

 pleasure-grounds, come under the denomination 

 of open drains, being always useful in that re- 

 spect ; but as tiieir form and manner of construc- 

 tion are so generally known, and vary according to 

 situation and other circumstances, it is unnecessa- 

 ry to give any further description of them here.* 

 It may be added, however, that when required for 

 a drain in such situations, they shoulil be deeper 

 than in ordinary cases, and that the earth thrown 

 out, in place of being heaped upon the side, and 

 raised above the level of the surliice, should he 

 removed, or so spread, as not to appear so bulky as 

 it is sometimes allowed to do. All open drains 

 require to be scoured out, and cleared, at least once 

 a-year; for when this is neglected, they lose their 

 effect, and the operation afterwards becomes 

 more difficult and expensive. 



Large open drains for the purpose of straight- 

 ing, deepening, and confining the water of rivers 

 and streams that are apt to overflow, being con- 

 nected with embankments, will be described in 

 the part allotted to that subject. 



SECTION IX. 



On the Draining of Lakes, Land-locked Moras- 

 ses, Sj-c. 



The objects in the draining of Lakes (or Lochs, 

 as they are called in Scotland), are threefold: 

 First, for the sake of the land that may be gained 

 when the water is removed ; second, for the marl 

 and rich earth that may be got in the bottom ; and, 

 thirdly, for the purpose of obtaining level, to drain 

 extensive tracts of meadow and marshy ground 

 adjoining, which cannot otherwise be accomplish- 

 ed. Add to these, the beneficial effects of also 

 improving the climate in their neighborhood. 

 In many cases, all these objects are acquired at 

 the same lime, which renders such drainage of 

 the greater importance. In Scotland, many lakes 

 of considerable extent have been drained, and all 

 these objects fully attained ; and there are others 

 equally practicable, several of which it is now in 



* The name Ha, Ha, must have originated thus — 

 In passing (for the fust time) from one part of a lawn 

 to another, and finding an unexpected and unforeseen 

 interruption, the person would naturally expiess his 

 surprise by elaculating ha, halt I 



the contemplation of the proprietors to drain. One 

 drawback that frequently happens to the draining 

 of lochs is, several owners, having an interest in 

 different mills, that are supplied with water from 

 that source ; and where that is the case, they may 

 remain lono; in their present state. In many parts 

 of this coimtry, small lochs and dams are kept up 

 for tiie sake of mills under old tenures ; which, if 

 drained, the land gained by that operation would, 

 in many instances, be worth ten times the rent of 

 sucli mills. The most considerable drainajres of 

 lakes that have taken place in Scotland, are the 

 lollowing: the lochs of Spynie, Leuchars, and 

 Coats, in Morayshire, where above one thousand 

 acres of valuable land have been irained, and level 

 afforded to drain the adjacent grounds, firmerly 

 impracticable. The drains from these lochs have 

 very little fall, being near to. and having a direct 

 communication with the sea. From the nature of 

 the loose and blowing sand through which they 

 are cut, they have likewise been an expensive and 

 difficult operation. The lochs of Kinnordy, Res- 

 tennet, Rescobie, Lundie, and others in the county 

 of Forfir, have been drained for the sake of the 

 vast quantities of shell-marl which they contain, 

 and which has been the means of accelerating, in. 

 no small degree, the agricidtural improvement of 

 that country. The great loch of Forfar has also 

 been partially drained, or lowered, on that account. 

 The meadows of Logie. and of Belmont, in the 

 same county, formerly lakes, have lately been 

 completely drained; have produced an immense- 

 store of marl, and are now converting into arable 

 land, the most fertile and productive in that part 

 oi' the country. Lochore, in thft~ county of File,- 

 has been completely drained, nnd is now turned 

 into arable land ; and Loch Leven, in Kinross- 

 shire, has been lowered as many feet as will relieve 

 from wetness, and give fidi to drain many liun- 

 dred acres of useful land adjoining. The Loch of 

 Strathberg, in Aberdeenshire, was some years ago 

 attempted to be drained, by an enterprising mdivi- 

 dual of that county ; but after an outlay of many 

 thousand pounds, the obstacles to its completion 

 were found so great, that the further prosecution 

 of it was abandoned. It is close to the sea ; but 

 the tract through which the drain had to pass, be- 

 ing a loose and blowing sand, filed up soon after 

 being excavated. Wind -mill pumps were next 

 tried, which threw up the water of the loch over 

 the bank, at its lower extremity; but the nature of 

 the sand being such, the water was absorbed by it, 

 and returned again to the loch. In Roxburgh and 

 Selkii'kshires, and in the counties of Dumfries and 

 Galloway, several small lochs have been drained 

 for marl ; and in these counties, many others are 

 capable of being drained, where marl is also to be 

 found. In the northern counties, there are many 

 lochs, where, although no marl has yet been dis- 

 covered, draining, or at least lowerinir their water, 

 would be attended with beneficial consequences to 

 the atljacent fields and meadows. In the county 

 of Aberdeen, there are several, where it would be 

 particularly so, on account of the valuable land 

 that would be gained. In the instances above 

 mentioned, many thousand acres have been added 

 to the productive soil of the country, besides the 

 immense store of marl that has been obtained; 

 and although this was attended with considerable 

 outlay at first, the result has been very profitable to 

 those concerned. 



