152 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
lets to the cross drains, which must be cut such a depth as to suit the le¬ 
vel of the outlet. If the extent of land to be drained is considerable, it is 
advisable to divide the whole by open drains into fields, according to the 
position of the ground. The drains must be made from five to six feet 
deep, and when this depth does not reach the bottom of the moss, or to 
the stratum containing the water, bore holes or wells must be made in 
their bottom, through which the confined water will rise by its own pres¬ 
sure to the bottom of the drain, so that it will be reduced to the same le¬ 
vel. The bore holes are made with an auger about five inches in diame¬ 
ter; but when the mossy or peaty earth is so soft that they will not keep 
open, wells filled up to the bottom of the drain with small stones must be 
made. These operations will not only prevent the springs from the adja¬ 
cent high grounds overflowing the moss, and remove the subterraneous 
water, but will, also, in most cases, completely-free it from surface w^ter 
proceeding from rain or snow; when, however, any of the latter remains, 
it must be remedied by wedge or shoulder drains, made from the moss 
itself, which, if properly executed, and vermin, such as moles and water 
mice, prevented from injuring them, will last for twenty or thirty years. 
For a further elucidation of these principles and their details, I beg to re¬ 
fer the reader to the account of the drainages of Afraby and Unger 
mosses. 
DRAINING HILLY AND SLOPING GROUNDS. 
Before commencing any operation on land of the above description, it 
is necessary to examine the quality and inclination of the strata of the 
adjoining high grounds, and the connection they have with the land to be 
drained, in order to judge where the water lies. The best way to ascer¬ 
tain the inclination of the strata, is, by examining the beds and banks of 
the nearest rivers, and any old pits and quarries in the neighborhood, and 
then sinking pits or boring in the ground to be drained. Rushes and other 
aquatic plants appearing on the surface may facilitate the investigation, 
but these being also produced by stagnant water on the surface, where 
there is no spring, cannot be depended on in cases where more minute 
precision is necessary. 
If the impervious stratum immediately under (he porous one, lies hori 
zontally through the hill or bank, the surface of the ground below the le 
vel will be wet on both sides of the hill, and the upper side of the wet 
surface will be found nearly on a level all the way round. When this is 
the case, and the hill or bank is composed of gravel or rotten rock, a drain 
properly conducted along one side.of the hill vfill carry off the water that 
breaks out and causes the wetness on both sides. But if the stratum of 
w hich the hill or bank is composed is a substance of a less porous nature, 
such as very fine sand, through which the water requires a considerable 
time to filtrate, the drain must be carried round the hill, near the upper 
side of the wetness, otherwise a complete drainage will not be obtained 
in wet seasons, when every part of the porous stratum is full of water. 
(See plan 1—the lower part of the cut representing a cross section.) 
Fig. 41.—Plan 1. 
It very frequently happens on sides of hills and sloping grounds, that 
several lines of springs break out and cause wetness to a considerable dis¬ 
tance below, with intermediate spaces of dryland between them: in such 
cases, it is of the greatest consequence to ascertain whether the water 
causing these lines of wetness proceeds from the same stratum or from 
several distinct strata. If it is from the first of these causes, which is 
very seldom the case in hilly lands, the greatest quantity of water will 
issue from the lowest springs, and in dry seasons the upper ones will be 
dried up; in this case, the drain should be directed along the lower line 
of springs, as shown in plan 1, which must be made of sufficient depth to 
cut ofl the water from the land below. When, however, the springs 
come from different strata, having no communication with each other, 
which most frequently is the case, a drain must be carried along the up¬ 
per side of each line of springs, as shown in plan 2, deep enough to cut 
through the porous stratum, or to free the land from superfluous moisture 
to such a depth as will prevent it injuring vegetation. Sometimes the 
upper line of springs causes the whole of the wetness below, by the 
water, after having run over the surface for some distance, sinking 
into the soil and breaking out again farther down the declivity, or where 
from the inclination of the ground, it may collect itself. When this 
happens in a steep bank, and the water, gets into the loose earth, it 
causes the bank to slip, and it therefore is of the greatest importance 
that this fact should- be ascertained before the commencement ofUhe ope- 
ations, as when such is the case, the drain must be made across the 
slope farther up than where the water makes its appearance, in the 
sound ground that has undergone no change; and, if it is made deep 
enough, the real spring will be intercepted, and the bank secured from 
slipping. 
Fig. 42.—Plan 2. 
When the drain has too rapid a descent, and at the same time, it cros¬ 
ses a vein of fine sand which is often met with, the stones with which the 
conduit of the drain has been laid will be undermined by the rapidity of 
the current, whereby the whole materials with which the drain has been 
filled will sink and render it useless in a very short time. In such cases, 
where there are no open ditches on the sides of the field, to receive the 
water from the cross drains, the outlet must either be carried obliquely 
or zigzag down the slope to the under side of the field; or the place best 
adapted for a watering pond, which ought never to be neglected in situa¬ 
tions where there is a scarcity of water .—(To be continued.) 
[From ChaplaVs Chemistry applied to Agriculture,] 
OF NUTRITIVE MANURES— Concluded. 
Messrs. Gay-Lussac and Thenard have obtained, by an analysis of the 
woody fibre, oxygen, hydrogen, and especially more carbon, than from 
any other part of the plant, and they have determined their several pro¬ 
portions. We know that fermentation-carries off much carbon; it is then 
evident that, by causing the fermentation of the vegetable fibre, the prin¬ 
ciple which forms its distinguishing characteristic'will be gradually dimi¬ 
nished, and that it will no longer be a body insoluble in water. It is in 
this manner that woody .plants and the driest leaves are converted into 
manure. 
But as all the solid parts of plants contain fibres which cannot be ren¬ 
dered soluble in water, but by a long period of fermentation; and as it is 
in the fibre that carbon, a principle so necessary to vegetation, chiefly 
exists, the fermentation of' plants is indispensable to the procuring of the 
best part of their manure. 
The custom of appropriating some crops Whilst green to the manuring 
of the ground, may perhaps be objec f ed to; but I have observed, that in 
that case the plants are buried in the earth at the time of flowering; and 
whilst they are succulent, and their fibres soft, and but little formed; and 
that warmth and the action of water in the earth was sufficient to decom¬ 
pose them, this would not take place if the stalks were dried and harden¬ 
ed by the formation of the grain. 
The dung of quadrupeds may be mixed advantageously with the earth 
at the time of being taken from the stable, if it contain no litter, but if it 
does, it appears to me better to cause it to undergo a slight fermentation, 
in order to dispose the straw or leaves of which it is composed to become 
manure. 
