THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



155 



are not, ol' necessity, depentlcnt on each other, as 

 either the one or ilie other may be adopted sepa- 

 rately, with decided advaniaf^e. But it must he 

 conliessed, there arc, to appearance, serious dil- 

 ficuiiies to the introduction of either at present, to 

 the extent there proposed, if it be only on liie 

 ecore ofexpense, lor lew persons would be in- 

 (iuced to incur an ouilay of Ibriy-five dollars per 

 acre lor draining, and six dollars an acre lor one 

 subsoil ploughing in cotiteniplation of I'ulure re- 

 muneration ; such inanagenieni must, lor a sea- 

 son at leasi, be confined to men ofcapital and am- 

 ple resources. 



Smith's system of draining is novel ; and it is 

 introduced to no'ice by disparaging that of Klk- 

 ington, wliich has, lor many years past been 

 considered as the most perlect that could be de- 

 vised ; and the author ol the new system admits 

 that many inieliigent men still advocate and prac- 

 tise that mode, which is, to carry the drains 

 across the declivity, cutting oH Ihe s|)rings before 

 iJiey rise to the surface, by which, when they 

 are judiciously laid out, one deep cut has been 

 known to supersede.the necessity of dozens when 

 conducted according to the old mode — in lact, one 

 drain has been known to draw off' the water from 

 many acres of wet land, a mile or more distant. 

 But by the new mode adopted by Mr. Smith, 

 every field upon the larm, whether wet or dry, or 

 whatever be its subsoil, be it never so porous, is 

 drained at regular intervals, from a distance of 

 ten leet only between the cuts, up to Ibrty ; by 

 two leet and a half to three leet in depth, all car- 

 ried down the declivity, instead of across it ; which, 

 to any one accustomed to the practice of draining, 

 will appear novel indeed ! He says, " it has been 

 pretty generally believed and argued, that drains 

 laid off, in this manner, on a steep, will not be so 

 effectual in catching water ; but this notion can 

 be shown to be erroneous. Drains drawn across 

 a steep, cut the strata, or layers of subsoil, trans- 

 versely ; and as "he stratification generally lies in 

 sheets, at an angle to the surface, the water, pass- 

 jngin or between the strata, immediately below the 

 bottom of one drain, nearly comes to the surface 

 belbre reaching the next lower drain ;* but as wa- 

 ter seeks the lowest level, in all directions, if the 

 strata be cut longitudinally, by a drain directed 

 down the steep, the bottom of which cuts each 

 stratum to the same distance from the surface, the 

 water will flow into the drain at the intersecting 

 point of each sheet, or layer, on a level wiih the 

 bottom of the drain leaving a uniform depth of dry 

 soil." 



Now, it is reasonable to ask what is to prevent 

 the water which rises to the surface by these " strata 

 which lie in sheets, at an angle to the eurlace," at 

 the top of a declivity between these drains, from 

 flowing down to the bottom, if there be not a cross 

 drain to receive and conduct it away 1 To be 

 sure, it might be argued, that if drains are but ten 

 feet apart, the distance for the water to flow to 

 find them will be but five feet, at any given point ; 

 but as water always seeks the lowest level, which 

 is at the bottom of the declivity, it is natural to ex- 

 pect that it will make its way thither directly 

 down the hill, without turning either to the right 

 or left ; and this has often been witnessed where 



* But this will not happen if the drains are conduct- 

 ed, as he proposed, at the distance of ten feet only 

 apart. 



drains have been injudiciously placed ; indeed, it 

 is novel to propose to drain a spouty hill, by carry- 

 ing drains (ioty/i the declivity, instead ol across 

 it. And as to the lear of "the water |)assing in 

 or between the strata, immediately below the 

 bottom of one drain, nearly con)ing to the surlace 

 belbre reaching the next lower drain," any regu- 

 lar drainer knows, upon inspection and examina- 

 tion, the |)roper disiance at which to lay olf his 

 drains across the hill, to prevent all that. 



It is novel to find it proposed to drain every acre 

 of the larm, without regard to soil, situation, or 

 state of moisture ; and many will consider it a waste 

 of labor, and expense, and by no means necessa- 

 ry. Ii is indeed strange to find any one advocat- 

 ing the drainage of" beds of open sand and gra- 

 vel," but so says the. book. "In the natural cir- 

 cumsiances of the soil on the surface of the earth, 

 the drainage is extremely various, from that of 

 the light, dry loam, incumbent on deep beds of 

 open sand or gravel, lo that of the thin, sterile 

 crust ol'soil resting on massive beds of impervious 

 till : in the former, there is no water springing to 

 thai soil Ironi below, and whatever falls upon the 

 surface in Ihe shape of rain, is instantly absorbed, 

 and passes through the sand, or gravel, to some 

 outlet at a lower level;" (then why, in the name 

 of common sense, drain j " 'n 'he latter case, 

 on the contrary, water, whether springing from 

 below or lalling upon the surface as rain, must 

 either run slowly off over the surlace, however 

 great the distance, or in the event of a horizontal, 

 surliice, must remain stagnant until evaporated, 

 by Ihe sun, or absorded by the atmosphere^^ 

 (then, in the name of common sense, drain) ; "on 

 such a subsoil, a sulHcient depth of active soil caft 

 never be long maintained, for gram ; if trenched and 

 enriched by lime and dung, it will bear but scanty 

 crops. Some soils, again, are incunibent on snb- 

 so'ils partially pervious to water — such, by judicious 

 management, produce sometimes good crops, in 

 fijvorable seasons, but when much rain prevails, 

 they are neither large or (>fgood quality ; these are 

 unfit for wheat, as the alternate frosts and ihaws 

 of winter, acting upon the water in the soil, are 

 sure to throw out the plants. But on those soils 

 incumbent on open rock, especially on whin, or 

 green stone, which is very open, from its many 

 fissures, the land is uniformly fertile^'' (then why 

 drain?) '' But," he observe?, " the drains should 

 be run parallel to each other, and at regular dis- 

 tances, and should be carried throughout the 

 whole field, without reference lo the wet or the ap- 

 pearance of portions of the field ; as uniform and 

 complete dryness is the object ;" directing that the 

 drains, in a stiff, strong till, be run within ten or 

 fifteen feet of each other ; if in a lighter and more 

 porous subsoil, from eighteen to twenty- fbur feet 

 will be near enough, but in very open soils, forty 

 feet may be sufficient. He says ; " a very impor- 

 tant advantage of having the drain down the steep, 

 is the prevention of mud or sand, the current 

 having force, from the declivity, to carry them 

 along to the main drain ;" but, he afterwards 

 adds ; " indeed, the water passing into the drains 

 by filtration, being perlectly pure, has no sediment 

 to deposile, for even during the heaviest rains, the 

 water passing from a properly made drain, has 

 merely a milky tinge." Now how is this to be 

 understood? If the water is perlectly pure, it 

 will have no tinge at all, and whether at any 



