On Draining. 



57 



testimony of others, that deep drains in strong: subsoils and moist 

 climates will not al ways successfully dry the surface at wide distances. 

 It would be idle to place them in such situations, for the most 

 part, at more than 10 or 12 yards of interval. I have indisputable 

 cases of failure even at these. Let us, however, take those two — 







Total length 

 of 4-feet Drains 



in roods of 

 7 yards per Acre. 



Cutting and 

 Filling atls.3rf. 

 per Rood. 



1 1-inch Pipes 

 in ditto at 15s. 

 per 1000. 



Total Cost of 

 ditto per Acre. 







At 10 yards. 



69 



£. s. d. 

 4 6 3 



£. s. d. 



1 1 6 



£. s. d, 

 5 7 9 







At 12 yards. 



57* 



3 11 lOi 



18 0 



4 9 101 





The elements in both sides of this comparison are the same ; 

 and it will be seen that though the latter is lower than the pre- 

 vious calculation by not quite \s., the former exceeds it by \ls. Id., 

 and indeed transcends the limit considerably, within which such 

 work should if possible be kept, with a view to profitable improve- 

 ment. 



I have supposed above, for the sake of convenience in calcu- 

 lating the compound system, that the minor drains were to be 

 drawn at right angles to the deeper. Now this is clearly an inad- 

 missible arrangement for many reasons. Almost the only serious 

 objection which the plan appeared to me from the outset to involve, 

 was, the necessity for placing the former at some angle to the latter, 

 and therefore not strictly in the direction of the fall. This might be 

 a more troublesome difficulty where the fall is scanty ; with me 

 it is superabundant, and I cannot say that I have ever observed 

 any real evil or imperfection to arise from it in practice. But as 

 a general rule I believe cross and oblique draining to be — for deep 

 drains at least — rightly exploded. I therefore bestowed some 

 attention on the possibility of drawing the shallow drains parallel 

 to the deep ones, but at intermediate distances. Reflection, how- 

 ever, inclined me against it, for these reasons ; that in the first place, 

 unless we took for granted that the deep drains would perform the 

 work on the surface efficiently for at least several yards on each 

 side of them, an assumption which in such cases could be but 

 doubtfully made, we should impose upon the shallow either the 

 necessity of acting to an unreasonable distance, or should be 

 obHged materially to increase their total length and expense by 

 augmenting their number ; and, secondly, that whereas J have 

 no hesitation as to laying such drains as mine — mere auxiliaries of 

 a regularly limited length — with the inch-pipes, I should not hazard 

 it with quite the same confidence if they were drawn out to the 

 full length of the deeper. Mr. Parker has, I believe, determined 



