THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



471 



will vary in different parts of the coun'ry. In 

 some places it had better be done when the 

 ground is more moist. Slill, I would recommend 

 it to be done, not in the winter, but in ilie spring 

 or autumn. 



A gentleman— I may be perhaps allowed lo 

 say that there are cases where subsoil ploughing 

 is eHective wiihout thorough draining — as, lur 

 instance, in (he soils of the moorlands. 1 have. 

 tried it mysell' in the moorland?, and have Ibund 

 that by simply breaking up thai pan which holds 

 up the water which made the lands dry in sum- 

 mer and wet in winter, all the water escaped ; 

 and lands be/ure not wor:h 5s. an acre, let for 20^. 

 alter it was done. That was certainly a peculiar 

 case. 



A gentleman inquired wheiher the rocks under 

 the etraiifioaiion were horizontal or perpendicular. 



3Jr. Sinilh — There was very liiile siratificalion 

 at all. 1 aril aware ol' what has been stated wiih 

 regard to di^siroying the pans, such as are placed 

 upon gravel, but, thorough draining may he ap- 

 plied with advantage to sand or to gravel; and 

 though in the gravel the opening must be at a 

 considerable distance, and consequently the water 

 wi'l be long in finding its way out, if it gets into 

 the channel it will go oH easily. The^e dry soils 

 retain moisture a gnat deal loo long for ogncultu- 

 ral purposes. A neighbor ol mine was draining 

 his land — a sort ol irregular subsoil — and in some 

 places had very considt-rable ruts or rising ground 

 with sandy and gravel bottom; he instructed his 

 steward lo slop the drain when hn came lo those 

 holes. This was done, and two winters alter the 

 gentleman was coursing one day, and all at once 

 his horse sunk over the li^tlocks in ihe soil ground. 

 H-^ called nut to his steward to know the cause, 

 and his steward explained that this was the por- 

 tion of land on which he had desired Ihe dram 

 to be slopped. This lact illustrates wliat I have 

 said, that when agriculturists have determined on 

 draining a field ihey should resolve to drain it 

 wholly, otherwise they are only throwing the 

 expense away. Where persons have drained 

 wet parts, and left what they considered dry un- 

 drained, they have soon lound that the land Ibr- 

 merly the wettest was then driest, and when the 

 part which had been drained was ready to receive 

 the seed, they were delayed a few dajstill the 

 other portion was sufficiently dry. In a country 

 where we have much changeable weather, all 

 agriculturists know the advantage ofa single day. 

 If a field is uniformly drained all over, you will 

 perhaps be able to sow your seed one, two, or 

 three or lour days earlier than iC it were not 

 drained ; someiimes now you lose the opporlunity 

 altogether, because ii Irequemly happens that 

 two or three days intervene; very newly dried 

 land will be ready lor being sown, whereas other 

 land which was not drained, woii'd require a 

 week or Ibrinight belbre you could sow it. 



With regard to the application of tliorough 

 draining on porous bottoms, no doubt much good 

 will be effected without subsoil jjloughing. I 

 have found it most efficacious on sandy and 

 gravel bo'tom. I have known instances of land 

 of that nature being very greatly improved alter 

 being stirred up by the application of ihc subsoil 

 plough. 



A gentleman — Your observations apply lo tho- 

 rough draining j many people call it furrow 



draining. 1 wish to know wheiher you have any 

 re'erence to deep dr, lining, and how, as in the 

 case ol a spring lying deep, you meet the diflicul- 

 ty occasioned by the water. Two feet and a half 

 drains would not touch a spring such ae that de- 

 scribed on the diagram. How do you get away 

 the spring water. 



Mr. Smith—They are called furrow drains, be- 

 cause Ihey are made in Ihe furrows. I call the 

 mode of doing it thorough draining. I use the 

 term to express the result. They are called some- 

 limes wedge drains, top drains and tile drains; 

 but the principle is, that you have the drains suf- 

 ficiently close logeiher to carry ofi' the water 

 quickly ; and then, that ihe best mode of laying 

 them off lor that purpose is to arrange them in 

 parallel lines, and carry them as much as pos- 

 sible in the sloping direction of the land. 



With regard lo springe, the spring water can 

 do no harm till it enters the subsoil ; so long as it 

 keeps below that, you need not care about it. 

 The moment it reaches ttie bottom of the drain, 

 It finds its way into it, and will be carried off by it. 

 1 liave lound it necessary someiimes to carry a 

 drain ihrmigh the eye ol" the spring. Springs 

 sometimes come in little channels, at other times 

 in a sheet, according to the nature ol Ihe subsoil. 

 When they come in a sheel, ihe cross cutting 

 coni()letely scarifies iliern. If a spring comes 

 out at a lOund opening and happens lo fill! in be- 

 tween two drains, I have (bund it necessary to 

 cut the drain into the eye of the spring. But in 

 every instance where Ihe water tiows between 

 two heds, I have Ibiiml that by cutting the drain 

 across, it was complete y cut ofi'. 



I Will now describe to you the mode of con- 

 struciing the draining tile of Lord James Hay. 

 One way of doing ii is lo construct the tile on the 

 ground, and tiien carefully place it in the drain; 

 the other is to execute it in the drain as you go 

 alotig. and immediately to cover it up. The com- 

 posiiion of the tile may be varied considerably, 

 but the proportions which 1 have Ibund to do very 

 well are — 



L'me ----- 1 part 



Blackened cinders - - 0-^ part 



Sharp fine sand - - - 3 parls 



Gravel - _ - . 3 parts 



making altogether 7^ parts, or 1 measure of lime 



to 6^ of sand and sravel ; ihe cinders may either 



be used or not. The gravel selected should not 



be ol a large size. 



A question has been handed to me as follows: 

 " What effect have thorough draining and subsoil 

 filoughing on the habit of throwing out the wheat 

 |)lani f)y frost 7" It is well known to be owing to 

 the moisture that the wheat plant is thrown out, 

 and whatever removes the moisture, will have 

 the favorable tendency required. I have known 

 many places where almost every winter the 

 trreaier part of ihe plams were thrown out. Now, 

 Ihe result of i borough draining and subsoil plough- 

 ing is that they retain the plant perfectly well, 

 and liave very abundant crops. 



The best ol the two modes which I mentioned 

 of forming ihe liles, is to make them just where 

 Ihe drain is wanted, and in a if^w days they will 

 become eo dry that they can he placed in the 

 drain. One disadvantage is, that these tiles will 

 not stand carting for a length ol lime. They 

 require several months before they will admit o 



