DRAINING. 185 



SECTION 3. The Draining of Hill - Pastures for SJieep. 



The usual system of draining hill-pastures is by means of open cuts, 

 which I shall describe in this section ; but where covered drains can be 

 put in at a moderate cost, it is always best to have them in preference 

 to the open cuts, and this for three chief reasons : 1. The surface is 

 better drained by them ; 2. They are more permanent, and are more 

 secure from filling in, or being choked or damaged ; 3. The pasturage 

 is not broken, nor is any of it lost. 



Where covered drains are used, they should be made similar to those 

 described in the first section of this chapter - f but as open drains are 

 usually employed for drying hill-pasture, I shall here describe the mode 

 of doing so. 



Open drains on hilly grounds are generally made in what is termed 

 the " herring-bone " form. Fig. 67 will give an idea of the position they 

 occupy. 



Fio. 67. 



The main drains g h and e f are cut nearly straight over the hill, and 

 the side drains are run across the hill into these mains ; but they should 

 not be cut at right angles to the main drains, but at an angle of about 

 forty-five degrees to the main, and parallel to each other. The small 

 drains should be run into the mains alternately that is to say, the 

 mouths of the small ones should not be run into the main opposite each 

 other, but at a few feet apart, as, if they are cut so that there should be 

 a strong current of water flowing from each, the two currents meeting 

 would cut up and destroy the main drain. The diain drains should be cut 

 thirty inches wide at top, and sloping down on each side to nine inches, 

 or about the breadth of a common spade, at the bottom. The necessary 

 depth so much depends upon the nature of the soil and subsoil, that no 



