242 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
course at the bottom of 
these, and covering them 
in such a way as to form 
Fig. 69. no obstruction to culture, 
is of comparatively recent invention and adoption; and 
has effected a complete revolution on soils of this class, 
where the location, and prices of labor and products have 
rendered such a course proper. The 
depth of drains should not be less than 
30 or 36 inches, and in some cases it may 
be advisable to go deeper than this. The 
modes of constructing and filling drains 
should be determined by the nature of the 
soil to be drained, and the means of 
filling at command. In Scotland and 
England, draining tiles are to a great 
extent used. These are made in pieces 
of 14 or 16 inches in length, arched and 
perforated, and provided with a sole on 
which the arched pieces rest, and over 
the surface of which the water flows. 
Tiles have not been used to any extent 
in this country; where other materials are 
FigTzO. so abundant, it is not probable they soon 
will be. Figure 69 exhibits a specimen of drain tile, 
and figure 70, a section of drain in which the tile has 
been laid. In laying tile drain, more care is required in 
the filling in immediately above them than where other 
materials are used. Clean gravel is the best material to 
use for a few inches above the tile. 
The most common, and the least cost¬ 
ly mode of filling drains, is shown in 
figures 71 and 72. In these, the work¬ 
man places a row of stones on each side 
of the bottom of the drain, leaving a free 
space adapted to the usual flow of water 
tn it, over which, and resting on the 
lide stones, are placed larger ones, either 
flat or round, as most convenient. On 
Ihese stones, a thin layer of straw is 
commonly thrown, or fine hemlock or 
pine branches may be substituted. This 
is to prevent the loose earth as filled in, 
from choking the drain by falling be¬ 
tween the openings of the stones. On 
this straw or brush, the earth is thrown 
Fig, 71. with a shovel at first, but afterwards the 
slow may be advantageously used for filling the drain. 
When filled, the earth should be heaped a little on the 
drain, or in settling, a hollow will be 
left, which will collect the water in 
a channel, and injure the course be¬ 
low. Properly made in this way, 
and adapted to the make of the ground 
and the quantity of water, drains will 
last for ages, rarely if ever becoming 
obstructed in the least, never being in 
the way of any kind of culture, and 
keeping the soil dry and in good con¬ 
dition. 
There are some low lands which 
require draining, so abounding in 
quicksands, that a stone drain cannot 
be constructed, their weight soon 
sinking them, or the sand speedily 
Fig. 72. filling the water-course, aad render¬ 
ing them useless. In such cases we have known a drain 
constructed of pine plank, one being laid for the bottom, 
and two others thickly notched at top and bottom, placed 
roof-like on this bottom one. With such an inclination 
as to ensure a current, this drain operates admirably, 
neither sinking or filling, and will last for many years. 
Various other matters have been used for the filling of 
drains, where stone could not be conveniently procured. 
Of these, pine or hemlock brush, or sm^Jl trees, appear 
to have been the most valuable and durable. Judge Bu- 
el, in reclaiming and bringing his farm into culture, con¬ 
structed drains of which the figures 73 and 74 are a spe¬ 
cimen. The ditches were made 18 or 24 inches wide, 
and three or four feet deep. The brush used was pine 
saplings, cut into lengths of five or six feet, and these 
were placed diagonally in the trench, the buts down and 
towards the outlet. When completed, the ditch was ap¬ 
parently filled. The brush was then well trod down, and 
the earth thrown in upon it. Fig. 73 shows the trench 
when first filled—fig. 74 after the earth is thrown on. 
Drains constructed in this manner, have thus far answer¬ 
ed an excellent purpose. When brush is to be used, the 
walls of the drain must be cut perpendicular. 
Fig. 74. 
In the 2d vol. of the Cultivator, page 56, is a paper on 
draining by Mr. Ryder of Sing-Sing. His plan differs 
somewhat from any of those noticed above. He directs 
his ditch to be made three feet wide at top and three feet 
deep, and one foot wide at the bottom. He then selects 
such stones as are thin and flat, and sets them on the bot¬ 
tom of the drain, their thinnest edge or one corner down¬ 
wards, and close to the edge of the drain. Others are 
placed against these in the same manner, until the drain 
is filled across. On these, thin flat stones are laid; and 
on these, others which will admit the passage of water 
are placed, and above all, the earth is filled in as before 
directed. Mr. R. thinks that the 
bottom of the drain should be the 
lowest in the middle, as shown 
in fig. 75, which gives a very 
good representation of the bottom 
of the drain as made by him, with 
its water way of stones. 
There are other modes of fill¬ 
ing drains adopted; but the above 
will give correct notions of the 
methods most approved, and 
Fig. 75. which have been ascertained to 
be successful. But the method of draining is not of so 
much consequence as the draining itself. Let the soil be 
but freed from water, and it will be seen that a most de¬ 
cided improvement has been effected; an improvement 
great as it will be permanent. Millions of acres, within 
a few years, have, from a state of worthlessness, been 
converted into the most valuable and productive lands of 
Great Britain by draining, and multitudes of instances 
may be found in our agricultural papers where equally 
favorable results have been obtained from the process, in 
this country. Indeed, we have never learned a single 
failure, or heard an individual who had commenced the 
system of draining, and tested its effects, that did not 
speak of it in terms of unqualified approval. It is only 
in connection with thorough draining that the subsoil 
plow can exhibit its full efficacy in deepening and ame¬ 
liorating soils. Unless the water can pass off readily, the 
land when moved by the subsoil plow, will soon run to¬ 
gether and become compact; but where the water passes 
off as it falls, the soil remains permeable, the roots of 
plants penetrate it easily, the fine mold and soluble hu¬ 
mus penetrate and combine with the earths, and in a 
few years, the whole, as low as the plow moves, will 
be changed from its hard pan nature to mellow fertile 
soil. 
