THE CULTIVATOR. 
169 
cross the different beds that contain the water, they will draw it from each, 
unless the field is of considerable extent, or have more hollows than one, 
in which case a drain must be made through every hollow. In draining 
land of this kind, there is seldom any need for using the auger, as the ne¬ 
cessary deplh of the drains reaches the impervious body of clay, the thick¬ 
ness of which being so great, that any water that is confined below will 
do no injury to the crop. 
Another description of land to which nearly the same treatment may 
be applied, is when the soil and sub-soil, to the depth of three or four 
feet, is entirely porous, having under that a strong body of retentive 
clay; the rain water falling on the surface subsides till it meets with 
tlie clay, and then being obstructed from farther descent, the whole 
mass of porous soil above is filled with stagnant water, which not 
only retards the operations of agriculture, but also vegetation. To re¬ 
medy this, it requires only one or more drains, according to the situa¬ 
tion of the field; and these require to be made no deeper than to reach a 
few inches into the clay, between which and the porous soil, the greatest 
part of the water remains stagnant, although it does not appear on the sur¬ 
face.* If the land has a small descent from both sides,a drain cut through 
the porous soil into the clay in the hollow will effectually draw off the 
water; but if the surface is undulating, as is often the case, it is necessa¬ 
ry to make a drain winding through all the lowest places, and when it is 
almost level, or inclining to one side, the drains must be made across the 
slope, to some convenient outlet in the side of the field, taking care in 
running them, togive asmuch fall as thatthe water will run without stand¬ 
ing still in their bottom. A particular account of the general dimensions 
and method of making drains adapted to such soils, will be found under 
the head of rumbling drains. 
Much land of the above description, in various districts of this country, 
may be completely drained in the same manner, at a very moderate ex¬ 
pense, by. a proper attention being paid to the situation of the ground and 
cause of the wetness. Such land remains so long wet in spring before 
it can be sown, that the crop is either obliged to be cut green, or, in some 
instances, is lost altogether. 
drainage of clay soil injured by surface water. 
Owing to a considerable portion of the ploughable land in this country 
being injured by surface water, or water lodged between the soil and sub¬ 
soil, systems as various as the effects they produce have of late boen ap¬ 
plied to drain such, and it therefore becomes a matter of the greatest im¬ 
portance that some definite rule be laid down, whereby a complete and 
permanent drainage may be effected in such land, and which, at the same 
time, will be attended with the least expense. 
Tenacious soils are much more expensive to drain than any other, as 
the drains must be more numerous, in consequence of having to be laid 
out in such a manner as to collect all the water from the surface, which, 
from the imperviability of the clay, must, in many cases, discharge itself 
into them from above; and where there is any irregularity on the ground, 
the water will remain standing in the hollows of a drain is not carried 
through each of them. Drains for removing surface water from such land, 
when it lies flat, should therefore go the hollowest parts of the field, with¬ 
out any respect to straightness or regularity, and at such a distance from 
each other as will keep the surface of the land dry. When the soil and 
sub-soil are composed of strong clay , twenty feet between the drains may 
be fixed on as a general rule at which they will act; bur when the clay 
is mixed with thin veins of very find sand, which is very often the case, 
thirty feet will answer completely. When the ground, however, has the 
least declivity, the drains should always be directed obliquely across the 
slope, or as directly across it as the nature of the surface and outlet will 
allow; the distance of one drain from another, in this case, depends on 
the decilvity, the proportion of sandy substance mixed with the clay, and 
the depth of the drain. Where soil is very tenacious and the declivity 
considerable, the drains will not act more than twenty or thirty feet; but 
where it is mixed with thin strata of fine sand, although the sand is hardly 
perceivable, the same depth of drain will act several times that dis¬ 
tance. 
The necessary dimensions of drains for removing surface water is found, 
from experience, to be from two and a half to three feet deep, sixteen 
inches wide at top, and twelve inches at bottom; and they should be fill¬ 
ed 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 can not be found near the drain, should be carted to 
* In the course of practice, I have met with many cases of this description, 
but one in particular, was at Lennoxlove, near Haddington. The surface of 
the land had every appearance of wetness, although not a single drop of water 
was to be seen on it, but, upon sinking pits eighteen inches deep, the whole 
porous soil, to the depth of four feet, (where a stratum of strong impervious 
clay was found,) was full of water, which had no way of making its escape 
but by evaporation through the pores of the soil. 
it, as they will be rendered useless if the impervious clay is again thrown 
into them.* 
In coarse lands, where the ridges are generally very high and winding, 
the furrows between them, during a great part of the year, are mostly full 
of stagnant water, which, in many instances, destroy the crop half way 
up the ridges, the declivity of the surface of tho land being insufficient to 
carry away the water. In such cases, drains are requiredin 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, however, can only be recom¬ 
mended 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 re¬ 
ceive surface or subterraneous water. Drains winding across the slope 
or declivity of a field, whatever their number or depth may be, their ef¬ 
fect upon tenacious or imperious 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 lessen¬ 
ed, and the land and occupier much more benefited in every respect. 
The great error in the many systems of draining land now biought for¬ 
ward, is their universal adoption of running the drains straight up and 
down the slope in the furrows, instead of carrying them across it, and al¬ 
so in the smallness of their dimensions, without paying the least attention 
to the quality of the soil and sub-soil, and whether the wetness proceeds 
from surface or subterraneous water. It is quite impossible for drains that 
are only two or three inches wide at the bottom, and filled only ten in¬ 
ches high with broken stones or gravel, or laid with tiles covered with the 
impervious clay that has been taken out of them, more especially if they 
are made straight up and down the declivity, can have the same effect of 
drying the land as when they are carried across the slope and made of 
larger dimensions; neither can such drains be so durable, as they are 
much more apt to blow, owing to their small dimensions, when made up 
and down the slope, than when they are made the reverse way. This as¬ 
sertion is founded on facts and practical knowledge; and I am convinced 
that nine-tenths of the land that is attempted to be drained by furrow 
drains, would be much more effectually and permanently drained at half 
the expense, if proper means were employed. I have lately had many 
opportunities of seeing this verified; but one, in particular, drew my a - 
tention in a field near Glasgow, which had been furrow drained in the 
summer of 1832. I observed, in passing it in the following spring, tha 
many of the drains were already blown. The soil is of a sandy nature 
and the ground has a considerable declivity to the south; which circum¬ 
stances ought to have pointed out the necessity of deep drains, and hav¬ 
ing them carried across the slope, by which means a complete drainage 
would have been effected, and the permanency of the drains secured at a 
much less expense. Among many other instances of this kind which 
have come under my immediate observation, is a field of nine acres be¬ 
longing to Lord Strathallan, in Perthshire, which was attempted to be 
drained some years ago. The soil and sub-soil were a somewhat stiff tena¬ 
cious clay, mixed with thin veins of fine sand. No less than three hun¬ 
dred and ninety-3ix roods of drains, averaging from two and a half to three 
and a half feet deep, were run in straight lines up and down the slope, 
and filled promiscuously with stones, from the size of a man’s hand to that 
of the largest ox’s head. The first three or four years after they were 
made, the ground appeared tolerably dry, and produced a few middling 
crops; but, in a very few years, the drains were choked and blown, and 
the land became much less productive than it was even in its natural state 
on account of the blown drains having formed springs where the land was 
perfectly dry before the draining attempted. The failure of this ill judged 
and ill-executed drainage, obliged the proprietor, in the autumn of 1830, 
to lift the whole of the old drains, as stated by the factor in the annexed 
note,f and renew the operations, by running the drains across the declivi- 
* One of the greatest errors in draining is, in filling the drains above the tiles 
or stones with the same clay which has been taken out of them, and which 
in two or three years, becomes a< impervious as the adjacent land. On the 
Marquis of Abercorn’s estate at Paisley, an extensive drainage is carrying on 
under my direction; and there the drains are filled above the tiles or stones 
with peat moss or coal ashes, “which are found to be among the best materiels 
adapted to this purposee. 
t “ Sir, —The drains you lined off in November lastare now executed, and 
the land appears completely dry. The expense of liftingthe old drains, which 
were quite useless by being stopped and bursted, was as follows:— 
For lifting three hundred and ninety-six roods of old drains, at 9d. 
per rood.... £14 17 0 
For filling in the earth, at Id. per rood,. 1 13 q 
£16 10 
