466 THE 
AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[Jurx 11, 
turally so dry and open as not to be improved by drain- 
ing, is the exception to the general rule. 
To obtain good crops from such land is always a 
matter of uncertainty. A wet spring delays the sow- 
ing to a late period; orif the weather be tempting for 
sowing, and storms of rain or snow should interrupt the 
operation, as was the ease this year, such land has small 
chance to recover the injury it sustains during the re- 
mainder of the season ; but admitting the seed time to be 
good, and the crop toa certain period to be flourishing, a 
fortnight of wet. and cold weather any time during the 
summer, cuts down the fair prospect, and leaves a thin 
and unproductive crop for the harvest. Such was the 
ease, many of you will remember, in the high and cold 
districts of this county four or five years ago ; up tothe 
end of June the crop was'most promising, a succession of 
heavy rains then came on, the ground was saturated 
with wet, the corn became yellow, and by degrees 
thinner and thinner, till, ere harvest, the crop con- 
sisted more of Thistles and weeds than grain. Against 
such contingencies, thorough draining is the only se- 
eurity ; by means of it, an earlier seed time, as well as 
an earlier harvest, is obtained ; the average produce of 
the land is greatly increased, in many cases it is 
doubled, and the expense of working it is immensely 
lessened. Every one accustomed to cultivate heavy and 
undrained soils, knows the injury which his fallow sus- 
tains by one ploughing before it be sufficiently dry, or 
by a heavy fall of rain directly after ploughing, and 
how much labour is required to recover it from that 
injury, if it can be done at all, during that season. 
When, then, I hear tenants remark upon the ex- 
pense of bringing tiles to drain a field, I tell them to 
think of the future labour which the dryness and con- 
sequent friability of the soil after draining, will save 
them ; more perhaps in one year of fallow than all the 
carting of tiles, with the certainty of a much better crop 
to boot. 
So far I have alluded to corn crops, but in our days 
the root erops have grown into an importance almost 
greater than those of corn, especially on soils of inferior 
quality. It becomes, then, a great desideratum to sub- 
stitute Turnips for naked fallows, in all possible cases, 
and this thorough draining enables us in a great mea- 
sure to do. I have seen a field which, previous to 
draining, never was thought capable of growing Tur- 
nips, produce a erop the year after being drained, 
which was sold, for eating on the land, at 6l. per acre ; 
and the produce ofthe Barley crop in the succeeding 
year was the double of whatit had ever been known 
to grow before, thus returning the entire cost of drain- 
ing in those two seasons ; but on land less unfavourable, 
and on whieh Turnips have hitherto been eultivated, 
though at great risk from wet seasons, the advantage 
of draining is found, imits easier and earlier cultivation, 
in the greater certainty of its produee, the ease and 
comparatively small injury which attends the removal 
of the crop from the field, and the increased benefit 
derived both by the land and the stock, if consumed 
on the ground. Every one knows how much better 
sheep thrive on dry than damp land, and how much 
less waste of food is occasioned. But itis not to til- 
lage lands only that the benefit of drainiug is confined. 
I know a rough ox pasture for which an allowance for 
draining was made by the landlord, but which did not 
finish the job, and a part is left yet undone by the 
tenant. The part which was first drained comes earlier 
and affords a full bite to cattle three or four weeks 
sooner than the other, and is besides so much sweeter 
and more nutritious, that they are constantly upon it 
and never upon the other, till necessity compels them. 
By abstracting the water, the coarse and aquatic plants 
are destroyed, and agairt succeeded by Grasses of finer 
quality and earlier growth, by which means the value 
of the pasture is much increased. 
The beneficial effects of rain in promoting vegetation 
are too well known and too obvious to require remark ; 
every shower conveys a portion of ammonia from the 
atmosphere to the earth, and communicates a fertilising 
property. It is only when the land is saturated with it, 
and when, instead of passing through, it remains in it, 
till abstracted by evaporation, that it becomes per- 
nieious. The most intense cold is produced by a pro- 
cess of evaporation, and if water falling upon land with 
a retentive subsoil is left till it be removed by that 
means, which in winter is very slow, the earth is 
starved, and the plants it contains frequently perish, 
or, as is the ease with Wheat, lose their hold, and are 
thrown out by frost, By draining thoroughly, we make 
the rain our friend, and not our enemy ; we take all 
the benefit, and avoid the injury. Itisnot, however, only 
daring winter that superabundant moisture in the land is 
pernicious ; its effects are equally injurious in the 
drought of summer. We see the strong soils which 
in winter were saturated with water, in the drought of 
summer beeome hard, impervious and unmanageable ; 
cracked it may be with large fissures, but baked together, 
So as to exclude all the beneficial influences of the at- 
mosphere, The same effect is produced in hard frost ; 
let any man attempt to push his walking stick into such 
land at such a time, and he finds it bound in a coat of 
iron, while that which had been rendered dry and 
friable by draining, is still loose and pervious. One 
obvious effect of water lodging in the soil is, the exclu- 
sion of air ; but as the water is drawn off by draining, 
the air immediately takes its place, and intermixing 
depth, charged as it always is with some degree of mois- 
ture, that dry and loamy land is found to resist drought 
better than wet and adhesive clays. [Mr. Grey then 
went into a curious and interesting dissertation on the 
principle of atmospheric pressure, showing its effects on 
all external objects, its tendency to insinuate air into 
the ground and occupy the place of water, and even aid 
in expelling it ; and illustrated its effects as needful to 
the human body, by relating a cireumstance which 
occurred to the celebrated travellers Humboldt and 
Bonpland, who, when taking observations at a great 
elevation on the Cordillera mountains, found the air so 
rarefied as to make breathing painful, and at length to 
cause the blood to flow from their eyes and ears, the 
external pressure being no longer equal to counteract 
the internal impetus of the heart. Apologising for the 
digression, Mr. G. proceeded. ] 
aving said thus much on the utility of draining, 
allow me now to make some remarks upon the mode of 
carrying it into effect. The first thing, and that is of 
essential importance in setting out drains, is to secure a 
clear’ outfall for the water which is to be discharged 
from them. I have seen much injury and loss sustained 
by allowing’ the drainage of a field to be emptied into 
an open ditch with little declivity, while by negligence 
in allowing Grass and weeds to obstruct its course, the 
ends of the drains were sanded up and rendered useless; 
it is much safer to incur the expense of conveying the 
water in a covered drain till a clear outlet can be found 
for it, Another thing to be especially avoided is the 
laying of tile-drains through a hedge, that they may be 
emptied into a ditch on the opposite side. 
The roots of trees have a great tendency to insinuate 
themselves into the eavity of drains, and to run along 
them to a great extent; the rootiof the Ash is espe- 
cially pernicious in this way. I have seen drains which 
had been run across a hedgerow with Ash-trees in it, 
which stopped running, and on taking up the tiles they 
were found tobe filled with the roots of the trees, which 
were grown over with a hairy-looking vegetable sub- 
stance resembling a badger’s tail, and had entirely 
stopped the circulation of water, and spoiled the drains 
for a considerable distance from the fence. But I would 
not only avoid placing drains in a hedge—I would also 
keep them in general, and as much as possible: off the 
headlands, in tillage fields. It is, I see, a common 
practice to run the carry drain along the headland ; 
my objection to that is, that the headland is travelled 
upon by corn-carts and dung-carts, and is turned upon 
in ploughing, so that drains are in much greater danger 
of being broken in or disturbed, or so pressed into hol- 
lows that sand may filter into them, than when laid 
across the ends of the ridges 2 or 3 yards above the 
headland furrow. 
I would also recommend in draining that the drains 
of every field be laid down upon a plan when finished, 
so that no difficulty may afterwards be found, in case of 
stoppage or inefficiency, in going directly to the spot. 
Then, with regard to the depth of drains, a subject 
of much diseussion and controversy, I am of opinion, 
and that opinion has not been formed without much 
observation, that we have wasted a good deal of money, 
and a great many tiles, by laying them too near the 
surface. The tendency of water is downward, and the 
nearer its d d course app to the perpen- 
dicular, the quicker will be its escape. It follows, then, 
that it will find its way more quickly to a drain of 3 or 
4 feet deep than of 2 feet. And in fact, in the case of 
drains only 20 inches or 2 feet deep, and 20 feet apart, 
the water from the middle of the interval must have a 
course so nearly horizontal as to be very slow in its pro- 
gress, and to expose the land to. wetness for a consider- 
able time. The theory of deep drains is this, that by 
abstracting the water and admitting air instead, the 
soil (but especially tne clay), contracts to the depth at 
which the water is drawn off ; and in contraeting, small 
fissures or veins are formed, which serveas channels for 
the water to reach the bottom of the drain. To leave 
theory, however, as we are all practical people here, I 
will tell you what I have seen myself :—A field had been 
drained at the depth of 2 feet from oneside to the other; 
still, as it did not produce the effect of drying the land so 
quickly as had been expected, the owner had a few 
drains cut here and there at a depth of 4 feet. After a 
heavy rain, I along with others went to examine the 
field ; we found a small run of muddy water from some 
of the shallow drains; but a copious one of clear water 
from all the deeper ones, showing that in its descent to 
them, it had not robbed the soil of any of its finest parts, 
as was the case in the shallow drains, and that it was 
escaping much faster from the land. You will find it 
also recorded, from most authentic information, in the 
“Journal of the Agricultural Society,” that the water 
drawn from an acre of land in an hour, drained ata 
depth of 4 feet, was one-third more than from another 
adjoining acre, with 2 feet drains; and that the run 
began sooner, after the fall of rain, in the deeper drains, 
and of course also ceased sooner, than in the shallow 
ones. My own opinion is, that in hardly any case 
should tiles be laid at a less depth than 3 feet, but that 
in many cases 4 feet would be preferable. The expense 
should be estimated more by the efficiency of the opera- 
tion than the outlay of money ; but even in respect of 
expense the balance is in favour of deep draining ; for, 
if drains 3 feet deep and 30 feet apart are more effica- 
cious than those of 2 feet deep and 20 feet apart, the 
with the particles of soil, communicates to it that | former comes cheaper by the acre, as there is only one 
divisibility and mellowness to which farmers give the | foot more of soil to remove in the deeper drains than 
term of friability. 
Itis from the admission of atmospheric air to a greater 
in the shallower, against which is to be set the saving 
in the purchase and carting of one-third of the tiles. 
It is, of course, impossible that one rule cau. be appli 
cable to all situations. Much must be left in every case 
to the kind of subsoil which is met with ; in some places’ 
seams of sand are found intersecting beds of clay, and’ 
then probably one deep drain may lay a whole acre 
dry better than many shallow ones would. There is 
one description of subsoil common in this county, in 
which I think it may be advisable to make the drains 
frequent and shallow rather than deep and more dis- 
tant; because it is so firm and hard that I believe no 
cracking or contraction will take place in it so as to 
allow water to descend ; on which account the best way 
probably is just to dig through the soil, and lay the tile 
into a groove cut in the subsoil. This subsoil we call 
Moorband (in other parts it is called Pan), and is a con- 
eretion of gravel and clay with oxide of iron, so har 
that it is searcely possible to break it up.* 
One thing I have omitted to remark, and that is, that 
in making drainsit is desirable that they should be done 
as much as may be in the spring, or in dry weather, 
when bottomed out—care being always taken to lay the 
tiles or pipes level, and directly opposite each other; 
let them be covered just so much with clay, taken from 
the bottom of the drain, as to keep them safe, and then 
leave the drains open fer as long a time as may be con- 
venient for working the land ; because the volume of 
air whieh in this way has access to the drain is so much 
greater than that which ean pass through the tile or 
pipe, that the contraction of the soil or elay takes place 
more rapidly, and the drains come so much sooner into 
full action. 
Then as to the tile or pipe which it is advisable to 
use—for a long time we used tiles of unnecessary size, 
and in many situations those tiles could not be used with 
safety without soles, which became very expensive—of 
late years pipes have been substituted for tiles, and are; 
I think, in every respect deserving a preference; I 
prefer them because they are safer against stoppage 
stronger, more durable, and more economical. The 
circular shape is that which in all sewers, and carries 
of water, is found to be least liable to be stopped up, 
because the current is always deepest and strongest in 
the centre, into which every substance that comes must 
fall and be carried off, whereas a flat bottom admits of 
deposits and accumulations which the shallow eurrent 
cannot always remove. Pipes are less apt to be sanded 
p on this account than tiles in flat ground, and om 
steep hill sides they are safer, as, when once fixed, the 
current cannot displace or undermine them. They are 
stronger of necessity, by the equal pressure upon the 
circle, which any one may prove for himself, I lately 
broke several tiles with my hands at a tile kiln, while É 
stood and jumped upon pipes of the same clay without 
effect ; and they are more economical, because they are 
cheaper to purchase, and a cart carries a much greater 
number. It is objected to pipes that they may roll 
aside when laid ‘into the drain, and the end of one may 
not be exactly opposite the end of the next ; but then 
it may be objected that careless workmen may spoil 
any job, and unquestionably all kinds of draining require 
attention and nicety in the execution. Admitting this 
as an objection, however, I think it is fully obviated by 
the kind of pipe now made at Whittonstall, and at other 
places in this district, which, while it preserves the cir- 
cular form for the water, is attached to a flat bottom, 
which keeps its place in the drain as steadily as any- 
thing of the kind can do, a specimen of whieh I expected 
to have found here, but it has not made its way into 
the room. Such pipes of various bore can be made 
from 16s. to 20s. per 1000. 
I think, gentlemen, I have now noticed most of the 
points whieh are important in connexion with this highly 
interesting subject—a subject which is now oceupyin 
much capital, and giving employment to a multitude 0! 
hands in the agricultural districts, and which is destined» 
I believe, to render the produce of our soil much more 
certain than heretofore, and greatly to increase its avet- 
age annual amount. Thereis yet one thing in connexio® 
with draining, and especially when it is accompanied by 
subsoil ploughing, which perhaps you will allow me tO 
advert to, and that is the depth to which plants will 
send their roots in search of nourishment, if not impeded 
by impervious subsoils, and by water which is pernicious 
to them. I recollect to have seen in Bamburgh Caste 
some stalks of Wheat which were placed there, I believs 
by the late Lord Barrington, whose roots had penetrate? 
to upwards of 8 feet below the surface of the ground H 
they had been got, I think, by breaking in the edge ©. 
2 quarry near which the Wheat was growing, ant 
which had found means to penetrate its open soil. The 
extent to which the Fern pushes its roots, far exceeding. 
the height of its stem, may have been remarked by most 
of you on a steep bank or by the side of a brook 5 se 
find the roots of trees, too, pushing outwards into 
soil, to the great -obstruction of the plough, as far d 
their tops rise into the air. If then this be the natur 
tendency of plants, there can be no doubt that in ro- 
portion as we draw off the stagnant water by e 
draining, and make the land permeable to atmosphex! 
influence, and. accessible to the roots of plants, in ii 
like proportion shall we increase its productive pon 
—while by lessening the evaporation, and ridding 8 
earth of noxious vapours, we shall contribute mater? a 
to the warmth, dryness, and salubrity of our atmo” 
g 
* ANALYSIS or MOORBAND. z E 
From Flodden Field. From Milfield Plain. 
4 
Oxideofiron  .. 34 parts. | Oxideofiron + 43. parts- 
BR e dene et, ett eee en » 
Alumina (clay) .. 6  ,, 2 
Water and loss .. 6 ,, n 
120 
