192 On Draining. 



draining ploughs ; the miner ; the mole plough ; spades 

 of various sorts; the sod knife; and the auger. 



1. The common plough is frequently used to open the trench ; 

 various sorts of ploughs have likewise been invented for that 

 special purpose, and premiums given to the inventors ; but 

 from the number of horses or oxen required to work them, 

 ploughs calculated for effecting hollow draining, are more ex- 

 pensive than the spade, and never can come into general use. 



2. In Lancashire, an instrument called the miner, was in- 

 vented by the late Mr Eccleston. It is a sort of ploughshare 

 fixed in a strong beam, without mould-boards, and drawn 

 by four or more horses, along the bottom of a furrow made 

 by a common plough. Without turning the substratum, it 

 penetrates into, and loosens the soil, eight or ten inches 

 deeper than the plough had before gone ; which operation, 

 besides draining the land, renders the subsoil open or po- 

 rous for several years, and causes the water to carry with it 

 any noxious matters in the soil( I4Z ). This, in particular 

 cases, is considered to be a useful practice, and the expense 

 is inconsiderable. 



3. A particular account is given, in a valuable work, of 

 the first experiments with the mole-plough invented by Mi- 

 Adam Scott ( I43 ). It was originally tried in the year 1795-6, 

 under the auspices of the Society of Arts in London. The 

 addition of wheels was then recommended, and has since 

 been carried into effect. The accounts of the advantages 

 resulting from this instrument are extremely contradictory. 

 It has no doubt been found effectual, when well applied. It 

 will succeed, where there is a regular stratum of clay or 

 stiff marl ; but not in loose, nor in mixed soils. Without 

 wheels, it requires from ten to fourteen horses, the tramp- 

 ling of which must be extremely injurious to wet soils ; but 

 with wheels, the team maybe reduced to six horses ( I44 ). 

 It is sometimes worked, with a peculiar apparatus, by ma- 

 nual labour ( I45 ) ; but it can never become generally useful, 

 until it is proved that a moderate power is sufficient to im- 

 pel it. 



4. The spades used in hollow-draining, are of a peculiar 

 construction. The upper, or top-draining spade, is narrow 

 at the end, and the spade used for the lower part, or bottom 

 tool, is almost pointed. A narrow scoop also is used for 

 smoothing, and cleaning out the bottom of the drains, pre- 

 vious to the wood, straw, or other materials being put in. A 

 breast-draining spade has also been invented, and is found 

 useful : it is the common paring spade, with both sides turn- 



