No. 144.J 515 



If stones are difficult to be obtained, wood will be found an excel- 

 lent substitute, will last for many years, and when it finally decays 

 leaves numerous cavities which the water, by eternal filtering, 

 causes to remain open. I have made a few such thus, by way of 

 experiment ; dug the drain five feet deep, and at the bottom placed 

 pieces of green sticks, say twelve feet long, and four inches in 

 diameter at the small end, lengthwise in the ditch, two at the 

 sides, and one on the top, and covered the same to the depth of 

 twelve or fourteen inches with brush, and sometimes with bogs, 

 grass side down, and straw will answer the same purpose ; at the 

 bottom of another, small sticks were placed across the drain rest- 

 ing on either side, with two pieces lengthwise, covered with fag- 

 gots ; this forms a space at the bottom of the drain ten inches 

 high. 



Green boughs of any wood thrown promiscuously in a well- 

 shaped ditch, will form a perfect filter for water for thirty- three 

 years, without sign of decay. I saw an instance of this kind in 

 Scotland, where beech had been used in a boggy piece of land 

 thirty- three years before, and when taken out in my presence its 

 bark was perfectly fresh, and no person could have said, it had not 

 been just cut from the tree, and I believe it would, under the same 

 circumstances, have lasted for centuries. In retentive clay land, 

 not apt to crumble, you may fill your drain with your rye or wheat 

 straw ; before it decays an arch of clay will be perfectly formed 

 over it, strong enough not only to bear the weight of ground, but 

 all regular farming operations, such as plowing, draining, hay, 

 &c. Through the same species of ground a very neat drain may 

 be formed thus: Dig your ditch tapering from the top to the bot- 

 tom ; in the trench thus formed lay a piece of smooth wood, 

 thirteen feet long, seven inches in diameter at one end and six at 

 the other, then fasten a ring at the thickest end, throw some fine 

 sand on the stick, and pack the clay tightly over it ; then draw 

 the stick through the ring with a rope previously attached to the 

 large end, until within twelve or fourteen inches of the small 

 end; repeat this operation until your object is accomplished. 

 Such a drain will last many years. A narrow drain, carefully 

 cut, with an inverted sod properly placed near the bottom, will 



