drainage of soils. 
325 
deep, sixteen inches wide at top, and twelve inches at bottom; and 
they should be tilled with stones, broken to the size of road metal, in 
arable land, to within twelve inches of the surface of the ground; and 
in permanent pasture, such as lawn and pleasure ground to within 
two or three inches of the surface of the ground. In all cases, after 
having covered the stones with some straw or turf, the remaining 
space should be filled with porous earth or sand, which, if it cannot 
be found near the drain, should be carted to it, as they will be ren¬ 
dered useless if the impervious clay is again thrown into them. 
In coarse lands, where the ridges are generally very high and w hid¬ 
ing, the furrows between them, during a great part of the year, are 
mostly full of stagnant water, which, in many instances, destroys the 
crop half way up the ridges, the declivity of the surface of the land 
being insufficient to carry away the water. In such cases, drains 
are required in almost every furrow, according to the breadth of the 
ridges. They must be made about twenty inches deep, and the 
breadth of a common garden spade, and filled up with small stones, 
or coarse gravel to within four inches of the bottom of the furrow; and 
if the land is very tenacious, the remaining space must be filled with 
porous soil. This practice, how r ever, can only be recommended on 
coarse and other land of a similar nature; for it is evident that water 
within the earth, or on the surface, seeks a level where the fall 
through the porous soil is greatest; therefore a drain made across the 
slope or declivity of a field, or any piece of land, will undoubtedly 
intercept more water than when it is carried straight up the bank or 
rising ground; this principle holds good in every case, whether the 
drain be made to receive surface or subterraneous water. Drains 
winding across the slope or declivity of a field, whatever their number 
or depth may be, their effect upon tenacious or impervious sub-strata 
will be much greater than if they were made straight up and down 
the slope; and when the soil is mixed with thin strata of fine sand, 
which is the case nine times out of ten, the effect will be increased in 
proportion, and, accordingly, a much less number will answer the 
purpose, the expense will be greatly lessened, and the land and occu¬ 
pier much more benefited in every respect The great error in the 
many systems of draining land now brought forward, is their uni¬ 
versal adoption of running the drains straight up and down the slope 
in the furrows, instead of carrying them across it, and also in the 
smallness of their dimensions, without paying the least attention to 
quality of the soil and sub-soil, and whether the wetness proceeds 
from surface or subterranous water. It is quite impossible for drains 
that are only two or three inches wide at bottom, and filled only ten 
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