DIEECTION OF THE DRAIN. 105 



land, and these water-loving weeds would not appear 

 did not the wetness of the soil encourage them. If 

 the earth is wet and clammy in the spring, so that 

 it is impossible to cart muck upon it, or prepare 

 the ground properly for the crop until late in the 

 season, it is manifest that to gain a week or ten 

 days in this most important time is a very decided 

 advantage. When trees or grain heave badly during 

 the thaws of winter, or generally when the foliage 

 of plants is pale and sickly during the summer, it is 

 an index of the necessity of thorough drainage. 



2. The direction of the drai}\s. While there are 

 some general rules applicable in most cases, yet it 

 is sometimes necessary to vary them with reference 

 to the outlet and the undulating character of the 

 ground. 



" In many subsoils there are thin partings, or 

 layers, of porous materials, interspersed between the 

 strata, which, though not of sufficient capacity to 

 give rise to actual springs, still exude enough water 

 to indicate their presence. These partings occasion- 

 ally crop out, and give rise to damp spots, which 

 are to be seen diversifying the surface of fields, 

 when the drying breezes of spring have begun to 

 act upon them. In the following cut the light lines 

 represent such partings.^ 



" Now, it will be evident, in draining such land, 

 that if the drains be disposed in a direction trans- 



1 Cyclopedia of Agriculture, by Girdwood. 



