120 On the Stoppage of Drains by a Stony Deposit. 



capable of carrying a large body of water. The expense of drain- 

 ing this field, being chiefly labour, was 50£. From being quite 

 in a wet state, it soon became dry ; the drainage appeared com- 

 pletely successful, and so it remained until the winter of 1848. 

 At this time the field appeared again wet ; but in the neighbour- 

 hood of the stone carrier particularly so. In January of this 

 year, 1849, on walking over this piece of land, I found it looking 

 generally bad, the soil was spongy, the herbage looked unhealthy, 

 and some places presented all the appearance of an incipient bog. 

 I have no hesitation in saying that this field was in a much worse 

 condition than it was before it was drained. I therefore determined 

 to open the stone carrier, which was done on the 13th of January. 

 We found the drain completely choked with a deposit from the 

 water. The substance is hard, and in some places the stones of 

 the drain were so bound together with incrustation, that it re- 

 quired the pickaxe to divide them. When the drain was first 

 opened, the water poured down it in large quantities ; it has 

 been opened nearly a month, and the stream could now easily be 

 carried by a 1 \ inch pipe. I am happy to say the land presents a 

 very different appearance, and is nearly dry. With regard to the 

 drainage of this field, there can be no doubt that it was very im- 

 perfect. But still the stoppage of the stone drain with a deposit 

 from the water has caused me to doubt whether draining, in some 

 localities, is a substantial improvement of long duration. Where 

 the water is what is called ' hard ' and liable to form a deposit, the 

 same thing may happen in pipes as has occurred in my stone drain. 



" You ask, How have the turf-drains answered in my field, 

 which was drained 20 years ago ? 



" I have had some opened and particularly examined, and I 

 find, with scarcely any exception, that the water in them runs very 

 well. The deteriorated state of the field seems to have arisen 

 from the stoppage of the stone carrier, because, as many of the 

 turf-drains led into this stone carrier, the drainage of some acres 

 was necessarily stopped. The stone drain is still open, and the 

 side turf-drains run freely into this opened carrier. I am rather 

 disposed to think that the deposit in the drain must be formed, in 

 some measure, of earthy matter petrified by the water ; tho 

 carrier drain had no stone bottom, so that probably uneven sur- 

 faces were formed, and thus from time to time earthy deposits 

 may have formed. 



" 1 send you a bottle of the water and a lump of the deposit, of 

 which I hope you will obtain an analysis. The drainage ques- 

 tion is one of great importance to us. Of this I feel satisfied 

 that a great deal of money is sunk in draining, and unless it is 

 done well, that is, on scientific principles, we might as well not 

 drain our land at all. 



"J. Goodden." 



