On Draining. 195 



in Staffordshire, by boring a hole thirty feet deep, through 

 which water issued at the rate of three Jiogsheads a minute, a 

 great extent of wet land in that neighbourhood was laid dry. 

 Indeed, in several cases, the Elkingtonian system has been 

 attended with extraordinary consequences, not only in lay- 

 ing land dry, in the vicinity of the drain, but also by having 

 a material effect on springs, wells, and wet ground, at a con- 

 siderable distance, with which there was no apparent com- 

 munication ( l57 ). 



6. Lakes. The objects in the draining of lakes are three- 

 fold : 1. For the sake of the land that may be gained, when 

 the water is removed ; 2. For the marl and rich earth that 

 may be got at the bottom ; and, 3. For the purpose of ob- 

 taining a level to drain the tracts of meadow, and marshy 

 ground adjoining, which cannot otherwise be accomplished. 

 In this way, the climate in the neighbourhood may likewise 

 be improved. In many cases, such pieces of water have been 

 either partially or entirely drained by deep cutting solely, but 

 sometimes the aid of machinery is required. 



7. Land-locked Bogs or Morasses. In several parts of the 

 kingdom, there are tracts of this description, which become 

 wet by an accumulation of rain water, stagnating on an imper- 

 vious subsoil, through which it can have no descent, and in- 

 capable of being drawn off by the surface, being surrounded 

 by higher ground, through which there is no vent. The pro- 

 per mode of draining these land-locked bogs is, by perfora- 

 ting the impervious bed of clay, on which the water rests, if 

 any such exists, and letting the water downwards into a sandy, 

 or other porous stratum ( l58 ). This plan will succeed, where 

 there are any beds under the clay, through which the water 

 may have an outlet. 



8. Mines and Quarries. In many cases the workings of 

 mines and quarries are obstructed by a flow of water, which, 

 by attention to drainage, may be either entirely removed, 

 or diminished, before it reaches the mine or quarry. For 

 that purpose, it is necessary to drain all ground lying higher 

 than, or contiguous to, subterraneous pits and mines. The 

 water that gets into the pit, may, on some rare occasions, 

 be got rid of, by boring through the close or impervious bed, 

 to the absorbent strata below. 



It may be proper here to observe, that Elkington's mode 

 of draining, has not been so successful in Scotland as in Eng- 

 land. This, however, does not proceed, from any defect in 

 its principle, but from local circumstances. In the cham- 

 paign districts of England, where the strata are regular, 



N 2 



