34 THE SOIL OF THE FARM. 



furnish 0(1 with pipes laid at suflficieiit depths, and prop- 

 rly iillad in — the systematic drainage of a field which 

 needs the operation is begun at the lowest level in it. 

 The ditch is cleaned out by which the water is to escape. 

 The main drain is dug (from a point six to eight inches 

 above the botton of the ditch) along the lower edge of 

 the field parallel with its side, from which it may be 

 distant five yards or more, and as deep (to at least four 

 feet) as possible. Into this drain the minor drains de- 

 liver over the top of the four to six-inch pipes which 

 are placed in it. These minor drains, at the depth 

 which has been resolved upon, are taken right np the 

 slope, unless it be very steep, and two-inch pipes are 

 placed in them. If the field is more than two hun- 

 dred yards long, there should be a second main drain 

 crossing it midway of its length, into which the upper 

 series of minor drains deliver. The i^ipes should be 

 carefully placed and carefully covered with the earth 

 taken out. It is not necessary to put straw or turf over 

 them before the earth which has been taken out is re- 

 placed. If there is any considerable remainder of the 

 earth, it should be spread on the land, all stones being 

 removed ; and the turf, which in pastures has been first 

 dug out, should, as soon as the earth has settled suffi- 

 ciently, be replaced and rolled down ; and the work may 

 then be considered complete. It will often be possible 

 to economize the labor by sending a plow along the line 

 of each drain to turn out the first six inches, by horse- 

 power. A double furrow will be necessary to open up 

 the work efficiently ; and in the case of grass-lands the 

 plowing will be more effective if it be not too deep. 

 And then these furrow slices, thrown out on cither side 

 without being detached from the land, can be brought 

 together over the finished drain and rolled down. But 

 the operation cannot be considered com])lete without 

 careful provision for its permanence by a 2)ro2)erly built 



