523 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



Plan of Lang Harol Pits, part of the farm of Prince-Thorp in Warwickshire, 

 Beino- the field in which Mr. Elkington first discovered his mode of draining, A. D. 1764. 



Plate VII. 



Fig. 1. Horizontal Plan. 



P Field that was in turnips at the 

 time Mr. Elkington was cutting 

 the first trench, and to which 

 the man was going with the iron 

 bar, with which Mr. E. first dis- 

 covered the spring. 



D D D Gravel and sand bank con- 

 taining sprmgs. 



E E A E Line along which springs 

 broke out, before the drain was 

 cut. 



M M M Clay, boggy and covered 

 with ruslies, caused by the o- 

 verflowiug of the springs in the 

 gravel and sand above the up- 

 per trench. 



H H H Here the water of the 

 springs was absorbed by porous 

 rock, after flowing over the sur- 

 face of the clay. | 



L Dry ground above the porous i 

 rock. 



Ill Lower side of the rock, I 

 where the water again broke \ 

 out. 



K K K K Clay, boggy and cover- 

 ed with ru.shes, caused by the | 

 water flowing from the rock, i 



O The ground here also affected 

 by the drains in the adjoining I 

 close, the same strata lying | 

 across it. I 



N Ground here also affected. ' 



A The place where the clay point- 

 ed up on the surface above the 

 line, and below the bottom of 

 the trench; the depth of which 

 not reaching the spring, induc- 

 ed Mr. Elkington to pu;--li down 

 the iron bar; which at four feet 

 below the bottom of the drain 

 caused the water to burst up; 

 and this was the first means 

 that led him to think of apply- 

 ing the auger as a more proper 

 instrument in such cases, where 

 the depth of the drain does not 

 reach that of the spring; and up- 

 on this, all his future practiceis 

 grounded. 



F E First drain or slough made by 

 Mr. Elkington, which entirely 

 cuts off the springs, and preyent- 

 ed their overflowing the clay 

 surface. 



G Orifice of the drain where the 

 water is discharged into the 

 ditch G a Q. 



p Gravel and sand.— a Upper drain at A in fig. 1.— 6 Lower drauis at B and C in fig. L— d Outlet of the springs (before drain- 

 ing).— e Ditch. — ff Wet boggy surface covered with rushes. — g Where the water was drunk in by the rock.— A Where the water 

 again broke out of the rock.— i i Clay and peat.— i Auger hole.— m Level of the outlet.— n Porous rock with dry surface.— 3 Upper 

 level of the water.— r Level of tlie drain's bottom.— s s Clay and peat.— « Tail of the sand. 



Fig. 2. Section. 



plained. With regard to the use of the auger, 

 though there is every rea.son to lielieve that he 

 was led to employ that instrument from the cir- 

 cumstance already stated, and did not derive it 

 irom any other source of intelligence; yet, there is 

 no douht that others might have hit upon the 

 same idea, without being indebted tor it to him. 

 It has happened, that in atteinps to discover mines 

 by boring, springs have been tapped, and ground 

 thereby drained, either by letting the water down, 

 or by giving it veal to the surface; and that the 

 auger has been likewise used in bringing up water 

 in wells, to save the expense of deeper digging; 

 but that it had been used in draining land,before 

 Mr. Elkington made that discovery, no one has 

 ventured to assert. That it wqs used in Italy, for 

 the purpose of procuring water in wells, appears 

 from BufTon, who in his Natural History, states, 

 "that in the city of JVlodena, and four miles 



round, whatever part is dug, when we reach a cer- 

 tain depth, and then bore deeper with an anger, 

 the water springs up with such force, that the well 

 is filled in a very short space of time. This water 

 flows continually, and neither increases nor dimin- 

 ishes by the rain or drought." It is not probable, 

 however, that Elkington received any hint from 

 this, or any other publication in the English lan- 

 guage, as Dr. Nugent's Travels in Germany were 

 printed in the year 1768, and Dr. Anderson's Es- 

 says were not published till 1775; whereas his dis- 

 covery was made in 1764. 



Draining, according to Elkington's principles, 

 depends chiefly on three points: 



1st, Upon discovering the main spring or source of 



the evil; 

 2d, Upon taking the level, and ascertaining iti 



subterraneous bearings; and, 



