fowler's draining plow. 139 



already described. A great improvement has "been 

 made in this machine by the invention of the Draining 

 ploiv, Fig. 113, opposite, which not only forms a hole 

 through the subsoil, but fits into it at the same ope- 

 ration earthen pipe or tubular tile, forming at once a 

 perfect and durable under-drain. The pieces of tile or 

 pipe, which are about a foot long, are strung on a rope, 

 as shown m the foreground of the engraving. This 

 rope is attached to the back end of the iron plug, and 

 is drawn forward through the earth as the plug ad- 

 vances, thus fitting the hole with tile as fast as it is 

 formed. The only trace left on the surface of the earth 

 is a narrow sht made by the coulter, an invisible drain 

 being formed beneath it. 



The frame-work to which the coulter and plug are 

 attached is drawn forward by an iron rope (made of 

 twisted wire) wound upon a windlass or capstan work- 

 ed by horses. Drains forty rods long are completed at 

 one operation. A short piece of ditch is fu'st dug for 

 the admission of the plug, and strings of pipe, each fifty 

 feet long, are successively added, and when done the 

 whole of the rope is withdrawn. 



When the surface of the ground is uneven, an in- 

 genious contrivance preserves a straight and uniform 

 slope to the drain. The coulter is w^orked up or down 

 by the man who stands on the frame, by means of a 

 wheel and screw, his eye being guided by a try-sight 

 on the frame, and a cross-staff at the end of the field, 

 set so as to give a proper slope. This machine, when 

 tried in England, has been found to accomplish the 

 work of draining with less than one half the ordinary 

 expense. 



