THE CULTIVATOR. 
M3 
winter, all their dung and urine are preserved for the land in tillage. 
— Mordant. 
It seems to be admitted on all hands, that if sheep are yarded, 
they should be supplied with dry litter, both because it is essential 
to their health, and that this litter absorbs and saves the urine, es¬ 
sential to the increase of manure; and it is no less essential, that 
the location of the sheep pen should be a dry one. A free circula¬ 
tion of air, though cold, is not so prejudicial to sheep, if they are 
protected from wet, by a sufficient covering. 
Miscellaneous. 
[From the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.] 
ON UNDER-GROUND DRAINING. 
Most occupiers of land are fully aware, that the first and greatest 
improvement of wet land is draining; but they do not agree as to 
the most proper means for effecting that desirable object. So much 
depends upon soil, subsoil, and other localities, no positive rules can 
be given for the draining process. Experience is the best guide, 
amf the tact or art of effecting the most good at the least compara¬ 
tive expense, can only be acquired by extensive practice, close ob¬ 
servation and correct calculation. Hence young practitioners fre¬ 
quently commit great errors, lose much valuable time, and expend 
large sums of money to little good purpose. But although no posi¬ 
tive rules can be given, a few general remarks and practical hints 
from an old drainer may be of service to the inexperienced; and 
with that view the present communication is made, by one who has 
had long and extensive practice in land-draining. As the writer 
. does not pretend to advance any thing new on the subject, his re 
marks may not be interesting to old practitioners; but as he will 
endeavor to point out prevalent errors, with instructions for improve¬ 
ment, he is not without hopes his efforts in that way may be of some 
service to young beginners; and to such he begs leave to address 
himself. 
Extensive bogs are usually drained under the direction of profes¬ 
sional scientific men, and any criticism upon their operations would 
be superfluous in this place. Neither will it be necessary to remark 
upon open or surface drains, ditches or water furrows, as these are 
generally well executed by attentive farmers; but under-draining of: 
springy land in all its variety of broken measure, and upon other 
land retentive of wet, though carried to a great extent by farmers 
and other land occupiers, is not generally so well conducted by them 
as surface draining. The following remarks will therefore be con¬ 
fined to under-ground or covered drains, commencing with those 
usually called 
Furrow-drains .—Much injury has been done and serious loss sus¬ 
tained, from the imprudent practice of levelling and straightening 
high crooked ridges upon retentive subsoil, without taking the pre¬ 
caution of draining the furrows in the first instance. In such cases, 
the only sure remedy is, by opening the ground in the lines of thej 
old furrows, and putting covered drains into them. Cross-drains do. 
not effect so perfect a cure as furrow-drains, upon land so misma-j 
naged. 1 
In setting covered drains of every description, whether with tile, 
stone, brushwood, turf, or any other material, particular attention 
should be paid to securing an open space at the bottom of every 
drain for a water-channel. Many farmers are not aware of the pro¬ 
priety of that measure, and others too negligent to attend to it. 
They fill their drains with stones or other material, thrown in pro¬ 
miscuously ; those are called rubble drains; and the farmer feels 
satisfied of their efficacy, because he sees water oozing out at their 
ends. It is true water percolates through the material in the rub¬ 
ble-drains, but at different levels, seldom at the bottom, and some¬ 
times at the very top of the rubble; consequently they are entirely 
deceptive in effect. Any person entertaining a doubt on the subject, 
may readily satisfy himself, by opening a short space by the side ol 
a rubble-drain in wet-weather. He will then see the water issue 
out of the rubble, and rise in the opening, before he has dug near to 
the bottom of the drain—a clear proof it does not work well, and 
that the water, being so obstructed in its course, stagnates in the 
drain, and saturates the adjoining land. Whereas, had the drain 
been set open at bottom, the water would have had a free passage, 
and the land been relieved from superfluous moisture. Obvious as 
this must appear to every unprejudiced person, it is quite surprising 
with what tenacity some farmers, even at the present day, maintain 
a contrary opinion. The writer of this article has frequently met 
with such instances of perverseness, nor could he by any means in¬ 
duce the sceptics to prove the fact by the simple means here recom¬ 
mended. The advocates of rubble-drains argue—“That water 
runs out at the ends of such drains, which is quite sufficient; and 
that, were they set their drains open at bottom, rats and moles 
would creep into them, and stop them up.” Without doubt, such 
vermin do occasionally creep into drains, but are not likely to stop 
them up, as they will not lodge in a watercourse. But even if they 
did so, the stoppage could only be temporary, for the water in the 
drains would rise up to the level of the loose material, above the 
tiles or set stones, percolate between them, and drop into the drain be¬ 
low the obstruction, which would soon be washed away, and the wa¬ 
ter-course be again left clear. 
Tiles, properly made and well burned, are not only handiest, but 
the best material for setting in the bottoms of drains. They insure 
a clear water course. A drain two feet deep, set open at bottom, is 
more effective than one lour feet deep filled with rubble, and is not 
half so expensive. Small stones, or other loose rubbish, should be 
laid above the drain tiles, or set stones, to act as conductors of wet. 
In most cases, about one foot deep of such material is thought suf¬ 
ficient. Some farmers fill their drains with small stones and other 
rubbish, so high, that the ploughshare touches the material in its ope¬ 
rations ; and the farmer thinks it indispensably necessary the drains 
should be so filled, under an idea that the top-water would not find 
its way into the under-drain by any other means. That is a bad 
practice, prompted by eri'or in judgment, and effected at great un¬ 
necessary expense. 
It is quite obvious, where the ploughshare disturbs the material in 
under-drains, it opens a passage for surface water into the drains ; 
but the advocates of this measure should recollect, that water so 
admitted into a drain carries much earth with it, and soon chokes 
the drain up. Surface water will find its way into under-drains 
without the aid of the ploughshare. An old draining adage says, 
and says truly, “ If one drop of water finds its way down, two will 
assuredly follow.” When water is drained off at bottom, it gives 
place to moisture descending from above. “ You cannot put more 
liquor into a barrel already full of it; but draw from the tap-cock, 
you may then pour into the bung-hole.” These sayings, thougli 
homely, are applicable to the case in point. 
The operation of opening furrow-drains is greatly facilitated, by 
commencing with a common plough, going once about, and throwing 
out a good furrow on each side. Two cuts or grafts with the spade, 
will then, in most cases, be a sufficient depth. The curved grafting 
tool is more effective in cutting out strong subsoil than the common 
garden-spade. A conic-shaped grafting tool answers best for cut¬ 
ting out the bottom drain. Furrow-drains should be cut narrow, the 
bottom of just sufficient width to receive the drain tiles. When the 
cutting is finished, the loose earth should be carefully cleared out of 
the bottom, with a scoop made for the purpose. Great care and at¬ 
tention should be paid to setting and filling the drains. The tiles 
being laid in a line along the side of the drain, the workman stands 
in the bottom of the drain, having one foot placed immediately be¬ 
hind the other. He reaches one tile at a time, and lays it firm on 
the bottom before him; he then moves his feet back, places another 
tile, and so on to the end of the drain. Small stones, or other loose 
rubbish, are then put over the tiles, and a layer of turf or sprinkling 
of litter is put over the rubbish, to prevent the earth sinking among it. 
Where no small stones or other loose rubbish can be procured to lay 
upon the tiles, turf or litter should then be laid immediately above 
the tiles, and the drain be filled up with surface soil, that being ge¬ 
nerally more porous than clay or tile dug from the bottoms of drains. 
Horses should not be allowed to tread upon new made, shallow-co¬ 
vered drains; neither should cart-wheels pass along or over them. 
When furrow-drains are intended to be set with stones, it is not 
necessary, in all cases, to cut the drains so wide at bottom, as to ad¬ 
mit of stones being set square on the sides, and have broad cover- 
ers placed over them as in deep drains. Stones may be set to give 
a free water course, in drains cut as narrow at bottom as for drain tiles. 
The workman places himself in the drain in the same form as when lay¬ 
ing tiles, and the stones intended for setting being laid along the side, 
he reaches them as required. There are various methods of setting 
stones in the bottoms of narrow drains. One only shall be describ¬ 
ed here. It answers best in strong clay. The drain being five inch¬ 
es wide at bottom, place one end of the set stone in the angle at the 
bottom on one side, and jay the other end against the opposite side 
of the drain; the set stones being eight or nine inches long, will 
