On Draining. 187 



tied off; but where the country is flat, and the soil peculiarly 

 strong, a complete drainage is absolutely essential, as the 

 basis of its future improvement. The mode practised in 

 " the Carse of Gowrie," a district in Scotland, containing 

 about 30,000 acres of rich clay and loam, has been attended 

 with such decided success, that it may be proper to explain it, 

 as the same system may be applied to all tracts of clay simi- 

 larly circumstanced. 



The proprietors, by mutual consent, fixed on the most eli- 

 gible lines for cutting large drains, from fifteen to twenty feet 

 deep, (provincially called pows\ resembling small canals, for 

 conveying the water collected in them to the adjoining river. 

 2. Ditches of a smaller size were next drawn, surrounding 

 and intersecting the farms, so as to serve for divisions of the 

 different fields, the water of which they collected, and emptied 

 into the large drain or pow. The depth of these ditches was 

 seldom less than four feet ; their width at top, six ; and at 

 the bottom, from one, to one foot and a half ( IZO ). 3. Where 

 the fields are of an uniform level surface, the common fur- 

 rows between the ridges, if sufficiently clear, will keep the 

 ground dry ; but, as fields are seldom without some inequa- 

 lities, the last operation, after they are sown and harrowed, 

 is, to draw a deep furrow through every hollow in the field, 

 in such a direction, as to communicate with the other fur- 

 rows that divide the ridges, and with the ditches at the ex- 

 tremities of the inclosures. These cross furrows, (provin- 

 cially termed gaws or gripes), are opened by the plough, but 

 widened, cleared out, and shaped by the spade, to enable them 

 to discharge the water freely ( ' 2 ' ). To keep them clear, is a 

 very essential part of the clay farmer's attention. The ef- 

 fects of this system of drainage are such, as to render the 

 land so free and tender, that less labour prepares the ground 

 for the crop, less seed is necessary, less manure is re- 

 quired, and as neither drought nor damp have any very 

 injurious effect upon the soil, an abundant crop may be ex- 

 pected in all common seasons ( ia *). 



The necessity of making these water-cuts, or furrows, in 

 wet fields, as soon as the plough leaves them, is strongly in- 

 culcated, as essential for the future dryness and fertility of 

 the land. The cuts ought to be frequently examined, more 

 especially after the melting of snow, to see that no impedi- 

 ment prevents the free passage of the water. The cutting 

 of water-furrows, ought likewise to be carefully attended to, 

 after spring ploughing, to prevent water from lodging in any 

 part of the field, however wet the weather ; and for that 



