BY DRAINING. 97 



scourings and cleanings. If under-drains cost something 

 the most, they are certainly cheapest in the end, if they 

 are well constructed ; and they waste no land. 



The only other kind of drains we shall mention, are 

 what are termed fm-row-drains. They are of recent 

 introduction even in Europe, and particularly distinguish 

 Scotch husbandry. They are employed upon lands 

 which are nearly level, where there is a tenacious subsoil, 

 to free them from an excess of water at all seasons when 

 the ground is not frozen. The field intended to be fur- 

 row-drained is laid into ridges, of from sixteen to thir- 

 ty feet broad, according to the texture of the soil, in 

 the direction of the slope, or with such descent as to carry 

 off the water, and under-drains are laid in every central 

 furrow, so deep, that, when covered, the materials of the 

 drain shall not be disturbed by the plough. A cross- 

 drain is laid on the upper margin of the field, to catch the 

 water coming from above, and another at the lower side, 

 which should be six inches deeper than the furrow-drains, 

 to receive and convey off the water from them. The 

 effect of these drains is to enable the cultivator to work 

 the land easier, better, and at his leisure, and greatly to 

 increase its product. The labor and expense of this 

 kind of drains seem great, to those who have not made 

 them, and their economy may seem doubtful ; but we are 

 persuaded that, after a little experience, the benefit will 

 be found to outweigh the expense. 



Wherever coarse aquatic grasses are found growing, 

 however dry the surface may appear, the farmer may de- 

 pend that under-draining will be an improvement, and if 

 he will sink a pit, eighteen inches deep, in such places, 

 he will in a few hours find water at the bottom. 



We draw no comparison, nor do we need any, to show 

 the difference in products and profits between a field ha- 

 bitually wet, and the trouble and expense of managing it, 

 and the same field after it has undergone a thorough drain- 

 age and amelioration. In the first case it produces very 

 little, and seldom pays the expense of cultivation. In the 

 latter, it is often the most productive field on the farm. 

 Every farmer, we presume, has noticed the vast dispari- 

 9 XV. 



