706 



FARMERS' REGISTER— DRAINING. 



likely to fill the ditch by the wasliing of tlieir 

 loose soil, an open ditch will be the cheapest, 

 and best. Or if the springs buist out at different 

 elevations, and very irrefi;uhirly,an open ditcli be- 

 low the whole must be the course adopted in pre- 

 ference, or unusually troublesome and difficult co- 

 vered drains must be made instead. But where 

 it is desiralile that the plough should cross the li- 

 mit of the lowg-round — or where open drains will 

 be very subject to be filled by washing from the 

 highland — then covered drains are decidedly to be 

 preferred, if other circumstances do not forbid 

 their use. When effecfually made, and in suita- 

 ble situations, covered drains are the most valua- 

 ble improvement that we can adopt, that does 

 not add any thing to the richness of the soil. 

 Most pieces of lowground of greater length than a 

 few hundred yards will generally offer proper 

 situations for both oi)en and covered side ditches. 



First — when o])en ditches are to be used. 



Begin the side ditch at the lowest point of the 

 land to be drained, (as at D,) giving it, at a conve- 

 nient j)lace below, a good outlet to tlie main stream, 

 as at II. The side ditch (D I) should be from 

 2i to 4 feet wide, according to the stream it is ex- 

 pected to convey. If exposed to hasty land floods, 

 it should have good size, however small may be 

 the permanent rill. A ditch of 4 feet may be left 

 uninjured by the passage of a sudden flood of wa- 

 ter, which would completely choke a ditch of only 

 two feet. The depth of the ditch should be from 

 18 inches to 2 feet. But whatever may be the 

 depth, the stream in the ditch should be kept lower 

 by 12 or 18 inches at least than tlie surface of the 

 adjacent lowground. If the water could be kept 

 permanently 2 ieet deeper, it would be the better — 

 which object isattainablc in covered drains, though 

 not in the open, from their continually filling — and 

 the more rapidly in j)roportion (o their depth. 

 The ditch should be as narrow at bottom as possi- 

 ble, so as to give room for the ordinary stream. 

 The wider a ditch is at bottom, of course the steep- 

 er must be the sides, and the more apt to fill in. 

 If the running water does not completely cover 

 the bottom, grass will grow on the naked places, 

 and help to choke the passage. Tlie open side 

 ditch should generally follow the dividing line 

 between the high and lowland (as from D to I) — 

 but that course should not be adhered to so strict- 

 ly, as to give it any sharp turns, or a very crooked 

 course. Angles should never be made — make 

 curves instead, and the more gradual the change 

 of direction, the better will the ditch discharge, 

 and avoid being filled with earth. The most ma- 

 terial difficulties in side ditches are in passing beds 

 of quicksand, and the high points of sand washed 

 in by highland torrents. The quicksand will some- 

 times fill some part of a ditch, by the running in 

 of the sides, until it is thrice its desired width, 

 without getting a foot deep. This evil generally 

 stops, after causing this additional labor : but if 

 not, and the spot cannot be avoided by a change of 

 direction, the head of that side ditch must stop 

 there, and another be commenced for the stretch 

 above, with an outlet through a cross drain to the 

 main stream. Each of the points of washed earth 

 will also generally require the head of the side 

 ditch to end there, or rather to receive the water 

 furnished from the ravine, or land stream. No 

 farther directions are needed for the higher stretch- 

 es of side ditch, unless it be that the outlets (as 



each must have one) should be through cross 

 drains cut in the direction most convenient for the 

 cultivation of the land. The bottom of the side 

 ditches, throughout, siiould be so graduated (if 

 possible) as lo give every where a descent to the 

 stream. In the plan, the open side ditch M O, to 

 avoid the high point of sand Q N, and the torrents 

 of rain water {)oured down from the ravine Q, is 

 emptied above through the cross ditch O P : and 

 that cross ditch is made to pass through the lowest 

 part of the land b C, not only to drain it, but to 

 raise it, by thedeposites of earth, which will con- 

 tinue to ])e washed down the ravine Q. 



Where a side drain is intended to be covered, it 

 must be dug at least 30 inches deep, and circum- 

 stances will often require parts of it to be 4 or 

 even 5 feet at particular places. For a covered 

 drain to serve the purpose in view, it must not 

 only take in every spring in its course, but nmst 

 cut them off where they are 18 inches or more be- 

 low the surface. If they were cut into near to the 

 surface of the earth, instead of descending into the 

 ditch, after its being finished, the spring would 

 probably flow across as before, over the covering 

 of the drain. Hence a drain, intended to be cov- 

 ered, must generally be dug on a higher line, or 

 farther into the highland, than would be suitable 

 for an open side ditch. The springs which some- 

 times burst out at various elevations on a hill side, 

 may be cut off by the covered drain passing above 

 all (as K e C.) But if that elevation would be 

 too great to be continued, then a short branch of 

 the drain, (as^g) must take in the higher springs, 

 while the principal drain proceeds on a lower le- 

 vel (LyA.) Sometimes a drain cut upon a high 

 level will take off springs which previously burst 

 out 50 yards distant, and 10 or 15 feet lower. A 

 stretch of covered drain must be made to termi- 

 nate whenever it is about to pass a stream, which 

 it cannot take in at its source. A stream, from a 

 spring of this kind, must be sent to the main 

 stream, by an open cross drain — which may serve 

 as an outlet for another stretch of covered drain, 

 to be carried still higher up the side of the low- 

 ground. Each stretch of covered drain should be 

 l)egun on as low a level as will allow sufficient 

 depth, and cut off all the springs — and gradually 

 rise to the highest level required by any hill side 

 spring. After fixing on the two extremities for a 

 covered drain, and the hitermediate points required 

 by oozing water, it will save much trouble, and 

 many mistakes, to use a rafter level, to mark 

 either a horizontal line, or a gradual slope; and by 

 that, to keep the line of the bottom of the drain al- 

 ways ascending. As a covered drain must ne- 

 ver receive any water but the springs taken in, 

 and will not be affected by surface water, there 

 can be no washing of its sides or bottom, if the 

 bottom is properly graduated — that is, having 

 throughout sufficient descent, and not too much at 

 any one place. There will then be no danger, and 

 (on the contrary) a great convenience when fill- 

 ing or covering the drain, to dig it throughout in 

 straight courses : and when a change of direction is 

 necessary, let it be an angle, and not a curve, (as 

 in A Y L, M B, and K e C.) 



Whenever a stretch of side drain has reached 

 its upper termination, and it is evident that it has 

 cut oft all the springs, the sooner it is filled, the bet- 

 ter. If its effect is doubtful, it should stand longer, 

 to try its operation. 



