310 
REMARKS ON DRAINING. 
stone and the triangular-stone drains are probably 
the best, where stone of proper dimensions can be 
procured on the field to be drained. If, however,, 
stone is to be hauled from any distance^ then a tile 
drain, which will be described hereafter, is much 
the best and cheapest. The other drains as figured, 
have been used with success, while they lasted; 
but few ever performed their duty beyond two or 
three years. 
When you have judiciously marked out your 
field to be drained, and staked the course of the 
several trenches, let them be accurately dug at least 
three feet deep, and not over thirty feet asunder, 
for thorough draining. The trenches or ditches 
must run down the slopes, and not across them, 
that the water may go off freely. Dig the trenches 
as narrow as may be, so that a man can clean out 
the bottom and construct the drain; the width at 
bottom for the main drains need not exceed ten 
inches, and for all other drains not exceed seven 
g h i 
Different Forms of Drains.—Fig;. 78. 
or lakes, or with an ebb and flow of tides, then the 
work is of too great magnitude for the care or 
attention of the farmer. In situations where these 
bogs may have been drained, every exertion must 
be used to prevent the filling of the open drains, 
and to overcome the excess of iron which always 
exists in such moist places. This is done, as you 
all probably know, by the application of lime; and 
when accomplished, the reward is great, in the 
immense amount of herbage the soil will produce. 
To drain fields devoted to gram and meadows, it 
is important so to locate and construct the drains, 
as that no plow nor other instrument, when used at 
their greatest depth, can derange them; and that 
the drainage may be effected, they must be so 
graded, as to carry off the water with reasonable 
rapidity. It will naturally occur to every mind, 
that in locating a drain, the lowest point on the 
field must be the starting point, and from thence the 
main drain must be carried in as straight a line as 
practicable along the low¬ 
est ground and gradually 
ascending to the highest, 
the grade or rise being 
strictly preserved in the 
same ratio as to distance. 
This main drain is usual¬ 
ly larger than other drains 
in the same field, as it is 
intended to receive the 
collected waters from 
other portions ; its out¬ 
let must also be kept well 
open, and protected from 
any and every obstruc¬ 
tion. When the main 
drain is completed, lateral 
drains may be cut run¬ 
ning from any low or wet 
portion of the field into 
the main drain. Fields 
having a uniform slope 
in one direction, may 
have all the drains paral¬ 
lel to each other, sending 
all the water to a main 
drain, constructed at the 
lowest headland of the 
field, and thence flowing 
to the adjacent lower 
grounds. 
The varied undulations of the ground call for as 
varied positions of drains; so varied as to forbid 
suggestions or plans that will suit the wishes of 
every man; but with the foregoing general remarks, 
it must be remembered as a general rule that every 
main drain must be not less than three feet deep ; 
nor must any other or lateral drain be less than 
thirty inches deep. The width of a drain depends 
upon the material used for construction, varying 
from six to twelve inches. 
Many and various are the contrivances used in 
the construction of drains, and as usual, in all pro¬ 
jects used as expedients, they are faulty, and soon 
become useless. Among the most approved are 
the following: — 
Drains by masonry are intended for mains , but 
they are too expensive for our farms. The square- 
inches. Be careful to have the grade, or the fall 
of the w T ater, not less than one foot in one hundred; 
remembering that a greater fall will more readily 
prevent the accumulation of sediment. Cut the 
main trench first all the w T ay through the field, and 
do not lay in the materials until you have ascer¬ 
tained that the dimensions and grade are correct 
throughout. You are now r ready to construct the 
drain with tiles of a semi-cylindrical form. These 
tiles are made of burnt clay, of various lengths, 
from 12 to 13, 14, and 15 inches, the width and 
height being 2^ by 3£ inches, and 4 by 5 inches. 
When these tiles are w r ell made they are smooth 
and heavy, and ring when struck with a hard sub¬ 
stance. They are so strong that a man may stand 
or leap on them without breaking them. The 
I drawing now exhibited will explain the form of 
