144 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
then leave a clear triangular-shaped aperture for a water-course at 
bottom. The workman then selects other stones, and places them 
above the first setters, so as to form another triangular opening on 
the opposite side of the drain, thus forming a secondary water¬ 
course, if the first should be either obstructed or overcharged with 
water. Small stones are then put over the set stones, and the drain 
finished in the same manner as in tile-draining. 
Shallow under-drains in the alignment of the ridges, called fur¬ 
row-drains, are more effective than deep cross-drains upon strong 
land, impervious subsoil, and where there aro no springs, spouts, or 
oozings of water from broken or irregular measures in the land.— 
The depth of furrow drains should vary according to the nature of 
the soil, and other circumstances ; average depth about two feet; 
and, as before observed, they should be cut narrow. 
Furrow-drains should not be formed to empty singly at the bot¬ 
toms of open ditches, as they would be liable to be choked up by 
treading of cattle, and accummulation of weeds and rubbish in the 
ditches. It is a better plan to collect a number of furrow-drains in¬ 
to larger and deeper cross under-drain, made at a distance from the 
lower parts of the fields. Those receivers discharge the collected 
waters into open ditches or water-courses, and are not so liable to 
be choked up as furrow-drains emptying singly. Those receivers 
should not be made to discharge the water at the bottoms of open 
ditches. The water should be made to fall from one into the oth¬ 
er, as will be more fully explained in the next section, when treat¬ 
ing of 
Deep Cross-Drains. —Cross-draining is more difficult than furrow¬ 
draining, and great errors are frequently committed in the practice. 
It is customary, in this description of draining, to commence opera¬ 
tions at the lowest parts of the field, and where there are no side 
ditches for the cross drains to discharge into. A main, or leading 
drain, is carried up from the lowest to the highest level. The depth 
of the drains is generally settled in the first instance, without pre¬ 
vious investigation of the nature of the soil and subsoil. As the 
main drain is under operation of being carried up the field, numer¬ 
ous cross-drains are made to lead into it. Those are frequently 
cut in straight lines, as that suits the workman’s convenience, and 
sometimes at regular distances, whatever the nature of the soil or 
subsoil may be. In this manner a cure is sometimes effected, though 
at a great unnecessary expense. But the result is more generally a 
total failure, when the occupier consoles himself under his disap¬ 
pointment, with a belief that the failure was entirely owing to the 
nature of the soil, and impediments in the locality of situation, which 
could not possibly be oveicome. 
An experienced drainer, professional and practical, proceeds with 
greater circumspection in his operations, and he seldom fails of suc¬ 
cess ; he, in the first instance, takes a minute view of the field to 
be drained ; he inspects all the spouts or breakages of water in it; 
he decides upon the different levels of the ground, and facilities for 
carrying the water off; he then sets down his marking sticks for 
the workman’s direction, not always in straight lines, but bending 
round the inequalities of the ground, and immediately above where 
the water spouts or oozings shew on the surface ; he then takes oth¬ 
er views of the lines of stakes, to satisfy himself the water in the 
drains will have proper falls, and when he entertains a doubt on that 
point, he proves it by the spirit level. These preliminaries settled, 
he ascertains the nature of the subsoil, by digging holes in the lines 
of the projected drain. These shew the strata in which the water 
flows, and the nature of the obstruction which forces the water up 
to the surface of the ground, and the depths of the drains is regu¬ 
lated accordingly. The digging of try-holes, technically called 
“ feeling the way,” is a simple and safe process, and should never 
be dispensed with where there is variation in the stratification. 
In some fields, where the soil and subsoil vary in texture, and are 
irregularly disposed, springs as oozings of water, though they ap¬ 
pear on the surface at various levels, not unfrequently arise from 
the same source, near the top of the field. Where the water issues 
from crevices in rocks, from loose gravel, or from other broken or 
loose measure, or alluvial deposite, the water filters through such 
measures, until obstructed by impervious subsoil. It is then forced 
up to the surface over which it runs in the declivity of the ground, 
and when it reaches more porous subsoil, it sinks into it, percolates 
through it, until it again meets obstruction, and is forced up to the 
surface, and forms the second line of water breakages; and a third 
and fourth line of these water-spouts may be formed from similar 
causes in the same field. These receive the several local appellations 
of springs, spouts, oozings, sloughs, quagmires, &c. In a field so 
circumstanced, it is advisable to cut the upper cross-drain in the first 
instance. It should be cut immediately above the first breakage of 
water near the top of the field, and be made to discharge into a°side 
ditch, or into a leading drain, carried up for the purpose of a receiv¬ 
er. The effect of that cross-drain will be proved in one year, and 
when found necessary, other cioss-drains may be cut at lower levels 
in subsequent years. It is frequently seen, where the draining ope¬ 
rations are commenced, by cutting cross-drains at low levels ; such 
drains collect, and discharge a great deal of water in the first in¬ 
stance ; but when other cross-drains are afterwards cut at higher 
levels, the first are laid entirely dry, and the money which had been 
expended in making them lost, without rendering any benefit to the 
land ; it is therefore advisable tocut an upper cross-drain first, prove 
its effect, and then proceed with the others at the lower levels,, as 
may he deemed expedient. 
The bottoms of drains, when not cut deep enough, are sometimes 
soft and poachy, and the draining material liable to sink into the 
mud. In such cases plain tiles, or flat stones, should be laid in the 
drain bottoms for the drain tiles, or setting stones to rest upon. And 
in quagmires, or loose running sand, it is advisable to drive short 
wooden piles into the drain bottoms ; those ensure good foundations, 
however soft and poachy the subsoil may be. 
It may be thought unnecessary to again mention the propriety of 
securing open water courses at the bottoms of covered drains. But 
that is a leading principle in draining which cannot be too frequent¬ 
ly inculcated, nor too positively insisted upon, and it is of still greater 
consequence in deep drains than in shallow ones. 
When water springs up in the bottoms of drains, it indicates ob¬ 
struction at lower levels. The boring rod should then be applied, 
to give vent to the pent up springs. Every extensive drainer should 
be provided with a light boring rod, called a “churn-drill.” It is 
made of round bar-iron, half inch diameter, and about eight feet 
long ; the ends beat flat into chisel form, one inch broad, and steeled. 
In using the churn-drill, the workman stands in the drain ; he 
holds the rod upright with both hands, raises it up perpendicular 
and drops it into a hole in the bottom of the drain; and at every 
movement, shifts his hands, and in so doing he turns the rod 
a little, so as to make the bore hole round, and prevent the chisel 
wedging in the hard substratum. In working this implement, 
the motion is something like that of the stick or handle of an upright 
butter churn, and hence its name. When the bottom is dry, as is 
sometimes the case before the springs are tapped by the rod, the 
bore hole should be kept moist by pouring water intc it. The 
churn-dril], though simple, is powerfully effective when properly 
applied in boggy or springy ground, and frequently saves the ex¬ 
pense of cutting additional drains. The great boring-rod, with its 
appendages, is still more effective, but it is too complicated, and too 
expensive for common use in land-draining, and is only used in ex¬ 
treme cases. 
Some persons who think it necessary that cross drains should have 
rapid falls, cut them in straight lines at considerable declivities, and 
by that means frequently miss the water-spouts they intended to 
cure. This is a great error in practice, for it is by no means ne¬ 
cessary, nor is it at all times prudent, to give water in under-drains 
a rapid fall, particularly in loose subsoil, liable to gutter and sludge 
up. The bad effects of rapid falls for water, are exemplified in ara¬ 
ble land furrows, and other surface drains on hilly land. These are 
frequently sludged up in heavy rains, the water is thrown over the 
surface, and its current diverted into other channels. Attentive 
farmers, therefore, make cross-furrows or drains, with easy falls, to 
collect and carry off, without injury to the land, the surplus water 
from the furrow-drains. The same rule applies, and similar precau¬ 
tion should be taken, wherever there is expectation of much water 
in under-drains. It is not necessary to cut cross-drains in straight 
lines. They may be made to bend in any direction, to cross the 
water-spout intended to be cured. But care should be taken in 
cutting, not to lose the water level in any one place. The work¬ 
man readily guard against that error ; he has only to see that the 
water in the bottom of the drains runs from him, and does not come 
back among his feet. 
It has been heretofore remarked, that under-drains should not he 
made so deep as to discharge the water at the bottoms of open ditch¬ 
es , but should have a fall into them, for the purpose of preventing 
their choking up, by the treading of cattle or otherwise. Many farm¬ 
ers commence their draining operations by cleaning out and deep- 
