28 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Fig. 5. 
1 
0 
ED 
3J 
& 
from below into the cavity of the drain, and so will be carried 
away. 
The application of this principle had been familiar from the re¬ 
motest times in the sinking of wells. But it was not till after the 
middle of the last century that the same principle was applied to 
the draining of land. This was done by Mr. Elkington of War¬ 
wickshire, who emplojed the auger and the boring-rod for the pur¬ 
pose of reaching the channels and reservoirs below the surface, 
when an ordinary drain could not reach them. 
The auger employed for this purpose, is 
similar to a carpenter’s wimble. It may be 
from 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Square iron 
rods are made to be screwed into each 
other, so that the length of the line of rods 
may be increased in proportion as the auger 
penetrates the ground. In the annexed 
figure, A is the auger, B one of the rods, C 
a key for turning it round and working it, 
D another key for holding the rods when 
they are to be unscrewed by means of the 
key C. 
This instrument may be frequently found 
useful when the channels and reservoirs of water can be reached 
in this manner. The apertures are formed by the auger in the 
bottom of the drain. When the water is reached, it will spring 
up into the drain in the same manner as water in the bottom of a 
well. It is not necessary to employ any artificial means for keep¬ 
ing the apertures open, as the flow of the water will suffice to 
maintain for itself a passage. 
Sometimes, in place of an auger 
hole, wells are sunk at intervals along 
the side of the dram, and filled with 
stones in the manner shown in the 
figure. 
In all cases of under draining, the 
drains should be made of sufficient di¬ 
mensions. They should not be less 
than four feet deep, even when the 
pervious strata lie at less depth ; and 
the reason is, that they may be more 
permanent, and better defended from 
mud and sand, carried down by sur¬ 
face water. It is not necessary that 
they be made deeper than four feet, 
when that is found to be sufficient; 
but they must be carried, if necessary, 
to the depth of six feet, or even 
sometimes of seven feet, though the 
expense and difficulty of executing 
the work increase, in a great propor¬ 
tion, as the dimensions of the drain 
increase. 
The importance, in this species of draining, of proceeding upon 
principles in laying out the lines of drains, instead of acting at ran¬ 
dom, as so many do, cannot be too strongly impressed upon the 
attention of the drainer. Every drain, however rudely devised, and 
imperfectly executed, may do some good. But one drain well laid 
out, and of the required dimensions, may perform a purpose which 
no multiplication of minor and insufficient drains can effect.-— 
These may lessen the effects of wetness, but the other is design¬ 
ed to remove the causes of it; and the more perfect practice will 
usually be found in the end to be the most economical a9 well as 
the most efficient. 
The drains of the larger class described, it will be seen, are in¬ 
tended solely for the removal of water which is contained in re¬ 
servoirs and channels below the surface. They do not supercede 
the nec>ssity of carrying away water which is at or near the sur¬ 
face. From this latter cause, an equal or greater injury may arise, 
and must be met by a corresponding remedy. 
Surface-water may be carried away either in open drains, or in 
covered trenches. 
The open drains are—the ditches of fields, which ought to be 
so laid out as to favor the descent of water—the open furrows 
which are formed by the ridges—and open trenches cut in the 
places necessary for allowing a passage for the water 
In the forming of open trenches, the dimensions must be fixed 
with relation to the quantity of water to be carried away, and the 
direction determined by the natural flow of the water, or by the 
particular course by which it is expedient to carry it off. In ge¬ 
neral, open drains are formed in the hollows or lower parts of the 
land to be drained, so that the water may find access to them from 
the higher grounds. 
In forming open drains of whatever depth, the sides should pos¬ 
sess a declivity from the bottom to the top, to prevent them from 
crumbling down and being undermined. Except in the case of 
rock, this inclination should not be less than 45°; and when the 
earth is soft, and the flow of water considerable, it should exceed 
45. In all cases, the earth should be spread from the edge of the 
trench backwards, so that the water from the lands on each side 
may have access to it. 
The next class of surface drains consists of covered trenches. 
These are formed in the same manner as the larger drains already 
described, with this difference, that no conduit is required, and that 
they need not be of the same depth and capacity. They may ge¬ 
nerally consist of a small trench, from 2| to 3 feet deep, filled with 
stones or other loose materials, to within a foot of the suiface, so 
that there may be a sufficient passage for the plough above. 
These drains are generally carried through hollow places where 
water may stagnate, or obliquely along the line of descent, and 
som' times in regular lines along the surface of flat lands. 
When the soil rests on a subsoil of considerable depth, the water 
that falls upon the surface is unable to penetrate freely down, and 
is absorbed and retained by the soil and upper part of the subsoil. 
The object in such a case is to give a ready egress to the water 
with which the soil is saturated, which will be done by forming 
for it various channels towards some convenient outlet. A good 
arrangement of ridges and furrows will sometimes of itself effect 
this purpose ; but as the water constantly tends to sink below the 
level of the furrows, drains may become necessary to assist in car¬ 
rying it away. 
A system of draining having relation to this condition of the soil 
and subsoil, has been termed the Essex system, from its having 
been extensively practised in that flat and clayey district. This 
system consists in running small drains parallel to each other in 
every furrow or alternate furrow. The object of this species of 
draining is not to intercept springs flowing in channels and pervi¬ 
ous strata below the surface, but to convey away that water from 
the surface which, from the tenacity of the soil and subsoil, cannot, 
find its way downwards. 
The best materials to be used in this species of draining is tiles, 
formed into a semi-cylinder or arch, and resting upon a flat sole, 
fig. 3. The diameter of the semi-cylinder may be from three to 
four inches. The tiles are to be placed on their stands in the bot¬ 
tom of the trench. The water finds its way into the arched con¬ 
duit thus formed at the crevices formed by the junction of the tiles. 
Sometimes, in addition, are formed through them small holes, so 
that the water may more readily find its way into the conduit. 
The trench for the reception of the tiles may be from 18 inches 
to 2 feet deep. The tiles may be covered, first with the sod invert¬ 
ed, when there is any sod upon the surface at the time of draining, 
second with the looser soil next the surface, and lastly with the 
more tenacious subsoil. But it is always an improvement in the 
jase of this kind of drains, to lay over the tiles some gravel, sand, 
or other pervious matter, before shovelling in the earth. 
Drains of this kind, when properly made, and when the tiles are 
good, will last for a considerable time. When choked at any par¬ 
ticular part, they can be easily taken up at that part, and the tiles 
replaced, or new ones substituted. 
Though this species of draining is well suited to particular cases, 
great care should be taken that it is not applied under circumstan¬ 
ces to which it is not suited. When employed where under-drain¬ 
ing is the proper remedy, it is neither so durable nor efficient as 
the system of larger drains, formed upon correct principles. 
Thorns, brushwood and branches, are frequently employed in 
the filling of drains. They serve the purpose of affording a more 
pervious channel to water, but they soon decay, and the drains are 
very apt to be choked. Sometimes, indeed, the channels formed 
by the water remain, when there is a considerable current, long 
after these materials have decayed. But this cannot be depended 
upon, and such materials, therefore, ought not to be used if better 
can be obtained. 
