250 Utility of Draining, 



brought to within 1 ft. of the top surface, and, in clayey soils, 

 the remainder filled with a porous earth : they are attended with 

 little expense where stone of any sort can be procured. 



Wood faggots, &c., are sometimes used for draining ; but, 

 from their liability to decay, thus destroying the drains by the 

 process of decomposition, they cannot be recommended as per- 

 manent, although they act well for some time. 



In some cases ditches are preferable to covered drains, such 

 as bogs or moss with a soft bottom ; for, should stones be used, 

 from their liability to sink, the drain would be rendered useless. 

 Their depth and wideness will depend upon the quantity of 

 water they have to carry, and the nature of the soil and situation : 

 the fall should be such that the water may run off without stag- 

 nation. In digging them, the earth thrown out should not 

 remain upon the sides, but be removed to the nearest hollows : 

 if this is not attended to, their use will be in a great measure 

 counteracted, as placing it upon the side is a preventive of the 

 surface water entering the drain ; its weight will also have a 

 tendency to make the sides give way. 



Hollow earth drains are sometimes used with good results, to 

 collect water from the subsoil, or receive rising water at their 

 base. The method of making them is simply this : dig them 

 perpendicularly to the desired depth, taking out the last spit with 

 a spade 6 in, narrower than the other part. A shoulder, as it 

 were, is thus left on each side, on which some good strong sods 

 are laid, with the grass side downwards. When the water 

 lodges in a stratum of loose earth, the operative part of the 

 drain should be lined with turf, to prevent the sides from falling 

 in, which would otherwise choke up the channel ; the joints on 

 each side to be left sufficiently open to permit the water to filter 

 freely. 



There is, perhaps, no department of rural improvement on 

 which so much money has been expended to so little advantage 

 as on draining. And why ? Because the work is often carried 

 on without at all considering the nature or cause from which the 

 water proceeds. One drain, judiciously conducted, may be as 

 effectual as twenty run at random ; and it is the case with 

 many to set to work and fill the ground with drains in all 

 directions, or wherever the least symptoms of moisture appear, 

 while by a single drain, properly directed to the lodgement of 

 the water whose ramifications caused those symptoms, the entire 

 site might have been effectually laid dry. 



I have seen instances of this kind, and shall here take the 

 liberty of mentioning one, which occurred at the Earl of Mans- 

 field's, Scone Palace, Perthshire. The soil was of a soft peaty 

 nature, with a subsoil of white tenacious clay, 2 ft. to 3 ft. deep ; 

 under this lay a stratum of a sandy nature, which contained the 



