1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



343 



grows potatoes where lie could not grow them before,, and on the old clay 

 he produces regular and large crops of turnips. 



A Gentleman inquii ed « hethcr there was any land where subsoil-ploughing 

 would be successful without tliurough draining. 



Mr. Smith— I am much obliged for that hint. Many persons have thought 

 that ploughing the subsod might do without draining, but there are few 

 instances indeed in which that application of the plough will not be hurtful 

 instead of being beneficial. If you liave a retentive bottom which will not 

 allow the moisture to pass away, it must remain till absorbed by the atmos- 

 phere ; therefore the greater the chambers for receiving rain, so much the 

 longer will the land beliept in a wet state. The practice which now prevails 

 in the English clay districts of ploughing with a shallow harrow, has arisen 

 from the experience of ages, which has taught them that on such soils you 

 cannot cultivate wheat if you plough a deep furrow, because you make just 

 so much the larger chambers to receive water. Even m open soils I would 

 not recommend the application of the subsoil plough till the thorough 

 draining has been executed. 



A gentleman atked if it was necessary to repeat the subsoil ploughing. 

 Mr. Smith — It may not be essentially necessary to repeat it, but it is very 

 beneficial. The practice I have adopted is to repeat the ploughing at every 

 shift, every time I break up my fallow. 

 Another gentleman inquired if it was always done in the same line. 

 Mr. Smith— Generally ; sometimes I have done it obliquely. 

 Did you ever try it diagonally ? 



Mr. Smith — Yes ; and perhaps it is better to do it in that « ay according to 

 the drop of the land. The first idea I had was to use the subsoil plough ; 

 then I thought 1 might use the trench plough, and that I might, the next 

 shift, turn up the whole soil, so as to have a complete mixture. In some 

 fields, where the soil was of better quality, and there was more vegetable 

 matter, I had excellent crops ; but, on the poorer soils, I found that by 

 bringing up the subsoil to mix with the active soil, after the first shift, I did 

 a great deal of mischief. I found, especially with regard to grass, that I 

 could not get that growth of plants which I had before! and immediately 

 on observing that, I resolved a third time to go over those fields, and that I 

 ■would again use the subsoil plough : I liave now fallen into the practice of 

 doing so every time I turn. I took up at the first shift, perhaps about three 

 inches, even in the poorest field ; the next time three inches more ; and by 

 that means I gradually attained a thorough depth of soil to the extent of 

 sixteen inches. On my own farm I have mentioned that I have a thorough 

 depth of sixteen inches, but that is in consequence of using a trench plough 

 on the second shift ; and in some fields that was unsuccessful. If I had had 

 then the experience I now have, I would from the beginning use the subsoil 

 plough at each shift ; and instead of going down the whole [sixteen inches, I 

 vould only take up perhaps three inches the first time and three the next, 

 till I had completed the depth of sixteen inches. 

 The lecturer was asked if he had ever used lumps of burnt clay. 

 Mr. Smith — I have seen it done, and it has been pretty successful, but 

 there'is considerable difficnlty in the manufacture. 



A Gentleman— As regards draining in the summer season, how do you get 

 the level ? 

 Mr. Smith — By the spirit-level, of course. 



A Gentleman— The great object would be to get it done cheap; but it 

 would be much more expensive if done in the summer. 



Mr. Smith— No doubt ; but if I had the choice of executing drains during 

 the winter, at an expense of 50 per cent less than the summer, I would prefer 

 doing it in summer. The efficiency is of far more importance than the 

 expense. 

 A Gentleman objected, th^t in summer sometimes the land was too hard. 

 Mr. Smith- That maybe the case in some places, but the great bulk of 

 the land will retain as much moisture as will enable you to get through it 

 with the plough. Of course that will be subject to variation in different 

 parts of the country. In some places it had better be done when the ground 

 is more moist. Still, I would recommend it to be done, not in the winter, 

 but in the spring or autumn. 



A Gentleman— I may perhaps be allowed to say that there are cases where 

 subsoil ploughing is efleclive without thorough draining — as, for instance, in 

 the soils of the moorlands. I have tried it myself in the moorlands, and 

 have found that by simply breaking up that pan which holds up the water 

 which made the lands dry in summer, and wet in winter, all the water es- 

 caped ; and land before not worth 5s. an acre, let for 20s. after it was done. 

 That was certainly a peculiar case. 



A gentleman inquired whether the rocks under the stratification were hori- 

 zontal or perpendicular. 



Mr. Smith— There was very little stratification ;at all. I am perfectly 

 aware of what has been stated with regard to destroying the pans, such as 

 are placed upon gravel ; and though in the giavel the opening must be at a 

 considerable distance, and consequently the water will be long in finding its 

 way out, if it gets into tlie channel it will go off easily. These dry soils 



retain moisture a great deal too long Jfor agricultural purposes. A neigh- 

 bour of mine was draining his land— a sort of irregular subsoil — and in some 

 places had very considerable ruts or rising ground, with sandy or gravel bot- 

 tom : he instructed his steward to stop the drain when he came to those 

 holes. This was done, and two winters after the gentleman w as coursing, 

 one day, and all at once his horse sank over the fetlocks in the soft ground. 

 He called out to his steward to show the cause, and his steward explained 

 that this was the portion of land on which he had desired the drain to be 

 stopped. 1 mention this fact to illustrate what I have said, that when 

 agriculturists determine on draining a field, they should resolve to drain it 

 wholly, otherwise they are only throwing the expense away. I have seen 

 Instances where persons have drained wet parts, and left what they consi- 

 dered dry undrained. They very soon found that the land which was formerly 

 the wettest, was then driest, and that when the part which had been drained 

 was ready to receive the seed, they were delayed a few days till the other 

 portion was sufficiently dry. In a country such as ours, where we have much 

 changeable weather, all agriculturists know the advantage of a single day. 

 Now, if a field is uniformly drained all over, you will perhaps be able to sow 

 your seed one, two, three, or four days earlier than if it were not drained ; 

 sometimes now you lose the opportunity altogether, because it frequently 

 happens that two or three days intervene; very newly-dried will be ready 

 for being sown, whereas other land which was not drained would require a 

 week or fortnight before you could sow it. 



With regard to the application of thorough draining on porous bottoms, 

 no doubt much good will be effected without subsoil ploughing. 1 have 

 found it most efficacious on sandy and gravel bottom. Many persons think 

 that by so doing mischief would result; but I have known instances of land 

 of that nature being very greatly improved after being stirred up by the ap- 

 plication of the subsoil plough. 



A Gentleman — Your observations apply to thorough draining ; many peo- 

 ple call It furrow draining. I wish to know whether you have any reference, 

 to deep draining, and how, as in the case of a spring lying deep, you meet 

 the difficulty occasioned by the water. Two feet and a half drains would not 

 touch a spring such as that described on the diagram. How do you get 

 away the spring water, 



Mr. Smith — They are called furrow drains, because they ate made in the 

 furrows. I call it the mode of thorough draining. I use the term to express 

 the result. They are called sometimes wedge drains, top drains, and tile 

 drains ; but the principle is, that you have the drains sufficiently close toge- 

 ther to carry off the water quickly ; and then, that the best mode of laying 

 them off for that purpose is to arrange them in parallel lines, and carry them 

 as much as possible in the sloping direction of the land. 



With regard to springs, the spring water can do no harm till it enters the 

 subsoil ; so long as it keeps below that, you need not care about it. The mo- 

 ment it reaches the bottom of the drain, it finds its way into it, and will be 

 carried off by it. I have found it necessary, sometimes, to carry a drain 

 through the eye of the spring. Springs sometimes come in little cbaunels, at 

 other times in a sheet, according to the nature of the subsoil. When they 

 come in a sheet, the cross cutting completely scarifies them. If a spring 

 comes out at a round opening and happens to fall in between two drains, I 

 have found it necessary to cut the drain into the eye of the S[ ring. But in 

 every instance where the water flows between two beds, I have found that, by 

 cutting the drain across, it was completely cut off'. 



I will now describe to you the mode of constructing the draining tile of 

 Lord James Hay. One way of doing it is to construct the tile on the ground , 

 and then carefully place it in the drain. The other is to execute it in the 

 drain as you go along, and immediately to cover it up. The composition of 

 the tile may be varied considerably, but the proportions which I have foi;nd 

 to do very well are — 



Lime. ... 1 part Blackened cinders i part 



Sharp fine sand . - 3 parts Gravel .... 3 parts 

 making altogether TJ parts, or 1 measure of lime to Gi of sand and gravel ; 

 the cinders may either be used or not. The gravel selected should not be of 

 a large size. 



[Mr. Smith then exhibited the manner of forming the tiles on the ground 

 near the spot where they are to be used. The machine consisted simply of a 

 large box, in the ^bottom of which were placed the moulds and cores, the 

 box having at each end holes corresponding with the size of the cores at which 

 to draw them out. The moulds being placed in the box, the box was closely 

 filled with the concrete, which was firmly beaten down, and then the sub- 

 stance to form each tile was compressed by instruments adapted to the 

 length of the tile. The cores were then drawn, the moulds and box lifted, 

 and the tiles left behind, requiring only drying in order to be fit for use,] 

 Mr. Smith continued — 



