724 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



No. 12- 



height, with a cap or flat stone laid over, which 

 covers and secures the f-avity throu'^'h which the 

 water passcj. These drains are iiTr»re expensive 

 than when the stones are tlirown in promiscuous- 

 ly, but are the only ones applicable to sprintrs, 

 which may be prevented from injuring large tracts 

 o/' land by cuts comparatively short. But in Es- 

 sex, and the other e-tstern counties, when hollow 

 drams are filled with stones, it is usually with 

 flints from chalk, or with stones h-om gravel pits, 

 or gathered oft' the fields. 



Very small stones do not answer well for any 

 but very short drains, in which little water is con- 

 veyed; and if of any size, require a greater width 

 at bottom than wood or straw, and consequently 

 render the expense of cuftin^i greater. 



Whether the stones are large or small, they 

 should be very clean, and free irom any clay or 

 earth that may adhere to them, and put in care- 

 fully, so as noi to tumble down any of ihe earlh of 

 the drain, which might be apt to choke up the in- 

 terstices betwixt them. 



Upon the subject of filling drains with wood, 

 Lord Petre thus expresses his opinion: — 



"Thp drains filled with wood, and covered as 

 usual with straw or rushes, are preferable to stones, 

 or any other kind of materials. The reason is, as 

 the wood decays, the water continues to pass.* 

 When filled with stones, and tfie drains stop up, 

 which must be expected to take place in time, the 

 earth becomes quite solid round the stones, and as 

 they do not deca)^ the filtering of the water is for- 

 ever obstructed: not so when" bushes or wood are 

 ijsed. Continual filtering and draining are then 

 Ibreyer to be perceived; and by repeating the op- 

 eration a second time, cutting the drains trans- 

 versely of the old ones, the benefit of the filter- 

 ings throuijh the rotten wood is secured, and the 

 spewing up of old broken and damaged drains 

 corrected and carried off. Moreover, "as bushes 

 iorm a much greater number of cavities than 

 either stones or poles, they are less liable to slop 

 up, and encouraffe filtering ntore than larger and 

 more solid bodies." "Aload of bushes, contain- 

 ing one hundred and twenty faggots, will do about 

 three hundred and sixty rods; and a load of straw, 

 containing one hundred and twenty bottles, the 

 same; the load of bushes is generally worih about 

 14.S. and the straw 18s. per load. I therefore cal- 

 culate this expense about 12s. per acre, ditches a 

 rod apart." 



Richard Preston, esq. of Blackmore, a corres- 

 pondent of the board, prefers, on twenty vears' 

 experience, black thorns to every other material 

 for fillinjj, 



There is also another method of filling with 

 wood, by suspending the faa'gots or bushes upon 

 cross oillets set on end in the bottom of the drain, 

 as repres'^nted by No. 5 in the plate. 



This kind of drain has been successfully prac- 

 tised in Berwickshire, where it is said to have 

 continued runnioir for thirty years. 



It was also attempted at Livinsston, at that 

 time the seat of the late Sir W. Cunninirhame. 

 but was not approved of there; for it is said, that 

 the feet of the cattle, in ploughmg, went down 



* The author has seen drains filled with wood, in 

 very deep moss, where the materials were apparently 

 fresh, after having laid und<;r ground nearly sixty 

 years. 



and deranged th^ billets that sup[)orted the brush- 

 wood, and consequently put a stop to the dis- 

 chartre of the water; but this has been owing to 

 the want of a sufficient depth of earth above "the 

 wood, which was not more than six inches.* 

 This kind ofdrain is, however, much reconunend- 

 ed by the writer of the 'Agricultural Report' of 

 the county of Caermarihen,'in Wales. He says 

 — "The comf)letest method I have yet known, "is 

 to cut the strongest willows, or other aquatic 

 brushwood, into lengths of about twenty inches, 

 and place them alternately in the drain, wilh one 

 end against one side of the bottom, and the other 

 leaning against the opposite side. Havincj placed 

 the strong wood in this manner, I fill the space 

 lefi between them on the upper side with the small 

 brushwood; upon which a few rushes or straw be- 

 inir laid, as before mentioned, the work is done. 

 Willow, alder, asp, or beech boughs, are exceed- 

 ingly durable, if j ut into the drain green, or before 

 the sap is dried; but if they are suffered to become 

 dry, and then laid under ground, a rapid decay is 

 the consequence. I have seen willow taken out 

 of a bog after h'ing there thirty years, and its bark 

 was as fresh and sapj'y as if it had been recently 

 cut from the hedge; and it is well known, that 

 beech laid green in the water will continue sound 

 for any length of time." 



There is another method preferable to these, 

 and requiring less wood: it is, to fix in, at every 

 foot distance, a stick, in manner of a hoop or semi- 

 circular arch; and along these to lay the longer 

 poles or branches longitudinally. This will form 

 a secure vacuity below, and an arch capable of 

 supporting any weight of earth necessary above 

 it. From its known durability in water, and be- 

 ing sufficiently pliant, the young branches or pru- 

 niuiis of larch are well adapted lor this purpose. 



Mr. Majendie is of opinion, that wood of 

 eighteen years' growth is much more durable 

 than that which is ten or twelve. 



Respecting filling drains with straw, the follow- 

 ing observations by Mr. Vancouver, in his 'Report' 

 of Essex husbandry, merits attention: — 



"When the soil is a very close and retentive 

 clay, the drains should be made proportionably 

 near to each other, shallow, and filled with straw 

 only, it being totally unnecessary to use wood, or 

 any more durable material, upon land where the 

 sides of the drains are not hkely to crumble in. 

 Upon a soil like this, the drains should seldom ex- 

 ceed the distance of three or four yards apart, and 

 twenty inches deep, or such a depth as may be 

 the most conveniently obtained, by first opening 

 the drains with the plough, shovelling the bottom 

 of the lowest furrow, and then digging one spit 

 only with the land-ditch spade; and which, male- 

 rials included, will cost about 2s. 6d. per score 

 rods. 



"Drains formed in this manner, through the 

 tough and retentive clays, will be found, in a short 

 time alter the work is finished, to have formed, 

 over the straw with which the drain was filled, an 

 arch of sufficient strength to suj)port the incum- 

 bent weigh I of the soil, and the casual traffic of 

 the field. In twelve or eighteen months, it may 

 be observed, that the straw, being of one unilbrm 



* Sir W. Cunninghame imported this mode of 

 draining from Richmond Park, near London, where it 

 has been very much practised. 



