72Q 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



miisi he made use of; and this is usually the case I (usually a rod asunder), I draw two furrows with 



when a tarmer enters on a ie;>se to a farm which has 

 not been drained, or which requirt s to be done a 

 second time. Sluhblesaredonein winter, and lal- 

 lovvs in Slimmer; but when a single field or two 

 only are to be done, the fiirmer mav choose the 

 most convenient season. Many excellent farmers 

 would not do it any other time than summer, fiom 

 being then able to execute the cuis in a cleaner 

 and neater manner, and free from that kneadinsr 

 and plastering which takes place in winter, and 

 which, they think, tends to prevent the flowinir of 

 the water from those minute and imperceptible 

 veins and interstices of the soil throuirh which the 

 water percolates. They have further remarked, 

 that opening the earth in a dry season gives a ten- 

 dency to drain it, as the panicles of the soil, after 

 being separated and well dried, will not so easilv 

 unite again; whereas the kneading in winter tends 

 to increase tenacity where it is most to be avoid^-d 



common toot-plough, leaving a baulk betwixt 

 them about fiiieen inche.'i wide; tiien, with a strong 

 double-breasied plough, made on purpose, I split 

 that baulk, and leave a clean lurrovv lourteen or 

 fifteen inches below the suriiice; but, where the 

 depth of soil re(iuires it, (liir I like to touch the 

 clay), by a second ploughinii I i?ink it to eijihteen 

 or twenty inches; it is then ready for the land- 

 ditching spade, wiih which I dig. hfieen inches 

 deep, a drain as narrow as possible." 



The method Ibllowed by some good farmers, 

 who do not possess plouirhs made on purpose lor 

 the work, is this: with their common plough, 

 drawn by (bur or five horses, and usually stirring 

 about four or five inches deep, they turn a double 

 furrow, throwing the earth on each side, and leav- 

 ing a baulk in the middle. This baulk they raise 

 by a second bnut in the same manner; then they 

 go 111 the open furrow twice with their common 



Further, that cartiiio- on the fields in winter, to j double-breast plough, getting what depth they 

 brinsr on stones or other materials, is more difficult can; after this, they shovel out all the loose mould 



and dangerous than in summer. 



Til opposition, however, to these ideas, Mr. 



and inequalities, to the breadth of about a loot; 

 and thus havinff gained a clear open lurrovv, the 



Young, of Clare, in Suffolk, is of a contrary opin- depth varying according to the soil and ploughs, 



"I never land-drain," says he, "in summer: two 

 inconveniences attend it; the increase of labor in a 

 clayey soil, when hard and dry, is very considera- 

 ble, and the want of leisure, and when good la- 

 borers are scarce." 



The want of laborers in some places may be an 

 unanswerable objection, but the dryness is not; lor 

 if the previous furrows opened by the plough or 

 last course of plouirhins' on arable land be not left 

 to dry, but the spades follovv directly, after a liifle 

 rain, there will be moisture sufficient to make it 

 work freely. Many good drainers prefer execut- 

 ing the work when the land is under a layer, i. e. 

 sown down with irrass. Lord Petre, on this, ob- 

 serves, that the plough for opening the previous 

 furrows, works better on a layer. 



"I preler a lay, if layed down level, as I have 

 a plough on a very simple construction, with which 

 and six horses, I can ploufrh from ten to twelve 

 inches deep, and lay the furrows as re.crulnr as a 

 man can with a spade; so that, after the ditch is 

 digged and filled, the tiirrow can be put into its 

 place again, and rolled with a large roller quite 

 level; and then I dig but one spit, with the bottom 

 land-ditching spade, fourteen inches deep — the 

 expense 2s. 8d. per 20 rods, the diiiffer reluming 

 the furrow to its place. I also use this plough on 

 fallow; but it does not answer so well, as the 

 moulds fall into the furrows. The expense of dig- 

 gins on fallow is Is. 2c?. per rod." 



When the ground is in summer fallow, is cer- 

 tainly the best time for casting drains that are only 

 for carrying off surface-water, as the distinction 

 betwixt the wet and dry parts of the field is then 

 easily perceptible; and any prominent inequalities 

 of surface may then be more easily levelled or re- 

 duced, by paring off the heights and adding to the 

 hollows. 



VI. Maimer in which drains are partly opened 

 by the plough. 



The method practised by IMr. James Young of 

 Clare, which he has described himself^ li-om very 

 ample practice, is deserving of attention. He 

 eays — "When I have marked the drains in a field, 



but usually about eiuht or nine inches, they dig 

 one spit with a draininc spade, sixteen inches 

 deep; thus gaining in the whole twenty-lour or 

 twenty-fii-e inches. But, as this depth is seldom 

 sufficient, when necessaiy they throw out another, 

 or even two other spits, which make the whole 

 depth from thirty to forty inches. 



VII. Depth and width. 



Tiie depth is various, accordiuirlo the nature of 

 soil, the si'uaiion of the field, the expense the far- 

 mer is willing to incur, and to a diversity of other 

 circumstances. Many years ago, three feet was 

 the common de|)th in most soils; but for twenty 

 years [jast, they have seldom exceeded thirty or 

 thirty-two inches; and the number that are cut 

 only twenty-li)ur or twenty-six, is much morecon- 

 sideralile. 



Main or receiving drains are always a little deep- 

 er than the others, havintr more water to convey, 

 and farther to carry it. The deeper they are dug 

 in |)ervious soils, the farther they will operate in 

 reducing the moisture to a level where it can less 

 injure vegetation; but when the spade reaches an 

 impervious soil, through which water will not per- 

 colate, there is no occasion lor making the trench 

 any deeper. A few inches, however, in the clay, 

 as a safer channel for the water, is of advantage. 



One general rule is never to be departed from, 

 which is, that the depth must be sufficient to pre- 

 vent the plough, or the impression of the feet of 

 cattle, from af!t3ciing the position of the materials 

 used in filling them. This must particularly be 

 observed of horses walking in the furrow while 

 ploughing, as they then tread four inches, and 

 perhaps more, below the surface of the ground; 

 add to these four inches, nine or ten more lor the 

 materials, and when the drains are only twenty- 

 four deep, there will be nine or ten inches of soil 

 to bear the iveightof the horse in the act of plough- 

 ing. This, as the earth has been stirred, seems 

 certainly too little; and should apparently ascer- 

 tain that twenty-four inches is by no meens a suf- 

 ficient depth. If, by going thirty inches down, a 

 tenacious soil is not too deeply entered, a greater 

 depth in a more porous one is surely requisite, and 

 ought to be preferred. 



