DRAINS, 



99 



plant, a native of Spain, somewliat similar to fennel, but 

 smaller. * It is raised from seed sown in any of the 

 autumnal months, or very early in the spring. Half an 

 ounce of seed is sufficient for a bed three feet by four feet, 

 M'Mahon directs to sow dill broad-cast on four feet wide 

 beds, covering it, if sown in autumn, half an inch, and if 

 in spring, a quarter of an inch deep : when the plants come 

 up, thin them to six inches distance, and the sarne season 

 they will perfect their seeds ; which, if any are suffered to 

 shed, will not fail to come up plentifully the next year. 

 The seeds and leaves of tliis plant are used for giving a 

 flavour to pickles, and also occasionally in soups and sauces. 

 It is also used in medical preparations. 



DRAINS. — Drains used in agriculture may be divided 

 into two kinds, open and covered. They should be of a 

 size and depth proportioned to the extent of the tract which 

 it is wished to drain, and the probable quantity of w^ater for 

 which they are designed to be channels. They should^ 

 generally, be carried through the lowest and wettest part 

 of the soil. It is a rule in making drains, to begin at the 

 lowest place, and work upwards, by which means the water 

 will pass from the workmen, and point out the level. The 

 mud and other materials, which are dug out of a diich or 

 drain, should not be suffered to lie in heaps by the side of 

 the ditch, but should be spread as equally as possible over 

 the surface of the drained land. In some cases, it will b-e 

 expedient to transport the earth taken from ditches to the 

 farm-yard or the hog-pen, to form a part of that layer, which 

 good farmers generally spread over those places, to imbibe 

 liquid manure, or make into compost. In many instances, 

 it is asserted, that the earth dug out of ditches, is worth 

 enough for manure, to pay for the expense of digging the 

 ditches. 



Open drains often answer the purpose not only of con- 

 veying off superfluous v/ater, but serve for enclosing fields. 

 But they make a hazardous and inconvenient fence without 

 the addition of a bank, hedge, or railing. The Farmer'^s 

 Assistant says, When a ditch is made for a fence, it ought 

 to be four feet wide at the top, one or less at the bottom, 

 and about two and a half deep ; with the earth all thrown 

 out on one side, and banked up as high as possible." Sir 

 John Sinclair states, that "it is a general rule, regarding 

 open drains, with a view of giving sufficient slope and sta- 

 bility to their sides, that the width at top should be three 

 times as much as that which is necessary at the bottom ; and^ 



