2U 



Slumps — Draining, No. I, 



Vol. It 



Draining, IVo 1. 



BY AGRICOLA. 



Lands to be drained are usually dvided 

 into two classes: 1st, uplands, or those which 

 are situated so hiyh, that the water can de- 

 scend from them, if properly collected and 

 conducted; and 2nd, low, flat and wet lands, 

 such as command little or no fall. 



When water, in descending from highlands, 

 spreads over a considerable space in a flat or 

 hollow, a ditch should be cut in the lowest 

 parts of the ground, deep or shallow, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, which will have the 

 effect of throwing the water into a narrow 

 channel, and of giving it a free and unob- 

 structed course; by which means the land 

 will be reclaimed and admit of cultivation to 

 the borders of the drain. 



It frequently occurs that a multitude of 

 springs break out at the termination of the 

 highland, and spread their waters over the 

 adjacent low grounds, wliich render them 

 useless or unfit for cultivation. If the water 

 rises in a bold spring at the junction of 

 the hills with the flat land, a ditch should be 

 cut in the lowest ground in order to give it a 

 free and unobstructed channel to the stream 

 or main drain to which it is tributary. If a 

 multitude of springs ooze in a continued line 

 at the junction of the high and flat land, a 

 deep and wide ditch should be cut, running 

 along the foot of the highland, so as to inter"^ 

 cept them all, which should convey the waterj 

 of these springs into the main drain or outlet, 

 or into one emptying into it. 



Drains, to be lastmg and valuable, should 

 be covered ; otherwise in sandy soils, and in 

 many situations, they are liable to be filled 

 up, or to be washed into gullies. Covered 

 drains, and thereby preserving a level, dry, 

 cultivatable and productive surfece, are every 

 way eligible. In grounds where there is a 

 considerable declivity, a straight open ditch 

 in the direction of the declination, is injurious 

 and dangerous ; violent floods, in such ditches, 

 always produce a ravine or gully. In all 

 cases, therefore, where land lies on a declivi- 

 ty, care should be taken that the drains have 

 an easy and gentle descent, which is gene- 

 rally effected by carrying them in an oblique 

 or meandering direction. 



Covered drains, are not liable to the ra- 

 vages of floods, and may be straight, without 

 being exposed to the dangers to which open 

 ditches are subject. 



Drains that are intended to be covered, 

 should be cut at least three or four feet deep, 

 and gradually narrower from top to the bot- 

 tom, where they should not be above eight 

 inches wide. A row of poles of such size^as 

 nearly, but not entirely to touch, is laid on each 



side of the ditch at bottom. Green or seasoned 

 brush, without leaves, is then packed into 

 the ditch ; if the brush is crooked, it receives 

 a chop in the elbow of the crook, and is put 

 into the drain with the small ends downwards 

 and then pressed down to the poles with the 

 foot. The brush should be packed to within 

 eight or ten inches of the top, and then cov- 

 ered with four inches of dry loaves or straw, 

 and the whole of the dirt to be returned and 

 well rammed. Drains of this kind will have, 

 besides the advantages mentioned, the effect 

 of curing all sour or boggy land through 

 which they may be cut; as the oozing water 

 will be received by the straw, and trickle 

 through the brush down to the open drain, and 

 the wet ground will lose every boggy appear- 

 ance. 



Drains of this description will last a long- 

 time, as the brush is completely secured 

 against the effects of the sun and wind. 

 Where rock can be made, drains of this de- 

 scription may be made to last forever ; the 

 best method is to place flat stones standino- 

 on the bottom and along on one side of the 

 drain, as perpendicularly as the side will 

 admit ; then another row of flat stones on the 

 opposite side, placed with the top part to rest 

 against the upright stones, in the form of yv, 

 making a kind of angle ; should this cavity 

 be insufficient for the current of water, ano- 

 ther flat-stone may be placed in a reversed 

 form, as ^> by which there will be a double 

 vacuum fully sufficient for the greatest cur- 

 I rent. 



The remainder of the drain may be filled 

 up with stones, to within about eight inches 

 of the surface; then covered with straw or 

 leaves to prevent the earth from falling be- 

 tween the stones, and fill up the the remain- 

 der with dirt that came out of the drain. — 

 Covered drains which have the smallest pas- 

 sage for the water at the bottom, are reputed 

 to be the most durable ; as the force of the 

 water has been found sufficient to clear away 

 any small obstacles, accidently obstructing' 

 its course. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Siiisisps. 



Sir, — I believe that it is not generally 

 known, that covering the tops of stumps 

 with the sub-soil, will very essentially hasten 

 their decay. Please give publicity to this 

 fact, as it may be of some benefit to those 

 persons who are clearing new ground. By 

 pursuing this process, they will soon get rid 

 of the stumps. 



S. Bray. 



Monmouth Co. N. J. Aug. 7, 1837. 



