236 



Draining 



Vol. V. 



To llie Editor of the Farmers' Cahinet. 

 Draining. 



S,p_, — A friend has put into my hands a 

 pamphlet on Draining and Deep Ploughing, 

 by Smith, of Deanston, the inventor of the 

 subsoil plough. It is an interesting work, on 

 subjects that have, hitherto, shared but little 

 of our regard, but which are of the highest 

 importance ; for, if we wish to better our 

 condition, we must adopt that mode of ma- 

 nagement by which England has been ena- 

 bleii to support a population, the increase of 

 which has been in the proportion of one-third, 

 in a very short space of time, and without 

 which this never could have been accom- 

 plished. 



The work naturally divides itself into two 

 parts, first, draining; second, subsoil plough- 

 ing ; which, although closely connected, in 

 beneficial results, are not, of necessity, de- 

 pendent on each other, as either the one or 

 the other may be adopted separately, with 

 decided advantage. But, it must be con- 

 fessed, there are, to appearance, serious dif- 

 ficulties to the introduction of either at pre- 

 sent, to the extent there proposed, if it be 

 only on the score of expense, for few persons 

 would be induced to incur an outlay of forty- 

 five dollars per acre for draining, and six 

 dollars an acre for one subsoil ploughing, in 

 contemplation of future remuneration ; such 

 nianairement must, for a season at least, be 

 confin^ed to men of capital and ample re- 

 sources. 



Smith's system of draining is novel ; and it 

 is introduced to notice by disparaging that of 

 Elkington, which has, for many years past, 

 been considered as the most perfect that could 

 be devised; and the author of the new system 

 admits that many intelligent men still advo- 

 cate and practise that mode, which is, to carry 

 the drains across the declivity, cutting off the 

 springs before they rise to the surface, by 

 whicifi, when they are judiciously laid out, 

 one deep cut has been known to supersede 

 the necessity of dozens when conducted ac- 

 cording to the old mode — in fact, one drain 

 has been known to draw off the water from 

 many acres of wet land, a mile or more dis- 

 tant. But by the new mode adopted by Mr. 

 Smith, every field upon the fartn, whether 

 wet or dry, or whatever be its subsoil, be it 

 never so porous, is drained at regular inter- 

 vals, from a distance of ten feet only between 

 the cuts, up to forty ; by two feet and a half 

 to three feet in depth, all carried 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, transversely ; and as the 

 stratification generally lies in sheets, at an 

 angle to the surface, the water, passing in or 

 between the strata, immediately below the 

 bottom of one drain, nearly comes to the sur- 

 face before reaching the next lower drain;* 

 but as water seeks the lovvest level, in all 

 directions, if the strata be cut longitudinally, 

 by a drain directed down the steep, the bot- 

 tom 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 with 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 wliich lie in sheets, at an 

 angle to the surface," 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 ] 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 expect 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 

 drains have been injudiciously placed ; indeed, 

 it is novel to propose to drain a spouty hill, 

 by carrying drains down the declivity, instead 

 of across it. And as to the fear of " the 

 water passing in or between the strata, im- 

 mediately below the bottom of one drain, 

 nearly coming to the surface before reaching 

 the next lower drain," any regular drainer 

 knows, upon inspection and examination, the 

 proper distance at which to lay oft' his drains 

 across the hill, to prevent all that. 



It is 7iovel to find it proposed to drain every 

 acre of the farm, without regard to soil, situa- 

 tion, or state of moisture; and many will 

 consider it a waste of labour, and expense, 

 and by no means necessary. It is, indeed, 

 strange to find any one advocating the drain- 

 age of "beds of open sand and gravel" — but 

 so says the book. — " In the natural circum- 

 stances 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, to that of the 

 thin, sterile crust of soil resting on massive 

 beds of impervious till : in the former there is 

 no water springing to the soil from below, 

 and whatever falls upon the surface in the 



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

 ducted, as he proposes, at the distance of ten feet only 

 apart. 



