334 
On the Drainage of Laud. 
rule, one or two of which I will mention ; as where land has 
been ploughed in high ridges across the line of the fall, which is 
sometimes the case, not but it would drain better if ploughed up 
and down the greatest fall : but land in high ridges, as I have 
said before, is in a measure partly drained^ though at the expense 
of the furrows. Another exception is where a spring breaks out 
on the side of a hill, where, perhaps, a single drain across the 
piece will make a cure; but it is not always that a side of a hill, 
wet below a certain point, is cured by a drain across ; the best 
way to know whether a side of a hill can be drained with one or 
two cuts across the piece is to observe whether the top or bottom 
of the wet part gets wet first ; if the bottom is wet first, and it 
gets higher up as the wet weather continues, then a drain across 
at top will be of little service ; but on the other hand, if the land 
is not wet until the spring breaks out at top, then a single cross 
drain is likely to answer ; you can also see that land is vvet from 
springs, by the water's wasting away after it has run a little dis- 
tance. I once made a clay drain with no outlet on a piece of 
land, a clay loam, that had a spring break out in the furrow. I 
began to cut the drain upwards from the point where the water 
wasted, and made it up through the spring : this drain kept the 
water undergnmnd and dried the land. There may be a few 
more exceptions to the general rule of draining down the greatest 
fall, which would require to be seen, as they are difficult to 
explain.* 
Fall required. — According to my views there cannot be much 
said on this head, only to repeat, get the greatest fall. That dif- 
ferent kinds of drains are best suited to different degrees of fall 
there is no question ; hollow drains are most suitable for flat 
land, and very steep, and I think best for all land. Stone, wood, 
&c., may be used to best advantage where there is a moderate 
fall ; where mains have but little fall care should be taken not to 
go too far without emptying them, or they may be liable to choke 
up ; a fall from 1 in 60 to 1 in 100 is the best for making the 
most of the drains, for I find that steep land is more difficult to 
drain, or rather, requires the drains nearer together, than land of 
the same texture having a gentle fall. If my last made sketches 
are on correct principles, and I think this is a proof they are, for 
suppose the drains to draw the water each the same distance. 
* 1 tile-drained a piece of clay-land, which is not quite effectual, by 
deviating from the above rule ; the piece lies in an irregular form, some of 
it having a considerable slope two ways ; it was ploughed in low ridges, 
and drained up the furrows, their fall being 1 in 11, and the greatest fall 
1 in 8; and I find after heavy rains that close above the drains there is a 
portion of it wet ; if subsoiling will not make them have the desired effect 
I shall be obliged to put in extra ones between. 
