On Draiiiin(/. 
4-29 
wedofc, and block dralnino^, the rules for laying out the course of 
the main and minor drains, as stated in tile-draining, are equally 
applicable ; and if it were an advantage to drain deep with tiles, 
it is more so with peat, wood, &c., for such drains are more liable 
to injury from the necessary acts of cultivation, particularly on the 
headlands, or lines of road traversed by carts in carrying on 
manure, &c. The greater depth perishable materials are laid, 
the longer they will be decaying. The depredations of moles are 
not so great in deep as in shallow drains, as their food generally 
lies near the surface : so that in every respect, except a slight in- 
creased charge for labour, deep drains are best, by effecting a 
more perfect drainage, greater protection against vermin, and in- 
jury liable to arise from the necessary .acts of cultivation. 
In peat, wood, turf or wedge, and block draining, if the minor 
drains empty into a main di-ain it should be formed with tiles; 
and if the minor drains pass through a light soil, which is very 
often the case, particularly at the lower end of a field, such parts 
should be laid with tiles. The mains and lower ends of wood 
drains should have a good fall, or they may be liable to choke, there 
being generally a greater quantity of soil carried down in such 
drains, when first formed, than others, particularly if straw and 
light soil are made use of to fill-in with. With these obsei'vations, 
the work being proceeded with in the manner as before described 
in tile-draining (except a narrower tool being used to take the 
last draw from the bottom of wood, peat, and wedge or turf 
drains), the same rules apply. 
The drains should always be examined before they are filled 
in, not only to see if they have a regular fall, but that the material 
of which they are formed is properly placed ; and, where wood is 
used, to see that it is free from small brush and leaves, and that 
upon the wood the pure clay is trodden firmly down to form the 
arch ; for no dependence whatever can be placed upon their 
durability if straw and light soil are made use of to fill-in with, for 
if the conduit does not choke the first or second season, it gene- 
rally does when the straw or other light material decays. 
Summary of the expense of draining an acre of land in this 
county, with parallel* drains 21 feet asunder, with tiles, wood, 
peat, turf or wedge, and block draining. The length of parallel 
drains, deducting the headlands, will be upon an average 680 
yards : — 
cannot be a question that if the conduit of a drain formed by peat could 
be kept from choking or injury, the result would be the same as tile- 
draining. 
