120 HANDT-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



which might have been carried by the more rapid stream above. 

 For instance, in the extreme southw^est corner of the farm it w^ill 

 be seen that the long drains of the main system vi^ere not carried 

 directly down to the main drain near its outlet, although such a 

 course would have allowed the size of the tile a little ways back 

 from the outlet to be somewhat reduced. The reason for this 

 was, that the land near the extreme corner is so nearly level that 

 there would have been danger (in carrying the drains at a uniform 

 depth directly through it ) that silt, accumulated in their upper 

 ends, would have been deposited by the sluggish flow near the 

 main, and have caused the obstruction of the tiles. To avoid 

 this, the collecting drain, starting from near the south fence, and 

 running in a northwesterly direction, was made to cut off the 

 longer laterals at the foot of the steepest inclination — the land 

 lying between this collecting drain and the main outlet being fur- 

 nished with drains of its own, laid upon a uniform though slight 

 fall. 



Third. — To make the drains four feet deep and forty feet apart ; 

 this rule has been adhered to as rigidly as possible, though of 

 course, owing to slight inequalities in the surface, it was at times 

 necessary to make the depth a little more or a little less than four 

 feet for a short distance, "and it was also necessary, occasionally, 

 as in the field north of the barn, to deviate a little from the par- 

 allel line, bringing the drains less than forty feet apart at their 

 lower ends, and making them a little more than forty feet apart 

 at their upper ends. In a few instances drains have been run up 

 between two converging lines so far that they divided a space of 

 less than eighty feet. In such cases these intervening drains 

 were made somewhat less than four feet deep at their upper ends, 

 and the cost of digging was thereby reduced. 



The work of draining was commenced in the autumn of 1867, 

 in the extreme northwest corner of the farm. Owing to the 

 early setting in of severe weather, it was possible only to dig the 

 main outlet ditch which runs along the west line, and to com- 

 plete the northernmost six laterals. As soon as the ground was 

 settled in the spring of 1868, the work was recommenced with 



