710 



PllACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



4296. Pipe drains of turf arc sometinies formed where the surface soil is a strong clay, as it is only 



turves from such a surface that are sufficiently 

 durable. A semicylindrical spade [fig. 655. a) is 

 Q^^ used to dig the turves, the ground-plan of which (b) 



presents a series of semicircles or half pipes. The 

 drain (c) being dug out to the proper depth, one turf 

 is laid in the bottom {d), and another being placed 

 over it {e), completes the pipe. The same sort of 

 pipe drain has been formed out of solid beds of clay, 

 and has served for a time to convey water. As col- 

 lecting drains, of course, they can be of little or no 

 use. Hannay, an ingenious farmer in Wigtonshire, 

 adopted this mode for the purpose of conveying 

 water through running sand, in which only a pipe 

 drain will last for a moderate time. After a number 

 of years the clay turves were found effective in con- 

 veying away the water, and preventing the running 

 away of the sandy sides of the drain. 



4297. Pearson's method of pipe-draining will be 



found described at length in the Transactions of the 



Society of Arts, vol. xlvii. for 1829. The ground is 



t^ I , t i /"^ \ first opened by a plough, with what is called a 



horn-share, {fig. ()58.) With four horses and the 



horn-share (), a furrow nine or ten inches deep 



I L^ \_J ^^ r~, by t^" inches is taken out. The horns are then 



' V y <^/ removed, the coulters {b b) added, and eight horses 



attached. This cuts the soil to an additional depth 

 of ten inches (c), and it is immediately removed with narrow spades, and larger and smaller draining 



scoops, {figs. 653. c, and 6ol. , b.) A second pair of coulters cuts the soil to the depth required, which 

 is also taken out by tlie scoops. The total depth is now about twenty-six inches, the width at top 

 ten inches, and at bottom about one inch. A slide {fig. 657. a) is then dropped to the bottom of the drain. 



commencing at its lowest level, so as to work up hill. A windlass {b) is next placed at the full length of 

 the rope, which is attached to the slide. Clay is next rammed firmly down on the slide with a heavy 

 rammer to the depth of three or four inches, and the slide is next pulled forw^ard, leaving a cylindrical 

 drain of three or four inches in diameter, according to the diameter of the slide. {Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. 

 xlvii. p. SO.) 



4298. A mode qf turf-draining in use in Cheshire is as follows : The surface of the ground where the 

 drain is intended to be cut, is marked out in parallelograms about the size of bricks on one side 

 {fig. 658. rt), and that opposite is left of the width of a common sod ; i. e. nine inches wide. These 

 sods are taken out at a spade's depth, and laid carefully by the side of the drain for covers. The sods 

 (), resembling bricks in their size and shape, are then dug, and laid carefully on the same side as 

 the sods intended for covers. The drain is then sunk to its proper depth, and the stuff taken out is 

 thrown to the other side. The bottom is levelled with proper draught for the water, and set with the 

 sods like bricks {a), two in height on each side (c) ; these are covered with the larger sods set ob- 

 liquely {b), the grass side of each sod being turned downwards. {Agr'. Rep. of Cheshire, 214.) 



4299. The mole drain {fig. 659.) is formed by the draining-plough of that name already described (2643.) 

 with the manner of using it. It is chiefly useful in pasture-lands, and especially in such as have some 

 declivity, or are formed into ridges. 



4300. The wheel drain is a very ingenious invention, described in The Agricultural Report of the County 

 of Essex. It consists of a draining-wheel of cast-iron, that weighs about 4 cwt. It is four feet in diameter ; 

 the cutting-edge or extremity of the circumference of the wheel is half an inch thick, and increases in 



