On the Drainage of Land. 
333 
lales through the soil in that direction; and a drain cut up the 
piece alters the direction of the greatest fall accoiding to the 
steepness of the laad. Thus : — 
On Steep Land. Land not so Steep. Flat Land. 
The fine strokes showing the direction in which the water enters 
the drains, equally on each side, which is not the case when they 
are made obliquely or across it. It is an old saying that you must 1 
go to the e.xtreme in order to prove the medium ; if that is not 
exactly the case you must go to the extreme to make the truth 
appear in its strongest light, which I will do as respects draining 
across the fall. Let any one go to a very wet piece of clay land 
on a steep descent and cut a drain the necessary depth up the 
greatest fall, then cut another out of that across the piece nearly 
on a level, just as the water will run off into the other, then notice 
how the water enters each of them, and which will dry the most 
land, you will see in the former the water will enter equally on 
each side, and at the bottom ; in the latter it will come in only on 
the upper side, and that from the top to the bottom of the drain, 
forced in so by the weight of water above ; therefore you find the 
land drained on each side of one but only on one side of the olher, 
the lower side namely, as there will be none dry above ; now from 
the water entering the drain in such a manner, all up one side, it 
may be necessary to fill such drams with something porous, as, if 
they were filled with tenacious soil, it would very likely conduct the 
water across the drain, and the drains be of little service, as they 
do not draw the water from the dried land below, but allow the 
land to dry itself from cutting the water off above it ; if they act 
thus on steep land, it must be so in a measure on land that is 
flatter. I have seen where drains have been made across the 
piece at rather wide intervals, that in a wet time the water will 
run over them, and no one would know there were any drains ; 
but after a little dry weather they will show by drying the land in 
their immediate neighbourhood rather quicker. Now I do not 
mean to say that land cannot be drained, and effectually, by cross- 
draining, but it must be more expensive, as the drains are re- 
quired nearer together. There are a few exceptions to the above 
