96 IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 



and keeping them in order. Parsimony in draining is 

 seldom economy in farming. 



When wetness is caused by spouts or springs, rising 

 from below, the object is to prevent the water rising to or 

 saturating the soil, and spreading through the grounds lying 

 below ; and the mode of effecting this is to cut a drain at 

 the point, or a Httle above it, where the water from these 

 spouts or springs seems first to affect the surface soil. 

 Where the soil is very porous, the presence of water may 

 not be indicated upon the surface. In this case, holes 

 should be made down to the subsoil, at different levels, 

 to ascertain where the fountain is. The drain should be 

 so far sunk into the subsoil, as to make a complete chan- 

 nel in it for the water which it is expected to convey. 

 Under-drains are decidedly preferable for this kind of 

 improvement : — Because, 



1. They are most efficient. They can be made to 

 reach, by digging and boring, the depot of water, or wa- 

 ter stratum, and thus to carry off the water before it ap- 

 proaches the surface, or pasture of plants. Open drains 

 do this but seldom, or imperfectly, because they are not 

 often carried deep enough, and are continually liable to 

 obstructions, which impair their efficiency. 



2. They are most durable. An under-drain, laid in 

 the most approved mode, with stone or tile, will last an 

 age, and perhaps a century. Open drains are but tem- 

 porary in their beneficial effects, without periodical re- 

 pairs. 



3. They are most economical. A good under-drain 

 costs no more than a good open drain, designed for a 

 like purpose, and which probably does not effect so much, 

 as the former can be carried down with nearly perpen- 

 dicular sides, w^hile the latter must be dug with sloping 

 banks, and must embrace a width of surface corresponding 

 with its depth — the deeper the drain, the broader it must be 

 at the top. The cost of the stone or tile is in a manner 

 counterbalanced by the difference in excavation. And, 

 when completed, the under-drain will seldom require re- 

 pairs, while the open one will be a constant drain upon 

 the labor of the farm, requiring bridges and frequent 



