1 May, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, 311 
Agriculture. 
FIRST STEPS IN AGRICULTURE. 
dtu Lesson. 
THIRD STAGE. 
By A. J. B. 
DratwacE—Parr 1. 
Tf you refer to the first primer of this series and read over what I told you 
about drainage in the 6th and 7th Lessons, and also in the 8th Lesson of the 
Second Book, you will refresh your memory as to the objects of draining the land, 
and as to what drainage does for both land and crops. In our last lesson 
we discussed briefly some of the various kinds of drains, and you ‘vere shown 
sections of them and also diagrams of the tools required for digging the drains. 
Let us now go a step further. 
Before Aecidinie to drain your farm, sit down and calculate the cost of the 
work, and then ask yourself, “Is my farm worth the expense?” Where land 
is cheap and good, and if you have a good large area, you will probably come to 
the conclusion to cultivate such portions of it as require only surface draining 
and to utilise the rest as grazing paddocks, because it will take you some years 
to make up the £5 or £6 per acre which substantial tile-draining will cost; 
still it is as much a substantial and permanent improvement as building a house, 
erecting fences, or sinking wells. 
The proper depth for drains depends upon a variety of conditions. Without 
a fall or slope, drainage cannot be properly carried out. I told you that 4 feet 
is about the depth for under-drains, but you need not be told that if you only 
have a fall of 2 feet it would be a silly expense to dig 4-feet drains, as the 
water you want to get rid off would lie in them to a depth of 2 feet—that is, 
with a stiff retentive subsoil. Study, therefore, the fall, and if it is not greater 
than I have said then dig shallower drains and more of them, deep enough to 
keep the roots of the plants clear of the cold stagnant water, shallow enough 
to carry off the surplus water to its outlet, and again deep enough to preserve 
the tiles from being broken, or stones, or timber, or whatever material you have 
used, from being disturbed by the plough or subsoil plough. At present you 
see very little, if any, subsoil ploughing done on our farms. ‘The land is rich 
enough to supply abundance of plant-food in the surface soil, but the day will 
come, when you are all grown up men and women, when the old farms will 
require manuring, draining, and subsoiling, in order to keep up their fertility, 
and it is therefore well you should be warned to be careful, when you have to 
drain, to place your tiles at such a depth as to ensure their safety from injury. 
Remember that a 4-feet drain costs comparatively far more than one only 
3 feet deep, notwithstanding the fact that, while the drain is about 18 inches 
wide at the top, it narrows’ down to 4: inches—that is, to just the width of the 
tile. 
How far should drains be apart? I might as well ask you, How many 
peaches can a boy eat? ‘The last depends upon his appetite, and on the time 
of eating them, whether before dinner or just after a hearty meal. The 
answer to the first question can only be: It all depends upon the nature of the 
soil, and mainly upon its porous texture. Again, the fall or what is called 
“the angle of descent” at the outlet into the drain will depend upon the 
porosity of the soil and the distance between the drains. As the water 
reaches the level of the drain pipe, it, of course, begins to flow away towards 
the outlet, and the drains on the right hand and left hand draw away the 
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