CHAP. XI. 



DRAIN1NG-PLOUGHS. 



865 



other materials are decayed. The soil immediately over the trench 

 was left a little higher, as its tendency is invariably to sink. In 

 several parts of Essex there are drains of this kind, which answer very 

 well, although they were only filled with twisted straw, and were made 

 more than sixty years ago. The expense is stated to be about 3Z. per 

 acre. Mr. Pusey was of opinion, that on heavy clay-lands this mode 

 of draining answered better, and was very much cheaper, than any 

 other ; but this was before draining-tiles could be manufactured at the 

 price, and with the rapidity and facility, which machinery has now 

 rendered possible. 



The antiquity of this mode of draining, especially in our midland 

 counties, is demonstrated by various accounts which were collected 



-;_._ <^ f 



Fig. 371. Fowler's Mole-Plough. 



together by Mr. Pusey, and published in the " Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society." 



Mole-plough drains, for rapidly taking off excess of surface water, 

 have also been extensively adopted. Some of these in the North, 

 which were examined after thirty years' use, were found to be acting 

 perfectly. Fowler's draining-plough may be used either as a mole- 

 plough or to put in pipes. In the latter case it aims at making a 

 complete pipe-drain at a single operation, the drain-pipes being strung 

 on a rope, and rope and pipes together drawn through the soil, behind 

 the mole fixed on the points of the coulter. It may be worked to a 

 depth of 3 feet in suitable soils, and either by steam or horse-power. 

 Draining by means of the mole-plough, however, even where no pipes 

 are put in, can only be practised to a very limited extent in Britain. 

 Fig. 371 shows the improved form of Fowler's mole-plough. The 

 strong coulter carries on the back of its point a mole or plug, which, 

 as it is drawn through the soil, leaves an open channel behind it. The 



3 K 



