784 [Assembly 



Mr. Pell, of Pellham. Drainage, one of the subjects selected for 

 discussion at the present meeting of the Farmer's Club, is a subject 

 of vast importance to the agriculturist, whose success in growing 

 crops, entirely depends upon the removal of superfluous water from 

 lands naturally tenacious, and retaining constant moisture, which in 

 nine cases out of ten materially injures cereal crops, and not unfre- 

 ■quently renders vast tracts of land entirely useless for agricultural 

 purposes, which in many instances might be reclaimed at a small 

 expense comparatively speaking. Often two or three land springs 

 destroy acres of valuable land, by rising over the surface, and de- 

 scending through alternating stratas of clay, giavel or sand, until 

 they reach a hard bottom, where they accumulate and form reser- 

 voirs, which ooze through the superincumbent surface, and keep it 

 always wet. If there is a descent, this water may be readily got rid 

 of by boring, by under drain, or open drain. If surrounded by high 

 ground, select the lowest spring, and dig a well, the water will then 

 follow the vein, and thus thoroughly drain the field. Should there be 

 a sufficient descent, open or close drains may be made, conveying the 

 water from the various springs to the lowest part of the field, where 

 a pond may be formed for the purpose of watering cattle, supplying 

 ice, or even fish] The earth excavated, if clay, will form a valua- 

 ble manure for sandy land, and vice versa, if sand, will render por- 

 ous and fit for cultivation a clay soil. It not unfrequently happens 

 that water is retained near the surface of a field, by a clay strata of 

 inconsiderable thickness, thus rendering the soil unfertile. This 

 difficulty may be overcome at a small expense, by perforating the 

 clay with a subsoil plow; the w-ater will sink into the gravel or 

 sandy soil beneath, and escape. In many fields you often find alter- 

 nate portions wet, and uryj upon examination it will be found that 

 the wet portions are clay, and the dry, sand or gravel. In this case 

 your field may be reclaimed at once, by opening a drain from the 

 wet to the dry land, which w'ill immediately absorb the moisture. 

 A drain should on no account be made directly down a rapid de- 

 scent, lest its efficiency might be destroyed by the impetuosity of the 

 stream, and consequent collection of water at the bottom, inducing 

 an overflow, and occasioning injury to the adjoining field; let it de- 

 scend the field diagonally, and the water will naturally percolate 

 slowly without forming obstructions. 



If the slope is gradual, by all means run your drains in a straight 

 line, directly down it, in parallel lines, as it stands to reason where 

 the situation admits of it, that a straight line carries the water more 

 readily than a diagonal one. Main springs sometimes render a 



