1849.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITKCT'S JOURN VL. 



125 



■with high ridges were thrown down so as to make the surface level ; after 

 a short time the land became so solid, that surface water could not get 

 down to the drains, and it remained on the laud in a stagnant state, to tlie 

 manifest injury of the growing crop, and the land had to be lop-gripped 

 in the same manner as it it had not been underdrained, or nearly so. We 

 have now altered our plan, and now rarely driiin deeper tlian 18 to 

 24 inches ; the tihs we invariably cover with a small portion of stubble, 

 and then with the soil dug out, but never ram the earth on the drains. 

 Thi're is an inclination to drain deep in porous soils, where the fall will 

 allow it. Yours, &c., W. Moore. 



W. B. Webster, Ksq., &c., &c. 



In Yorkshire the greater portion of the soil being the new red 

 sandstone is naturally rather porous, and of a character fitted for 

 deep drainage; and on the coal measures near Rotherham there 

 is in places found much underwater, which, as it generally comes 

 from a higlier level, and constantly forcing its way to the surface, 

 re(|uires to be removed, or seriously damages the crops. Very 

 different, howe^•er, are the coal formations of Durham and North- 

 umberland. I remember going for eight miles underground (in a 

 coal-pit), in the neighbourhood of Nevvcastle-on-Tyne, where the 

 soil above was of a strong nature, such as to require draining 

 at about 30 inches deep, yet where hut little of the surface water 

 percolated to the mine; yet the percolation of v\ater is often a 

 source of the greatest annoyance in mines of great depth, where 

 the superposed strata consist of mild clays and porous rocks. 

 The following is a letter of the well-known Mr. Stephenson, of 

 Throckley, near Newcastle-on-7'yne: — 



Throckhy House, March I, 1847. 



Dear Sir — I received your letter. Not having sufficient experience, I 

 cannot answer it respeciing 40 feet apart. I should doubt the result being 

 satisfactory. In 1845, I drained a field of 30 acres, 10 yards apart and 

 3 feet deep, strong clay, which has given me every satisfaction. I had a 

 splendid crop of wheat upon it last jear, and the whole field appears per- 

 fectly dry and fit for every purpose. 



I have drained 60 acres since October, 20 feet apart, 30 inches deep, 

 and am perfectly satisfied it is the best distance aud also dt pth for siroog 

 clays. The effects are astonishing. Yours, &c , M'. Stephenson. 



W. B. Webster, Esq., &c., &c. 



From such opportunities as 1 have bad of examining the soils 

 of Scotland, I have found reason to believe in that part of the 

 island the clays are generally of a less retentive nature than what 

 are common in the south; and evidence of this is seen in the fact 

 that the tread of the horses in |iloughing double is not, as on 

 many of our English clays, injurious to the land. This milder 

 prevailing character of the aluminous soils of North Britain may 

 result from so large a portion of the land lying upon the primitive 

 rocks, the materials supplied from the disintegration of which are 

 not of a very cohesive kind, in comparison to some others. It is 

 stated, nevertheless, in the Encyclopedia of Agriculture, "that" 

 (in Scotland) "it was formerly the j)ractice to go 4 feet deep, but 

 that it is now found that a shallower depth and closer drains do 

 much more good. 



AV^hat said the late S. D. Sterling, of Glenbervie, near Falkirk? 

 who, after trying all kinds of draining for years most extensively, 

 writes to ine in 1846, and says — "I do not believe on such land" 

 (the strong clays) "that any increased depth will compensate for 

 a greater distance between the drains." 



Extracts from a Meeting of the Highland Society. 



Mr. Dixon, of Saughton Mains, at a discussion held at the Museum of 

 the Highland Agricultural Society, Edinburgh, on Wednesday the 15th of 

 March, 1848, qnile agrees with me on the impossibility of fixing on any 

 depth or distance for drains, and although he knew the importance of deep 

 draining on some soils, yet he mentions its failure on others, and says — 

 •* After going 3 feet the soil changed to gravel and sand, much water was 

 found, and deep draining answered perfectly at wide intervals; yet in the 

 same county an experiment of the same kind was tried with the opposite 

 result, the subsoil being a very retentive clay; here one-half afield was 

 drained at the depth of 4 feet, and 30 feet apart, and the other half at the 

 depth of 2-2- feet, and 18 feet apart, aud the result was most decidedly in 

 favour of t!ie shallow drains, with an interval of 18 feet between them; 

 the other portion of the field appears only to be half draiued." Where in- 

 stances are quoted of deep drains in clay at wide intervals being successful, 

 wc must remember they are only of recent dale. I have never been able to 

 find a single instance of a field drained 4 feet deep and 40 feet apart, thai 

 had been done for ten years, successful on the strong clay subsoils. 



M'hat says Mr. Scott, of Craiglock ? — " We are told that on all soils, 

 whether muirland, till, stiff clay or dry clay, sand, gravel, or moss, a 

 minimum depth of 4 feet is stipulated for, aud a minimum distance of 

 36 feet apart." Upon hard impervious clays I have not been able to 

 thoroughly dry the land with drains at 30 or even 30 feet apart. I have 

 seen the attempt made with drains 4 feet deep, 30, 32, and 30 feet apart; 

 but in all these cases the result was unsatisfactory, lu all these instances 



a great quantity of water was carried off by the drains, and the land was 

 much benefitted ; but still the soil was not brought into that stale in which 

 the greatest fertility could be called into operation. 



What says Mr. Tiunie, of Swanston ? — " Where the subsoil is uniformly 

 retentive I make my drains 18 feet apart and 3 feel deep, aud were 1 to 

 drain the same ground over again I should follow the same course." 



Smith of Deanston also instances two failures, one on the property of 

 Sir Kalph Anstruther in Fifesliire, and another on an estate at Coltness, 

 made three years ago, in Lanarkshire : and also sajs — " I have never seen 

 an instance of thorough draining by deep aud distant drains, whilst all 

 over the country you may see land perfectly ilried with drains 30 iuches 

 deep aud 18 to 20 feet apart." Also an experiment had been made by 

 Mr. Hope, of Teuliu Barnes, in East Lothian, which went to show that 

 betler crops had been raised over the shallower ihan deep drains. At the 

 same time Lord William Douglas slated that the turnips on the shallow 

 drained land at Baicaskie neighed about uue-third heavier than on the 

 other. 



I am quite aware that at this meeting instances were brought 

 forward of deep drains being successful, but 1 am now showing 

 the failure of such drains on retentive clay-subsoils, and not going 

 into the question why they have succeeded on certain spots. Tliis 

 1 shall be happy to do at some future time. 



Returning southward by a western route we will let the moss 

 lands of Lancashire detain us for awhile. A\'hat I stated as the 

 opinion drawn from observation among the best farmers of tlie 

 Lincolnshire fens, is as true of those who cultivate the peaty soils 

 of this county. Thus respecting Raweliff, the property of Mr. 

 Wilson Ffrance, near Garstang, where upon 1,000 acres of what 

 a few years ago was a bog is now a most thriving tenantry, Mr. 

 Ffrance told me as one of the most familiarly known facts, that 

 deep draining upon that soil is extremely injurious — the land, as 

 moss land, is actually ruined by it. If the soil, indeed, be altered 

 in its texture by the application of clay or marl, it will then bear 

 deeper drainage; but even in that case drains beyond 3 feet are 

 not found advantageous. Testimony to this effect is borne by 

 William Alton in his valuable treatise on the Cultivation of Moss. 

 "Whenever a moss," he says, "is either by nature or art rendered 

 drier than such furrows or shallow drains would make it, instead 

 of being benefitted, it is thereby greatly injured. Proof of this 

 may be seen at every plough moss." And again, "At Paisley, 

 where a number of deej) furrows had been cut, they were found to 

 be hurtful — they were filled up." And in another place : "All the 

 moss improvers 1 have met with have owned to me that they had 

 injured their mosses by making them too dry ; but none ever could 

 say to me that they found any want of drains v\here no water 

 stood or stagnated on the surface." 



The late William Roscoe, of Liverpool, stated in a letter 

 written to Mr. Alton, in 1807, that, having undertaken the im- 

 provement of a large portion of that moss, he began by cutting 

 drains 5 feet deep, but iifterwards changed his plan to drains 

 about 1 foot only, which he said answered as effectually as the 

 larger drains. His letter concluded thus: "My workmen even 

 insist upon it that the shallow drains carry oft more water; but 

 this may appear so from the water being confined. In sudden 

 rains they carry off a great quantity, so that the moss is sooner 

 freed from surplus water than any other land, and is now passable 

 in any direction, althougli it was lately not only difficult, but dan- 

 gerous to go ujiou it." Mr. Alton, as the result of liis extensive 

 experience, finislies his remarks by saying, "All future draining 

 (on moss land) beyond a moderate depth ought to be guarded 

 against as the sin of witchcraft." Rut to leave the moss land and 

 return to the strong clays, a proof of the obstinacy with which 

 they will retain wet near the surface, without such condition at a 

 greater depth in the earth as to prevent the escape of the water, 

 could it percolate through the clay, may be seen on the estate of 

 Sir O. Mordaunt, near Warwick. There draining is required, 

 although the subsoil, at a depth of little more than 4 feet, is a dry 

 sandstone. 



Soil, 1.5 Indies. 



Clay, 3 leel. 



Diy sandstone. 



This is also the case in many other parts of England — the clay 

 resting on dry chalk, sand, and stone. Now if water will freely 

 percolate through 4 feet of stiff' clay to reach a line of pipes 

 30 and 40 feet apart, how is it that it will not reach an absorbent 

 material tliat sjireads eager for more, like a thirsty sponge, be- 

 neath the whole of its lower surface.'' Simply because the clay is 

 not overcharged with water, and does not transmit it. 



In Worcestershire deep draining has been tried upon the strong 



