Vv. 
ON DRAINING GROUND FOR PLANTATIONS. 
In Scottish moorland more plants perhaps have been lost 
by being inserted into ground too wet than by any other 
cause, and it is seldom that any considerable extent of ground 
is found adapted for plantation, without some parts requiring 
to be drained. Open ditches are generally best adapted for 
this purpose; every other kind is apt to be closed up by the 
growth of the fibrous roots of the trees. In hilly ground it 
sometimes happens that an open ditch cannot easily be formed, 
owing to the depth required in some parts to allow the water 
to escape, and the great width required at the surface to admit 
a sufficient slope on the sides. Such places are generally small 
in extent, and the best method is to build an eye of stone, or 
to introduce a tile on a scale sufficient to form a discharge, 
surrounding the conduit, in either case, with an accumulation 
of loose stones, or rough harped gravel, which tends to inter- 
cept the roots, and prevent a stoppage. Although land may 
not appear very wet, yet if the surface or the subsoil be im- 
pervious, and particularly if the surface is inclined to a great 
space, catch-water drains should be excavated, and the mate- 
rials placed on the lower side, that the flow of water into the 
drain may not be impeded. Inclined moorland, or peat, 
which retains moisture, may, in many cases, be relieved of 
surface-water in the same way, by the operation of the plough. 
I have seen this sometimes very expeditiously and effectually 
performed by a trench plough, particularly where oxen can be 
employed that are accustomed to the reclaiming of waste 
land. 
In laying out the course of drains in hilly moorland, it is 
