FOR YOUNG TREES. '33 



land requires draining at all for the growing of 

 trees, it is my opinion that forty feet should be the 

 greatest distance, for beyond that distance between 

 di'ains, land cannot be said to be drained efficiently. 



The depth and general size of the drains must in 

 a great measure be regulated by the nature of the 

 soil to be dried. In a heavy clay soil, I have found 

 that wood drains should be at least twenty inches 

 deep, and upon a light friable soil, fourteen inches 

 may be quite deep enough ; and according as the 

 soil may be inclined to be light or heavy, any in- 

 termediate depth between the two extremes above 

 specified may be fixed upon — always observing, that 

 the more the soil is inchned to clay, the deeper the 

 drains should be made. 



The breadth of all such drains, at the surface ot 

 the ground, must of course vary according to the 

 depth required. The rule which I have laid down 

 for my own practice as regards this is, to make all 

 open forest drains one-third wider at the top than 

 the depth intended : that is, if the depth of a drain 

 be fixed upon as fifteen inches, the breadth of the 

 opening at top will require to be twenty inches, 

 and so on with any other depth. The breadth of 

 all forest drains at bottom ought to be suflScient to 

 allow a common spade free room to pass along for 

 the purpose of cleaning. 



The cost of making such drains as have been 

 above specified, must always be regulated by the 



