i^dS] 



F A R Rl E R S ' REGISTER. 



701 



the gitles, and prevents the loose eanil and other 

 maticr from faliiiin; anioiifj the stonep. while the 

 conduit is beini;' Ibi nied. 'I'he tnrr is laid jrrass- 

 eide do\vn\var^l^! above the Rionofs, and it is seldom 

 ncccs^sary lo liave any (or at least very lew) loose 

 plones above the condnii, exi-rpt where liie sira- 

 4uni, in which the water flows, is so thick tiiat the 

 heii^ht of the roiiduil does not reach the npjier 

 parr of it; then it is reqnisiie lo have ihe stones po 

 Jiijih, that the water may percolate tiiroaiih them 

 to the conduit below. In quick or runninir sands, 

 it is also necessary someiimes to pat thin stone«, 

 plates, or thin turfs in the boMoni of the drain, to 

 prevent the loose sand (rorn flowinir np, and the 

 stones from sinkinrr. Before borins';, it is proper to 

 Jay Ihe side stones of ilie conduit; after which, the 

 holes may be made at the distance of every three 

 or lour yards; but if the water, on withdrawino' 

 the aujjer, rush np with violence, it indicates a 

 stronjr body of it below, and therelbre requires a 

 g:reater number of openin<2;s, (by boring), to irive 

 it a speedy and sufficient outlet. When the Ibrce 

 of the water is ofieat, the width of the holes en- 

 Jarcres, and consequently the discharire increases. 



By a careful examination of the adjoininir 

 {rrounds, and attention to the strata of which they 

 are compofed, it is sometimes possible to say at 

 what depth the spring lies, aiid how deep the bor- 

 ing should be; but tli? rule is, to go down till the 

 water rise freely on withdrawing the auger. Mr. 

 Elkington bored a hole thirty feet deep, near 

 Tamworth in StaRbrdshire, through which water 

 issued at the rate of fhree hogfiheada a minute, and 

 laid dry a great extent ol wet ground in the neigh- 

 borhood; and in a drain, which the author direct- 

 ed to be cut at Upleaiham, in Yorkshire, the seat 

 ■of Lord Dundas, an astoiiishinsx qoantitj^ of water 

 was brought up, by boring to the depth of twen- 

 ty-four feet below the bottom of the drain. These 

 instances are mentioned to show, thai the water 

 eometimes lies at a considerable depth, and that 

 when brought up by the auger, notwithstanding 

 the extraordinary depth, it has the desired effect. 

 Deep boring, therefore, should not be a discour- 

 agement, when the object to be gained requires it. 

 It is better to put down the auger holes a little to 

 a side, and not in the middle of the drain, as the 

 water that comes from them is, by that means, 

 less apt to be interrupted by the current passing 

 along the centre of the drain. The figures 4 and 

 &, in plate No. XI. represent this. 



That part of the conduit, above the auger holes, 

 should be left uncovered, till the sand, which is at 

 first apt to rise so abundantly Avith the water, sub- 

 sides, and the openings become clear; and then 

 they may be covered with safety. When the 

 holes made by boring are not sufficient for dis- 

 charging and letting ofT the quantity of water 

 which the spring would emit, and when ihe stra- 

 tum containing Ihe water is near to the bottom of 

 the trench, and the intervening one difficult to 

 penetrate with the boring instrument, pits may be 

 made wilh the spade, and filled with small loose 

 ptones_ which will give a wider outlet and quicker 

 vent to the spring. There need be no apprehen- 

 Bion of the holes made by the auger or spade fill- 

 ing up, whether the drain he open or covered, pro- 

 vided no other water is admitted; lor such is often 

 the force of the spring, that it will throw up any 

 earth or sludge that may accidentally get into il, 

 and can only be injured by a great quantity of" 

 «ur/iice or flood water coming upon it at once. 



Where etonep can be got, they are preferable to 

 brick; but there are several kinds of brick invent- 

 ed and used solely Ibr the purpose of draining, in 

 different [)arts ol Ktiirland; but principally ihe 

 common kind has hitherto been made use of in 

 Scotland. In Ibrminc; the conduit of brick, a 

 smidi aperture, ^of above an inch), siiouid be left 

 bcMween each, lo iuhriit the water that comes from 

 { the sidee of the drain. In vry wet and spongy 

 j soils, during the time the drain is cutting, the wa- 

 j ler from the surliice, and what may trickle from 

 the sides of the trench, should be stopped occa- 

 siovally; and when let ofi' to pass through the 

 conduit, (if part of that has been [ircvioiisly fbrm- 

 edj, a turf should be [ilacTd at the entrance of it, 

 so as to prevent any soft earthy matter from pa.-s- 

 ' ing alons wiih the water, that might choke or in- 

 jure ;he laid ptu't of the drain. Where the roots 

 j of trees ititertere in the course of the drtiin. they 

 I should he completely gndjbed up; Ibr if this is not 

 I done, the fibres of the roots extend themselves 

 j through the joints and opeiungs of the stones, and 

 i soon put a sto[) to the passage of the water. 

 I Thouaii the earili that has been dug out of the 

 j drain a[)pears, wh.en filled in aijain, considerably 

 hiirher than the surfrice of the ground at the sides, 

 it should remain so; tbr, in a short time, it sinks to 

 the common level; but if made so at first, the 

 earth would subside, and leave a hollow over the 

 drain, in which surlace-water miuht lodge, and, 

 findinir its way downwards, might injure the con- 

 duit below, by cnrrying part of the earlh along 

 with it. Lastly, the mouth of the drain should be 

 carefully guarded, by railing it in, or otherv\ise 

 protecting it from being poached, and filled up by 

 ilie treadinc of cattle, in their attempts to drink at 

 it; and when any injury of this kind happens, it 

 should alvva}.s be immediately removed. For this 

 purpose, it is necessary fi-equently to examine the 

 outlet of all drains, and lo remedy any defect that 

 ma)' happen. The first symptoms of the drains 

 proving effectual, and which soon become obvious 

 when the springs have been completely drawn off, 

 are, that all surface-drains that may have former- 

 ly been made, pits, ditches, and other hollow 

 places in which tlie water may have stood, sud- 

 denly become dry, and remain afterwards in that 

 slate. 



In consequence of drains that have been made 

 according to this system, wells have become dry; 

 and springs, at a considerable distance, have aban- 

 doned their (brmer courses, and their original out- 

 lets have been dried up! By cutting off one 

 spring alone, by which the particular place to be 

 drained may have no apparent connection, but 

 may be so connected vnder ground, that, from it, 

 all the others derive their source; and being there- 

 fore the principal cain^e of the whole wetness, to 

 fu< ?7 o^' is the chief desideratum of the business. 

 Of this there are many instances in JVJr. El- 

 kington's practice, where, by a very short line of 

 drain, with a few auger-boles hitting on the par- 

 ticular places where the longest part of the main 

 spring lay, a considerable extent of ground, with 

 which his drain had seemingly no apparent con- 

 nection, has been laid dry, to ihe astonishment of 

 tho. ! who have seen it, and furnishing a subject 

 of incredibility to many who have not. At 

 Odsione Hall, in Leicestershire, a very remarka- 

 ble drainage of this description took place. A 

 considerable tract of' wet marshy land, of very lit- 



