1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



521 



Bpout, or wet place, in that part of the field.* This, 

 however, may seldom happen, and may be easily 

 remedied, bein<i near the exlrcmil}' of the field. 



In Dr. Nu<xent's Travels through Germany in 

 1766, and in the Agricultural Report of the county 

 of Roxburgh, an account is given, of similar 

 modes of draining ground in a land-locked situa- 

 tion, of which, as they prove the practicability of 

 that method, the following extracts are given : 



Dr. Nugt>nt says — "The draining of marshes is 

 conducted in much the same manner as that of 

 lakes; but here I have seen the operation only 

 per/ormed on what we call moor or turf grounds. 

 These are most easily drained by carrying trenches 

 through those grounds, when the disposition of 

 the country is such that the water can be conveyed 

 to some neighboring stream. The first thing 

 they do, is to carry a ditch to the middle of the 

 moor in a direct line, its depth and breadth adapted 

 to the extent and wetness of the ground, and thus 

 to the supposed quantity that is to be carried off. 

 Every six, eight, or ten perches, as the ground is 

 more or less swampy, cross trenches on both sides 

 are drawn in a direct line, and communicating on 

 both sides with the main trench. But, in case of 

 water coming from an}" neighboring eminences, 

 they dig a trench round the whole ground as a re- 

 servoir ; and this likewise communicates with the 

 main trench, &c. In case the draining of the wa- 

 ter into some natural receptacle be not practicable, 

 at least not under a very great expense, then they 

 have recourse to sinking ponds or reservoirs in 

 Bome neighboring bottom, and to these they carry 

 all the trenches. It is tine nature of moors in ge- 

 neral, that, beneath the turf or moss, there is a 

 loam which hinders the moisture from penetrating ; 

 and this indeed is what makes the marsh, and 

 causes the luxuriant growth of the turf or moss ; 

 but this loam or clay is only a stratum, and far 

 from being of an immense depth ; under it is gene- 

 rally a sand, or some other stony or loose soil. 

 Here reason readily informs us, that a middling 

 morass may be drained, hy perforating the clay, 

 and thus making way for the moisture to penetrate. 

 In order to this, a pit is dug in the deepest part of 

 the moor, till they come below the obstruciiiifr 

 clay, and meet with such a spongy stratum, as in 

 all appearance will be sufficient to imbibe the mois- 

 ture of the marsh above it. 



•• Into this pit, the ebbing of the mnrass is con- 

 veyed through a trench, and both the trench and 

 the pit are filled up with large broad stones, set- 

 ting them edgewise, so as to leave interstices ibr 

 carrying off the water : then such stones are laid 

 over breadthwise, and covered with loose earih, 

 like that on the surface. This is a matter of no 

 great expense, the pit being as near the morass as 

 the water will admit, and the trenches but short : 

 thus they have a drain unperceived, which leaves 

 the surface of the trenches lor the plough ; and in 

 middling marshes, especially in such moors as are 

 only wet and damp, this method, though some- 

 times slow, never fails taking effect ; and many 

 tracts are thereby made serviceable to the farmer 

 or grazier." 



In the Roxburghshire Report, it is thus stated : 

 "In the first place, it will be necessary to premise, 

 that from one to six feet deep, below the surface 



* The author has seen several instances of this in 

 tho course of his practice. 



of the waste lands that might be made arable in 

 this county, is found a large seam of black slaty 

 or metallic substance, generally from twenty to 

 twenty-five feet in thickness ; and below this is 

 found a mass of whinstone rock, both lying in a 

 tolerably regular straight line. The thickness of 

 the whinstone rock, I presume, is unknown, 

 as I have not heard it was ever bored into. 

 The black slaty or metallic substance is ge- 

 nerally found so closely cementcil, as it were, 

 without chinks or fissures, that it is impenetrable 

 to water or any other liquid ; while, on the con- 

 trary, the whinstone rock, when come at, abounds 

 with chinks and fissures, and will .receive and 

 swallow up any quantity of water poured into its 

 bosom. The surliice of the earth, at)ove the slaty 

 or metallic substance, is every where of a light, 

 kernelly, and mossy nature, apparently having, in 

 the course of ages, been produced and formed 

 from the vegetable substances which had attached 

 themselves to it: falling in the autumn seasons, 

 and having no receptacle to receive the rain-water 

 as it falls below this stratum, it preserves it on its 

 surflice, and in the winter months becomes swell- 

 ed and enlarged in a considerable degree. In 

 the spring months, when the sun and wind exhale 

 it, the moss becomes of a tolerable firmness, and 

 produces a coarse kind of unprofitable grass, mix- 

 ed in many places with short heather, of no use 

 either for the rearing or feeding of sheep or cattle. 

 "Having, in a brief manner, thus given an ac- 

 count of the several strata of which the waste land 

 of this county is composed, which every person in 

 the habit of improving should be well acquainted 

 with, I shall now proceed to give an example or 

 two of the method of cultivation I took, and then 

 add a ih\x observations. In the latter part of Oc- 

 tober, I ploughed up twenty acres of waste land of 

 the above description ; and as one part of it lay 

 nearly on a level, and the other on the slope of a 

 hill, i divided it into two parts, judging it might be 

 necessary to cause each part undergo a different 

 course of cultivation. The level part I gathered 

 up in small ridges, and ploughed it pretty deep, 

 making the furrows narrow, keeping two laborers 

 followiiisr each plough, as well to remove any ob- 

 structions that might arise liom stories or roots, as 

 also to turn the upper rim or surface below, when 

 the plough was in tault. This done, I allowed it 

 to lie till midsummer following ; but, in the spring 

 months, as soon as it would bear my sheep and 

 cattle, I drove them up and down the ground, as 

 often as occasion would permit, as well to nip off 

 any sprouts of grass that might appear, as to 

 tread it to a firm consistence, and which was at- 

 tended with most beneficial effects. At midsum- 

 mer, I gathered it up again'; but finding, although 

 the ridges were getting high, being only set out 

 eight feet at first, the plough did not get to the 

 slaty substance in the hollow of the ridge, I was 

 obliged to lay out the ridges sixteen feet. This 

 cost me a deal of trouble, but I eventually got the 

 ploush down to the slaty substance. When my 

 work was done so fiir, my next thoughts were di- 

 rected, how to get the water drawn out of the hol- 

 low of the riilges, b ing at least four feet below any 

 level I could obtain. To remedy this, I got a pair 

 of bore-rods, which I put down through the slaty- 

 substance, to the whinstone rock, at sundry places, 

 and which effectually answered my purpose, keep- 

 ing the tops of the holes covered with a basket of 



