THE MODE OF R A I N I N G L A N D, ACCORDING TO THE SYSTEM PRACTISED BY THE LATE MR. JOSEPH ELKINGTON. BRAWN UP FOR THE CONSIDERATION OP THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, By JOHN JOHNSTONE, LAND-SURVEYOR. // WITH NINETEEN PLATES. \ ■'main understratum of clay is seldom above four or five feet below the surface, a drain must be cut to that depth through the middle of the field, if it has a descent from both sides ; or, if the ground declines all to one side, the drain must be cut there, where the water will more easily discharge itself into it ; and, unless the field is of considerable extent, and have more hollows in it than one, one drain will answer the purpose effectually : for, by crossing all the different beds that hold the water, it will draw it from each. See Fig. 2, Plan No. 11. The great difficulty, however, in draining land of this description, and which is impracticable by one drain, is, if the direction of the alternate beds of clay and sand lies across the declivity of the grounds ; so that one drain in this case can have no other effect than that of carrying off the water after it has passed over the different strata, and would here naturally stagnate in the lowest part of the field, if there was no other outlet for it. Therefore, when the ground lies in this manner, which is often the case, besides the drain in the hollow, others must be cut up from it, in a sloping direc- tion, across the declivity, which, by crossing all the different veins* of sand, will extract the water from each. See Fig. 3, Plan No. 11. Where these alternate strata are of greater extent, and the wetness produced by greater springs, forming swamps at different levels on the sides of hills, the method of draining them has been described in Chapter IV. The first thing to be observed, in the drainage of such alternate soils, is to discover minutely the inclination of the alternate strata, or how they lie with regard to the situation of the field to be drained, as upon this the direction of the drains entirely depends; and as the external signs that dis- tinguish the different beds, are easily perceptible from the appearance of the surface, and difference of the herbage that each produces, there is little difficulty in attaining this part of the object. In drains of this kind, there is seldom any need for applying the auger, as the necessary depth of the trench reaches far enough down, and as there is no spring * A very thin or narrow stratum. 42 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. for want of connection with higher ground, to force itself up through the auger holes, or, if there is, it cannot, at so great a depth, and below such a body of clay, do any injury to the ground above. The drain, after being formed like a sough at bottom, or set like a triangle, must be filled a considerable way up with small stones, before the mould is thrown in, taking care to have tough sods laid immediately above the former. Where stones are scarce, and plenty of brushwood at hand, fagots may be substituted in their place with propriety. The under part of the drain, however, should be laid or coupled with stones, as a canal to carry off the water subsiding through the fagots, and which has also the good effect of prolonging their duration ; for when the water cannot get clearly off, which must be the case where there is no open conduit of stones, its stagnation amongst the branches must soon cause their decay, and choke up the passage of the drain.* There is one thing more to be attended to in completely accom- plishing the drainage of these soils. If the field lie very much on the descent, care must be taken in laying out the branch drains in a direction sufficiently horizontal, so as not to make the fall too precipitant, by which the bottom of the trenches would be worn uneven, and thus would obstruct the passage of the water, which might soon blow them up ; but the fall should be such as to enable the water to clear its course. The reason why fewer drains are required in fields that lie nearly horizontal (as those of the 2d class in this Chapter), is, that the water is drawn equally from both sides ; whereas those on a sloping declivity, drawing only from the higher side of the drains, require them to be more in number, or closer to one another. This is the case in every situation where surface draining is necessary, and par- ticularly so in such soils as those described in Chapter VII. In Lancashire, wffiere these soils composed of alternate beds of clay and sand very much predominate, and which have there acquired the names of sand pots or guts (a term properly enough applied to them from their holding water like a pot), Mr. Elkington has executed several drainages in the manner I have described ; and also a very difficult * In no case whatever should the drain be filled with stones thrown in promiscuously, without first forming a course for the water at bottom. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 43 one of the same kind at Sutton-hall in Derbyshire, where the water was contained in small beds of rock, crossed and intercepted by beds of clay ; and to this Fig. 1 , in the annexed Plan No. 11, more particularly alludes. CHAPTER VII. DRAINAGE OF SOILS POROUS ABOVE, AND RETENTIVE BELOW, &C. In flat tracts of land, where the surface or upper soil is injured by a superfluity of stagnant water not proceeding from springs, their drainage is an object of the first import- ance, and which may, in most cases, be accomplished with very little expense. The upper soil being composed of a porous stratum, of two, three, or four feet in thickness, and having under this a strong retentive body of clay, the rain-water falling on the surface, easily subsides till it meet the clay, and there being obstructed from farther descent, the whole open part of the soil stands so full of water, as to retard the progress of vege- tation, or at least to injure it.* To carry off this water, requires only one or few more drains, according to the situa- tion of the field, and those no deeper than just to reach a few inches into the clay ; betwixt which and the under part of the porous soil, the greatest quantity of water will remain stagnant, when it does not appear so much on the surface. In this kind of drainage there is no need for the auger, there being no real spring, or subterraneous water, to get rid of. If it has a small descent from both sides, one drain cut through the porous to the clay soil, in the hollow part of the field, will effectually draw off all the water that the porous soil may contain ; which will be greatly facilitated by pro- perly forming the ridges to answer the declivity of the ground, and by deepening and clearing out the furrows with the spade. See Plan No. 13, Fig. 1. If the situation of the field correspond with the repre- sentation of it in the plan, the water will flow into the drain (being in the hollow part of it), through the porous strata, as well as through a number of small trenches cut up from * This kind of soil is commonly denominated wet-bottomed land. 44 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. it to both sides, which is the common practice in Essex,* and some other counties adjoining ; but it is cutting up a whole field to no useful purpose. Tlie drain may either be open, if it can serve as a division of the field at the same time, or covered, as circumstances may require. If a field of this soil has more than one hollow in it, in that case it is necessary to have more than one drain ; but if it is almost level, or inclines only a little to one side, a ditch or drain at the lowest extremity, having the ridges and fur- rows formed, as already mentioned, will answer the purpose effectually. See Figs, 2 and 3 of Plan, No. 13. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to have a few side-cuts from the main drain, where the field is large or very flat, cut down also a little into the clay, as narrow as it is possible to dig them, and filled with stones, in the usual manner. Such is the method of draining these soils with most ad- vantage ; but many fields suffer equally from wetness, that consist of soil exactly opposite to the former, viz. a clay surface having a porous substratum. The drainage of such ground, where the wetness is still of a more injurious nature, and where the impervious stratum that upholds the water is of such a thickness as to require being perforated by the auger, is fully described in Chapter y. ; but here, the depth of the drain being sufficient to reach the porous subsoil, without the help of boring, the description of such may with more propriety form a part of this Chapter. Fields of this kind commonly lie very flat, without any declivity, whereby the noxious water, stagnant on the clay surface, might naturally discharge itself without the help of drains ; for soils of the same nature, in a hanging situation, are seldom or never affected by the same cause. Such ground is more difficult to drain, and requires a greater number of cuts than any other soil whatever, as they must be so laid out and conducted as to collect all the water from the surface, which can only discharge itself into the drains from above, being unable to flow into them through the clay, as in those soils of an opposite description ; and * From its being so much practised there, this mode of draining is commonly called the Essex mode of hollou'drainhig. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 45 where there is any irregularity on the ground, the water will remain standing in the hollows, within a few feet of the drain. The first thing is, to make one main conductor in the lowest part, or at one end of the field, to receive and carry off the water collected by the smaller collateral cuts, which it may be requisite to make on each side of it. If it suit the situation or division of the field, this main drain had better be open than covered ; and then the outlets of the other drains that fall into it can easily be inspected, and frequently cleared out, as occasion may require. The proper formation of the ridges, to answer the declivity of the ground, should be particularly attended to in such soils. The ridges should have rise enough in the middle, to give the water a fall into the furrows ; and these should have depth and fall enough to convey it into the drains. Thus would a great part of the rain-water, as it falls, be carried off, which would lessen the number of small cuts, otherwise necessary. The drains should all be dug as narrow as possible, and filled up in the usual manner with loose stones ; only the bottom of the conducting drain (if it is not an open one) should be formed in the manner already described, with a small open conduit at bottom, the more easily to carry off the water. The small drains should also be coupled at bottom ; i. e, two of the largest stones laid in the bottom, inclining on one another above, formiug a triangular opening of four or six inches below. As the water is all received in at the top of these drains, it is necessary that they should be filled with small stones so near to the surface as to leave only a space to be filled with loose gravel, sufficiently deep to prevent the plough or harrow from deranging them. Loose gravel, if it is at hand, is better than the stiff clay that came out of the drain, as it more easily admits the water to subside through it to the stones ; and the other can be spread on any adjacent hollow in the field. A thin layer of straw or rushes* should be laid imme- diately above the stones, to prevent the smaller part of the gravel from filling up too closely the interstices betwixt them ; but this is not so requisite when gravel is used in place of the mould. This mode of draining is calculated for * If the field is in pasture, the upper turfs, pared thinly off, will answer this purpose better than straw or rushes. 46 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. every tenacious clay soil, whether porous below or not ; but, in many instances, the deepening of the furrows, with very few drains, might remedy the evil, where the retentive up'per soil is only a foot or two deep, with a porous subsoil under it, through which the water would easily subside downwards, and again empty itself at some lower extremity of the field. The drains and furrows should therefore be deepened through the clay to the open soil, in order to facilitate the descent of the water ; and thus, much depends on the proper ploughing of such ground ; by attention to which, many drains, other- wise necessary, might be saved. The drainage of these soils does not come immediately under the system of Mr. Elkington’s practice ; but the mode of treating them I have described, he recommends as the most effectual. CHAPTER VIII. DRAINAGE OF GROUND LYING ALONG THE SIDE OF RIVERS, AND OF FLAT SWAMPY GROUND LYING BELOW THE LEVEL OF ARTIFICIAL LEADS OF WATER. Many extensive tracts of land are wet and rushy, from a cause that can hardly be removed by any number of open or covered drains. This is commonly called Jiaugh, or halm, land,* and lies along the sides of brooks or rivers, which, having altered their course so often between the opposite banks, and depo- siting sand and gravel as they recede from their last channel, the water of the river always percolates through the ground thus formed to the level of its present course, keeping it so moist and wet, as to produce rushes, and other coarse aquatics ; and wherever a drain or pit is dug in such ground, it immediately fills with water, to the level of that in the river. Where the river has a quick descent, it is less apt to * The first of these words is the term most frequently made use of in Scot- land, to denote land that has been formed by a river changing its course, and thereby leaving an extent of flat level ground on either, or on both sides of it. This land is always of a very rich soil, being composed of very fine earth, depo- sited by the water after floods, and washed down from the higher grounds in time of rains. Its drainage and embankment therefore, when necessary and practi- cable, must always be an object worthy attention. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 47 produce this effect ; but where its current is slow, and the level of its surface little below that of the ground on either side, the soil will be very much saturated with water. Any number of drains cut in any direction, can have no good effect, while the river* continues in its present course at such a height. The only remedy, therefore, where it can be done at a moderate expense, is deepening and widening the bed of the river ; the earth taken out of which will at the same time serve to form an embankment on either side : for while it can rise higher than the outlet of the drains, and flow back into them, it renders the ground equally wet as before they were made ; and the expense of making them is laid out to no advantage. Besides being thus injured by the river water, springs, in many situations, issue from the bottom of the higher ground, and ooze through the soil higher than its level. The water of these can easily be cut off, and lowered to the level of the river, by a proper drain, as shall be de- scribed. In some cases, the wetness proceeds entirely from springs, where the soil of the flat ground betwixt them and the river does not consist of loose gravel or sand, but of a loam or clay mixture. In this case, the water of the springs is resisted, and prevented from finding its way, helow the soily to the river, and therefore is forced to flow nearer the surface, keeping it constantly in a wet poachy state, in all seasons. To drain this ground, a trench must be begun at the lower end of it, and brought from the river, along the bottom of the bank from whence the springs issue. This trench should be cut helow the line of the springs, where it can be more easily done, and kept open to receive the river water in floods, and also any runs of water from the higher grounds, in time of rains, which would blow it up, if covered ; and must discharge itself into the river at the lowest possible level.t From this trench, short covered drains must be cut up a little way into the bank, to lead in the springs that are above it (if boring opposite to them has * This may often be the case, where the run of water does not deserve the denomination of river, and can therefore be more easily remedied. f If the ground by the side of the river is of such extent as to render a regu- lar embankment along the side of it an object of consideration, a flood-gate might be placed at the mouth of the out-let drain, which would shut with the pressure 48 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. not that elFect), as represented by Fig. 1 of Plan 8. The bottom of these must be higher than that of the open cut, to prevent any of the water in it flowing back into them. In these also the auger must be used to tap the springs^ if the depth of this level does not reach the stratum containing the water. There will be no occasion for any cross drains betwixt the open cut and the river, as all the water that is intercepted will be carried along the bottom of the bank, and emptied into the river at a lower level, unless the ground is of such extent that it may be divided, by cross-ditches, into separate inclosures. The open drain will serve as a division betwixt the meadow and higher ground. This ground is peculiarly situated, and its soil well adapted for watering, after being drained. The drainage of many a valuable tract of land is often deemed impracticable, where a mill lead, or other artificial run of water, passes through it, or along the side to which the fall inclines. From the low situation of the ground, and the height of the water in the lead, there is no fall for discharging into the lead the water of any drains that might be cut to the necessary depth. To remedy this, there is but one expedient.^ The first thing, is to begin at the river, or natural stream, and bring up a cut to the lead, at the point where the outlet of the upper drains is to cross it. This cut must be as deep as the river will permit, or the drains above require. A cut must then be made across the lead, to the same depth, and a strong wooden trough'\ (of sufficient size to admit the water collected above to pass through it) placed across the lead. The length of this trough must be several feet, on both sides, more than the width of the lead, as marked in Plan No. 14, of tbe river-water in a flood, and thereby exclude it entirely from the inner ground, and would open by that of the water accumulated in the drain during the inundation, and so be emptied into the river when it subsides. The construction of this gate is simple, and is the only remedy in cases where it is desirable to have the flood-water excluded. * In the course of the author’s practice, he has had recourse to this expedient in different instances, which has answered the end completely, where no other method was practicable. t Or square wooden box. Larch wood is recommended for this purpose. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 49 from A to B, and must be secured by stakes driven into the ground on each side, with cross bars above, as represented by Fig. 4, in the Plate. The space between the top of it and the bottom of the lead, must be filled with clay, well beat down. This done, the cut from A to E may be made as deep as the level of the trough will admit, and so continued along the upper side of the wet ground, to cut off the springs that rise in that quarter. This may either be a covered drain, or open, as circumstances may require. From the trough, also an open cut should be made parallel to, and along the back of the lead, to receive the surface water from the ground above, and from the division ditches that may be necessary, if the ground is of great extent. The earth from this cut should be laid between it and the lead, to strengthen and se- cure the bank. In like manner, an open cut may be neces- sary along the other side of the lead, to receive the water that may ooze from it, and injure the ground between that and the river ; and this ground, if extensive, may likewise be divided by cross ditches,* as represented by the dotted lines.f The cross or division ditches in the upper part of the ground, must not join the upper drain, but a small space must be left uncut at the letter D, to prevent any connexion between the spring-water in the upper drain (especially if covered) and what is collected in the cross open ditches ; and will likewise serve as a passage from one division of the field to another. CHAPTER IX. DRAINAGE OF MINES, QUARRIES, MARL PITS, kc. The principles of Mr. Elkington’s system have hitherto been confined only to the draining of land, or taking away subjacent water that injures its surface ; but there is no doubt that it might be equally successful, and of very material im- * Where the word ditch is used in place of drain or cut, &c. it implies, that it may likewise serve the purpose of a fence, or side of an inclosure, as well as a drain. For the sake of ornament and shelter, hedge-rows should be planted upon the banks of the ditches. t This part of the ground is well adapted for irrigation, where the command of water may be sufficient for supplying the lead, and likewise affording a sufficient quantity for this purpose. E 50 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. portance in the case of mines and quarries ; by diminishing the quantity of water that is frequently found in the course of working them, and which very much obstructs, and even sometimes puts a stop to the work altogether ; at least it very often does so, in quarries of freestone, limestone marl, &c. Thus, from the want of Mr. Elkington’s method being known, many mines and quarries at present lie unwrought, from the fear of water and quicksands, which might other- wise be wrought to advantage. It is well known that all springs and subterraneous col- lections of water are supplied from ground lying higher than that where they are found ; which being of a porous nature, admits the rain to filtrate through it, which descends often to a very great depth through the pores of the open soil, rock, sand, gravel, &:c. before it be obstructed by some impenetrable stratum. Thus, in sinking a pit for coal, or any other sub- terraneous mineral near the bottom of a hill or high ground, a bed of quicksand is met with, so full of water, that to pass through it becomes a very difficult and expensive operation ; and as this water proceeds from the porous ground lying above it, it may in many cases be practicable, to intercept the greater part of that water before it reach the sand-bed in the pit, and by means of tapping at the tail of the sand-bank (provided the ground naturally declines lower than where the sand is found in the pit), the whole of the water may be extracted from it, at a comparatively small expense with what is used as the common remedy in like cases. To accomplish this, in ascending, from the pit, carefully examine, if higher on the declivity, any bed of rock, sand or gravel, tails out^ which may convey the water contained in it to the sand-bed below ; and if such bed is found, a drain may be cut into it. which will carry off a great part of the water, and consequently lessen the quantity of water in the mine, which would otherwise have continued to descend through the porous substrata, before being thus intercepted in its descent. But although this is done, and the supply from above entirely cut off, yet a sufficient quantity of water to injure the pit, may continue to ooze from the sides of the sand-bed, even supposing it should dip towards the lower ground, which if it does, that water may be easily drawn off at some point in the low ground. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 51 To effect this, ia order to remove the above inconvenience, in descending from the pit, along the declivity, endeavour to discover at what place in the low ground the sand terminates or tails out, which may be found ,by means of a spirit-level ; and if there is any appearance there of the water’s having a natural outlet, it may, by means of a deep drain, be much quicker and more effectually drawn off ; for springs naturally flow through narrow and crooked perforations, and conse- quently, whenever the orifice is enlarged or made lower, the discharge of water becomes greater. But, if there is a deep covering of clay above the tail of the sand, in that case a drain can only be cut so far into it, and by means of boring through the remaining portion of clay, an easy outlet may be given to the whole water contained in the above sand-bed. This will also, in a great measure, remove, or at least relieve, the difficulty that would afterwards have attended sinking the pit ; for the water thus cut off must lessen the quantity that would have been found deeper, the same body perhaps passing downwards from stratum to stratum, so far as they continue porous, or capable of receiving it. It is, therefore, of material consequence to di'ain all ground lying higher and contiguous to mines, or any other deep subterraneous pits, for the reasons already given ; and on these principles, and by these means, it may be accom- plished with little difficulty or expense. The water found in the bottom of the pit or mine must be got rid of in a different manner, as the ground may per- haps nowhere decline lower than the mouth of the pit. For it is only on the supposition of the different strata and sand- bed dipping with the natural inclination of the surface, that the above method of proceeding is practicable, or on the sup- position of their lying nearly horizontal ; but, should they lie in a reverse direction, there is little possibility of accom- plishing the object, unless their termination can be hit on, somewhere on the opposite side of the hill, which, by ascer- taining the precise inclination of the metals, and by exact levelling, may very nearly be found out. In most cases, how- ever, the upper strata above coal are found lying pretty regular. But, as a description alone, without an explanatory sketch, cannot so clearly convey an idea of the nature of it. Fig. 1 of the annexed Plan, No. 15, will help to elucidate these remarks. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 52 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. The foregoing observations so far explain how the water may be cat off that is met with in sinking the shaft, before reaching the coal or other mineral that is sought for; the water that is found in the. bottom of the pit, or what pro- ceeds from the rocks, &:c. in the course of working the mine, is commonly got rid of by means of an engine-pump ; to assist in working which, the water obtained by means of the drains already described, may be very useful, where the stream for that purpose is deficient, in saving the great expense of working it by steam.* But, without the help of a natural stream, which may be converted to the above purpose, it is seldom possible to find, by means of drains or otherwise, a quantity of water sufficient to drive such weighty machinery, in a situation high enough to have the necessary command of it. It may, however, in many cases, be a valuable acquisition. See Plan 15, Fig. 2. In situations where a proper command of water can be obtained, and where the entrance to the mine is likewise adapted for the purpose, the use to which it may be con- verted is still more advantageous, by driving machinery to bring out the minerals, and also for working an engine * That letting down the water by boring into an inferior open stratum, even ill the bottom of the pit, may not only be practicable in some cases, but of very great advantage, the following observations will shew. — “ The water was raised by a steam-engine about sixty yards, from a colliery in Yorkshire, wdiich had been wrought several years ; the proprietors bored down to the depth of about ten yards farther, to ascertain the depth and thickness of a seam of coals, which was supposed to lie below those then wrought ; the workmen emploj^ed bored from the bottom of the pit next the engine pit, and when they had bored to the above depth, and taken out the rods, the water from the works, which usually ran across the bottom of this pit to the engine-pump, ran down the hole they had then made. As soon afterwards as the steam engine was set to work at the stated period (about one hour in twelve), the engine-pump contained little or no water ; it had escaped through this hole, and continued to run through the same ever afterwards, and rendered the engine useless. This instance of water at so great a depth from the surface, 'finding a passage at a further depth of ten yards, or less, and immediately below, is very singular and striking. The situation was much higher than the next adjoining valleys and the level of the sea. Experiments of this sort seldom fall to the lot of man to make, therefore such instances are rare and uncommon. But in large tracts of level land, where lakes or morasses have been formed, and which cannot be drained by cutting open drains, or driving levels through rocks, but at an expense for which the lands, when drained, would never compensate, the above instances warrant experiments being tried with boring rods, which, if not successful, may be tried at little expense .” — Agricultural Report of Hertfordshire, page 67. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 53 pump, for clearing the mine of subterraneous water, flowing from the cavities of the rocks that are met with in working. His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch’s coal-works, near Lang- holm, in Dumfriesshire, are a striking example of this, and of the superior powers of water and machinery when properly combined, where a command of the former can be obtained, and when the latter is constructed on proper principles, and conducted with that care and ingenuity which are necessary in such undertakings. It frequently occurs, in working quarries of lime or free- stone, that, at a certain depth, part of the rock containing water is hit on, whereby the quarry is soon so filled with water, as to put a stop to working it deeper, where the best of the stone lies. The common remedy in such cases is, either to erect a windmill pump, to draw out part of the water (for the whole cannot be taken away by this means), or to open a new quarry adjoining to the last, which at the same depth meets with the like obstruction, or to bring up a very deep and often expensive cut, under the level of the water, from the nearest declivity. By the following method, however, all quarries of lime- stone, freestone, marl, &c. liable to such an obstruction, may be completely cleared of water at little expense ; and the drain, at the same time, will serve a double purpose, by drying the wet ground, which, in consequence of the spring contained in the rock, is found adjoining to it. Immediately under the rock commonly lies a bed of strong retentive clay, that upholds all the water received by and retained in that rock, and which being also bound round on each side by a covering of clay, or other stiff soil, cannot discharge itself, and therefore stands always so full in the rock, as to prevent taking out the stone to the bottom. In the first place, endeavour to find to what side the rock dips or inclines, which may easily be found by the appearance of the surface in examining the adjacent ground, and by the assistance of a spirjt-level. After discovering this, cut a drain through the clay covering to the rock, by which the water will be drawn off, that for want of a proper outlet formerly stood pent up in the cavities of the stone. See Plan No. 16, Fig. 1 and 2. Sometimes the evil may be remedied in a different manner. 54 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. It often happens that a bed of the same stone, of a close compact nature, is found lying under one of a more open kind, with pores and fissures in it admissible of water, which so keeps up the water in the upper bed, that none of it can pass through to an inferior open stratum ; and on sinking through this stone, another bed is found, of so open and porous a nature, as to admit the reception of any water from above that may come into contact with it. Sometimes a bed of gravel or sand is found under the close stone, which being still more capable of absorbing any water let down to it, is better calculated for the purpose of clearing the upper bed of stone from water, than a stratum of open stone itself. When this is discovered to be the case, and the water kept up by the second bed of stone, so as to be prejudicial to the working of the upper bed, and which will be equally so in working the second ; the work may be greatly relieved by boring through the close bed of stone, and letting down the water into the more porous one below, or into a stratum of dry sand or gravel, if there be such under it. In place of boring, sinking small pits through the close stone is a more effectual method of letting down the water, but a more diffi- cult one to execute. At Ormskirk, in Lancashire, stone quarries are cleared of water exactly in the manner above described, which Fig. 3, in the annexed Plan, will better explain.* * To shew the success of this practice, Mr. Eccleston, of Scarrisbrick, a very ingenious member of the board, and proprietor in the neighbourhood of Ormskirk, communicated the following information : — “ In stone quarries, wells (pits) occa- sionally are sunken to the open bed, which have proved serviceable. The above was practised in a stone delf near Ormskirk with success. But in order to lay the delf more effectually dry to a greater depth, Mr. Elkington having viewed the country, marked where he thought the rock terminated or tailed out, and at the lowest level set out a drain to be cut up to the rock, part of which work is exe- cuted, and a very considerable spring comes from it ; but, on account of the great depth (sixteen feet), it will not be finished before he has seen the work again. The drain he has laid out is about ten feet lower than the bottom of the stone quarry, and when completed, will lay that head of stone dry lower than the present floor. All rocks mostly where they terminate are succeeded by broken loose stones of the same nature as the rock, and they are frequently (not to say always) suc- ceeded by sand, which, when a thick bed, and of a running nature (quicksands), often cause great expense to cut through to the tail end of any rock.” See Plan 11, Fig. 2. In such cases as this, where there is danger of meeting a quicksand, boring or sinking pits through the bed of close stone is the most advisable and least expensive method. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 55 The situation of marl pits is commonly such that it requires a very extensive cut through some part of the surrounding bank, to carry off the water that prevents taking out the marl. This might often be accomplished in a much less expensive manner, by sinking a pit through the retaining stratum under the marl bed, into some absorbent stratum below, that would receive the water let down into it by the pit. If the ground where the marl lies is of considerable extent, several pits will be necessary to carry off the water. If they require to be so deep as to be in danger of falling in, they should be built round the sides, or filled up to near the top with loose stones through which the water can subside. Any cross drains or cuts necessary for collecting the water, must be conducted into the pits. In many cases the water may be got rid of in a still easier manner, provided the situation of the ground is answerable. If the surrounding bank declines on the oppo- site side lower than the water ^ by cutting a drain into it, and boring with a horizontal auger, into the tail of the stratum containing the water, it will be drawn off and reduced to a level lower than that of the bed of marl. As this water is often supplied by a spring, rising in some part of the higher ground, and descending into the place where the marl lies, in such case it will be necessary to cut off the source of this spring, and divert it into some other channel. By doing this, the quantity of water below will be lessened, and more easily carried off by means of the pits or drains. CHAPTER X. OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OF THE SPIRIT-LEVEL, AND DIREC- TIONS FOR USING IT IN MARKING OUT OF DRAINS, (fec. After the main spring, or that from which the others derive their source, has been discovered, the ascertaining a line on the same level, to one or both sides of it, for the better and more sure direction of the drain, being one of the first and most important parts of the operation, and the one on which Mr. Elkington’s art in a great measure depends (for before him, it is believed that no man ever thought of ascertaining, by means of levelling, the course of water in the bowels of 56 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. the earth), a description of it may prove useful to those who have never been in the practice of using the spirit-level for that purpose. Being provided with a spirit-level (w^hich it is necessary to have previously adjusted), and a staff about ten feet in length, with a movable vane or sight affixed to it, set up the instrument in a situation betw^een the object from whence the level is to be taken and that to which it is to be directed, provided the distance from the instrument to each of them be not too great. The situation of it should also be no higher than the length of the staff will answer, and so as it may be seen from it both ways ; then direct the man with the staff to hold it at the main spring, or place from whence you mean to carry the drain ; and, after directing the tele- scope to the staff, and adjusting it to a level, make a sign to him to move the sight up or down, till it be exactly opposite the cross hair in the telescope. This done, without shifting the instrument from its first position, and cautioning the man to fix the sight to the staff at the point directed, he may proceed forty or fifty yards farther ; and after having again adjusted the level, make a sign to him to move to higher or lower ground, till the sight on the staff coincide exactly with the cross hair in the telescope. He may then leave a peg at the place where he held the staff, and proceed in like manner to other stations, till the whole line is fin- ished, leaving pegs, or making pits, at the places where the staff was held. If the length of the line to be levelled requires the in- strument to be shifted from its first position, the level must again be taken from the last station where the staff was held, and the sight on it fixed in the proper place, as before directed, proceeding in the same manner at every forty or fifty yards in length, till the w’hole is accomplished. After the line is thus levelled, and ascertained by marks left at every station where the staff was fixed, it may again be examined, and other pegs put in between the first, the better to direct the workmen in cutting the drain, giving the line such turnings, and even small deviations from the course of the level, as may shorten or straighten it, and humour the situation of the ground. For the sake of accuracy, where the work requires it, APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 57 especially if the water is to be conveyed any considerable distance, or wanted to supply a house, or for the purpose of irrigation, the levels may be proved by reversing the former line of direction. The spirit-level is also necessary for ascertaining how much fall can be obtained from the drain to the nearest outlet where the water can be discharged, the shorter that distance being the better, provided fall enough can be got. It is often necessary to level a much longer distance than the length of the drain may require to be cut ; but when the level of the whole line is known, and the nature of the ground carefully examined, short drains can be cut on that line, with openings (places not dug out) between, which will answer the purpose equally as well as one the whole length ; and the expense will be considerably less, provided the length of the conductors for the water from each be less than that of the openings or places not cut : but if the whole line, with only one conductor, be shorter than these, it is better to have all the water discharged at one orifice. The level has frequently to be taken from a spring or well, at a considerable distance from the ground to be drained. The American level, as it is sometimes called, being first communicated to the President of the Board of Agriculture by Dr. Edwards, of America, is so simple and useful an implement for ascertaining the level of drains or water- courses, that I have thought proper to subjoin a description of the method of using it, and have given a drawing of it in Plate 17, No. 5. It is formed of two pieces of thin wood of equal length, joined together at top, and connected below by a cross bar. From the angle at top, a lead or plummet is suspended by a small cord, which, when the instrument stands level on both legs, strikes upon a mark in the centre of the connect- ing bar, as represented by Fig. 5, in the Plate. The manner of using it is simply thus: — At the place from whence the level is to be taken, drive a wooden peg into the ground, close in to the top, upon which one of the legs of the frame may rest ; then bringing round the other leg till it touch the ground, there drive in a second peg, and the space betwixt them will be level. In proceeding forward, rest the leg of the frame upon the top of the second peg, turning 58 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. round the other leg as before ; and where it touches the ground again drive in another peg, and so on along the whole line to be levelled. Thus, with very little trouble, and with as much accuracy as with the finest spirit-level, will the course of the drain be easily ascertained. But, as it is necessary that the drain should have as much declivity as to allow the water to run freely, it will be requisite in taking the level to regulate the direction of the line accordingly. Half an inch in the length of the frame will be sufficient. For this purpose it will be expedient to have, besides a number of wooden pegs, one iron pin, with inches and halves marked regularly upon the sides of it, from the top down- wards. After having driven in the first wooden peg at the point from whence you mean to conduct the drain, and hav- ing rested the one leg of the frame upon it, turn round the other till it be level with the first peg. There put in the iron pin, so that this leg of the frame may rest on the top of it when level ; then drive in a wooden peg so far as that the top of it may be one half-inch lower than that of the iron pin. Place the leg of the frame again upon this second peg, turn it round to a level, putting in the iron pin till the top of it be equal with the foot of the frame ; then drive in another wooden peg close by the side of it, till the top of the wooden one be half an inch lower than that of the iron pin. Proceed in this manner so far as you mean to carry the drain, which will have the same degree of declivity all the way along. A line thus set off, is marked from A to D in the Plate. When made on a smaller scale, it is useful in ascertaining the proper descent along the bottom of the drain, while the workmen are laying it ; but when made for this purpose, the cross bar must be fixed to the bottom of the legs, as marked with dotted lines in the Plate. CHAPTER XI. DESCRIPTION OF THE AUGER, AND MANNER OF USING IT, &C. The borer used in draining, is nearly similar to that made use of in searching for coal or other subterraneous minerals. The auger, shell, or wimble, as it is variously called, for APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 59 excavating the earth or strata through which it passes, is from two and a half to three and a half inches in diameter; the hollow part of it one foot four inches in length, and con- structed nearly in the shape of the wimble used by carpen- ters ; only, the sides of the shell come closer to one another. The rods are made in separate pieces, of four feet long each, that screw into one another, to any assignable length, one after another, as the depth of the hole requires. The size above the auger is about an inch square, unless at the joints, where, for the sake of strength, they are a quarter of an inch more. There is also a chisel and punch for screwing on, in going through hard gravel, or metallic substances, to accele- rate the passage of the auger, which could not otherwise perforate such hard bodies. The punch is often used when the auger is not applied, to prick or open the sand or gravel, and give a more easy issue to the water. The chisel is an inch and a half or two inches broad at the point, and made very sharp, for cutting stone ; and the punch an inch square, like the other part of the rods, with the point sharpened also. There is a shifting handle of wood, that is fastened with two iron wedges affixed to it, for the purpose of turning round the rods in boring, and also two iron keys for screwing and un- screwing the rods, and for assisting the handle when the soil is very stiff, and more than two men required to turn it. To judge when to make use of the borer is a difficult part of the business. Some who have not seen it made use of in draining, have been led into a mistaken notion, both as to the manner of using it, and purpose for which it is applied. They think, that if by boring indiscriminately through the ground to be drained, water is found near enough the surface to be reached by the depth of the drain, the proper direction for it is along these holes where the water has been found, and thus make it the first implement that is used. The con- trary is the case, and the auger is never used till after the drain is cut, and then for the purpose of perforating any re- tentive or impervious stratum lying between the bottom of the drain and the reservoir containing the spring. Thus does it greatly lessen the trouble and expense that would otherwise be requisite in cutting the trench to that depth, to which, in many instances, the level of the outlet will not admit. The manner of using it is simply thus : — In working it two, or 60 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. rather three, men are necessary. Two stand above on each side of the drain, who turn it round by means of the wooden handle ; and when the auger is full, they draw it out, and the man in the bottom of the trench clears out the earth, assists in pulling it out, and directing it into the hole, and who can also assist in turning with the iron handle or key, when the depth and length of rods require additional force to perform the operation. The workmen should be cautious, in boring, not to go deeper at a time, without drawing, than the exact length of the shell ; otherwise the earth, clay, or sand, through which it is boring, after the shell is full, makes it very difficult to pull out. For this purpose the exact length of the shell should be regularly marked on the rods, from the bottom upward. Two or four flat boards, with a hole cut into the side of one of them, and laid alongside of one another over the drain, in time of boring, are very useful for directing the rods in going down perpendicularly, for keeping them steady in boring, and for the men standing on wdien performing the operation (No. 4, in Plate 17). The other implements used in cutting the drain are, besides the common spade and shovel, those represented in the Plate. The hollow spade, made of oak-timber, and scooped out in the middle, is used in soft peat soils, being light and easy to work with, and the edges preventing the earth from falling off when throwing it out of the trench. They are made of iron, in the same shape, also, for throwing out clay or tough soil. The crooked-handled spade or shovel, having the edges turned up, is well adapted for smoothing the bottom of the drain before laying the sough, and with which the work- men have less occasion to stoop. As the common opening of the sough is six inches square, a piece of wood of that size, and one yard in length, is very useful for laying in the bottom of the drain, and building the stones on each side of it, and which can be shifted forward as the workman proceeds in forming the sough. Of the Horizontal Auger. This instrument was lately invented by Mr. Haford, of Hathern, in Leicestershire, and is not yet come into general use. The advantages of it are in many cases considerable, by lessening the expense of otherwise cutting, and perform- APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 61 ing the work in a much shorter time. Where a drain or water-course has to pass under a bank, road, hedge, wall, rivulet of water, or for drying marl-pits, &:c., it may be used to advantage in excavating a sufficient passage for the water without opening a trench. In laying leaden pipes for the conveyance of water, it is also useful in making a hole in which the pipe may be laid without opening a cut on purpose. For tapping springs, or finding water at the bottom of a hill, either for the supply of a house, or for draining the ground, it may be used with success, as the water of the spring, when hit on, will flow more easily, and in greater abundance, thi^ough a horizontal or level, than through a perpendicular outlet. The manner of using it is thus : — Suppose a lake, or pond of water, surrounded with high banks to be emptied : if the ground declines lower on the opposite side, find the level of the bottom of the water, and trace the level to the face of the bank where the perforation is to be made. There smooth the surface of the ground, so as to place the frame nearly level, with the auger pointing a little upwards. It requires two men to turn the handles at top in order to work it, which may be better understood by examining the Plate. When the auger or shell is full, the rods are drawn back by revers- ing the lower handle, and rods added at the joint when the distance requires. In boring through a bank of the hardest clay, two men will work through from thirty to forty feet in a day, provided there is no interruption from hard stones, which will require a chisel to be fixed on in place of the shell, and longer time to work through. If the length to be bored through is considerable, or longer than the whole length of the rods, a pit must be sunk upon the line down to the hole, for placing the frame when removed, and the ope- ration carried on as before. 62 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND CHAPTER XIT. EXTRACTS FROM SOME OF THE AGRICULTURAL REPORTS OF THOSE COUNTIES IN ENGLAND WHERE MR. ELKINGTON HAS EXECUTED THE MOST REMARKABLE DRAINAGES, TENDING TO AUTHENTICATE THE ADVANTAGES DERIVED FROM HIS PRACTICE.* 1 SHALL begin with Warwickshire, being Mr. Elkington’s native county, and the one in which he first made the discovery. County of Warwick^ hy John Wedge. “ Draining is, without doubt, the first step towards the improvement of all wet land; it has been practised with much success in this county for several years, but more par- ticularly so since Mr. Elkington, a farmer in this district, introduced a method of draining boggy lands, by making deep drains, and boring at the bottom or sides of them through the different under strata, so as to tap the springs, and thereby, in many instances, cure large tracts of land with very few drains. The novelty of this practice here, and Mr. Elkington’s mysterious manner in declaring he knew where, and in what direction, the different strata of the earth divided, and at what particular point an auger-hole might be bored, to lay dry this or that particular spring or well, were matters which attracted much notice, and occa- sioned great surprise ; and it is but justice to Mr. Elkington to say, that in one class of bogs, &:c. which abound as much as (perhaps more than) any other, he has not only had the honour of introducing the auger in this county, but the merit of laying effectually dry many large tracts of land.” County of Leicester., hy John Monk. “ The most capital improvements have been made under the direction of a Mr. Elkington, who is supposed to be the first in that line in the world. After forming the drain, by beginning at the fall and working upwards, he makes use of * These extracts are taken from the first reports transmitted to the Board of Agriculture ; but in the second publication of them more information on this subject will be found. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 63 a borer to find the spring, with which he generally succeeds, which has a wonderful effect in draining the land. It is said that he has a very quick and certain method of finding where the springs lie, peculiar to himself. By the use of the borer, Mr. Astley* had a piece of land drained without going into it, by the following circumstance : — Mr. Elkington was em- ployed in draining a piece of land belonging to Mr. Richard Astley, which was separated from his brother’s by a small river or deep rivulet. Mr. E. finding the spring at about sixteen feet from the surface (under the bed of the river), completely drained both pieces. I was informed that, some time since, Mr. Elkington was engaged in draining a piece of land near Lutterworth ; and soon after he had found (some call it tapping) the spring, the inhabitants, to their very great surprise, found their wells all dry. After investigating the cause, it was found that Mr. E. had been the means of it, by cutting off the spring which supplied the town with water. “ I mention the above two instances merely to shew what a wonderful effect the borer has, and what a very capital instrument it is for draining, &;c. I do not mean to say that Mr. E. is the only person that makes use of the borer ; for there is such a very great spirit for this kind of improvement, that there are very few of the best farmers without this instrument. Mr. Elkington has so much business, that it is with great difficulty he is to be had when wanted.” County of Derby, by Thomas Brown. «« But every other method seems to bend to that practised by Mr. Elkington, whose practice is becoming every day more extensive, and seems to me the most effectual of all others for carrying off subterraneous waters. He lays a stone drain from three to six feet below the surface, in such a direction as to cut the source of the spring, and with such a declivity as to scour itself. Where- ever he finds the source of the spring below the level of his drain, he bores, and with such judgment, that, to a stranger, * Of Odstone Hall. 64 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. his auger seems possessed of the virtue of that rod with which Moses struck the rock ; for the water immediately gushes out, and perhaps lays land that before was too wet to carry a sheep, sufficiently dry to carry the heaviest ox. This method is certainly effectual against springs.” County of Suffolk, by Arthur Young, Esq. Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, ^c. ^c. It will not be improper to hint, that there are two errors very common in the performance of this improvement. The first is, making the drains in, or nearly in, the direction of the declivity ; whereas they ought always to be made obliquely across it: the other is that of marking out, and making numerous drains across the sides of springy hills, which might, in many cases, be drained completely with a single drain, judiciously disposed, according to those obvious principles upon which the celebrated drainer, Mr. Elkington, of Warwickshire, proceeds. No improvement can have greater or more immediate effects than this of draining ; none that pays the farmer with more certainty.” County of Stafford, by William Pitt. “ Attempts have been made to tap springs, by boring into them, by Mr. Elkington and others, and sometimes with success.” Mr. Pitt, in speaking of the improvements in Fisher- wick Park, says, “ Here the genius of a Brown, aided and seconded by the munificence of the noble owner,* have conspired to render a dreary morass one of the most delightful spots in nature, and have in a great measure succeeded : which success is still further heightening by the improvements of Mr. Elkington, in the interception of springs, and the discharg- ing of stagnant water.” Marquess of Donegal. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. County of Worcester, hy W. J . Pomeroy. “ In speaking of under-drains, it may be thought right to mention, that various experiments have been made at Ewell Grange, the seat of the Earl of Plymouth, and in that neighbourhood ; but that by boring after Mr. Elkington’s method deserves to be most particularly noticed, which, indeed, in such situations (viz. low, fenny, or boggy lands), seems to supersede the use of every other.” County of Somerset, hy John Billingsley , Esq. The great skill of draining land consists in cutting off the water at its source. One deep drain, judiciously placed, wdll frequently preclude the necessity of any other; in most instances, such a drain should be near that part of the declivity from which the springs issue. This depends on the position of the clayey substratum, and on the height of the reservoir from whence the springs are fed. A judicious survey of the adjacent land, and liberal use of the horer, are necessary preliminaries to a cheap and effectual remedy for wet lands ; and there are few men in the kingdom possessed of equal skill in this department of agriculture with Mr. Elkington, of Warwickshire, whose fame is not confined to the county in which he lives, but is known and acknow- ledged in many parts of the kingdom.” Extracts from the Annals of Agriculture f hy A. Young, Esq. Sfc. ^c. Vol. XVI. Anno 1791. “ Aug. 5. — Eode to examine some works carrying on under the direction of Mr. Elkington, a singularly able drainer, whom I shall have more occasions than one to mention. # # * qq^e chief object of our ride w'as to view Mr. Elkington’s works, who, we were informed, was engaged by some of the owners of these mills,* to bring them more water, by draining some boggy spots from which * Near Sutton Coldfield, in Staffordshire. F 66 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. tlie springs arise. We viewed his trenches for this purpose ; it seems that this most ingenious operator had contracted with the millers to be paid only in proportion to the addi- tional quantity of water he procured for them. As we viewed his drains, and the general declivities of the wastes around, a question arose amongst us, upon the possibility of procuring more water by any drains, or cuts, or boring, than flows already in a more diffusive manner through bogs ; except by bringing water to take a direction on one side of a hill, which, in its natural course, flows out on another side. # # * gut Elkington’s practice is remarkable in one circumstance, and differs from any drainer I have yet known. From distance to distance at the bottom of his surfs,* which are of various depths, from three and four to six and seven feet, he bores with a common iron boring-rod, five or ten lower, and in doing this, often finds the water rise quickly in the hole. By this operation, it should seem, that he has Mr. BakewelTsf idea in contem- plation ; and it is to be noted that by this practice he, in many cases by a single drain, lays lands dry that were not at all in the contemplation of the person who employs him, even to a considerable distance. Supposing springs to lie in strata, nearly on a level, and to communicate from side to side of the largest hills, in such case it does not seem at all improbable, but that by draining and boring deeply on one side, you may procure more water than came before, by diverting it from the usual course ; so that by carrying on works of this sort on one side of a mountain, the other side, at some miles distance, may be drained. Thus the millers on one side of a hill may pay Mr. Elkington for bringing water to their dams, and the millers on the other side of the hill prosecute him for depriving them of theirs ; which, it must be confessed, would be a laughable litigation. * * Such works, whatever their operation, causes, and conse- quences, have infinite merit, and do great credit to the talent of this very ingenious and useful man, who will have the merit, wherever he goes, of setting men to think.” * Or Sough, the conduit, or bottom part of the drain, formed with brick or stones. f See “Annals of Agriculture,’' Vol. XVI. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 67 ‘‘The 6th. — To Ashby-de-la-Zouch ; called in our way- on Mr. Marshall, to view a bog of several acres, drained by Mr. Elkington, which he effected with his usual success. “ This bog was occasioned, as they commonly, or rather always are, by springs, which he pierced into by means of a deep drain, boring at the bottom of it, as above described; the surf, in this dry season, runs no inconsiderable stream. The whole is now under oats, a very fine crop, on land which before was of no value whatever. * * * Mr. Elkington has been employed by Mr. Knowles* to drain the slope of a hill poisoned with springs ; in every instance of his draining I hear some new circumstance to prove the sagacity and ingenuity of this skilful operator, who may be termed an engineer of a new order. The crowm of the hill above Mr. Knowles’s wet fields is all dry, sound, gravelly land, in which are no signs of springs, because pervious to water in its level ; but when these springs came to the fields in question, which are clayey, they rise to the surface pro- portionably to the quantity of clay which impedes their progress ; in this case he found, by taking the levels, that springs on the other side of the hill, in a clayey spot, at the distance of some hundred yards, were exactly on the same level as these passing under the gravel on the elevation, and thus breaking out where the passage was obstructed by vari- ation of soil. And he pronounced, that when this is the case, one surf, skilfully marked, wull drain a variety of different, and even far distant, fields ; and he recommends, in such cases, to wait after the first drain is made, to let its operation take place, for six months, or even a twelvemonth ; in which time it will be found how far the effect has taken place : if more are wanted they can be made. When springs are brought in this manner from a distance, there is no doubt but he brings more water to a place than flowed in it before. The great skill is to know where to bore. The surf, or French bricks, which he uses, are eight shillings a thou- sand more than common ones.” * Of Nelson, in Leicestershire. In a certificate sent to the Board of Agri- culture, Mr. Knowles says, that this land, by means of Mr. Elkington’s drains, was rendered worth 30s. or 40s. an acre, which before was not worth half-a-crown. 68 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. In a treatise lately published, “On the Necessity and Advantages of Care and Economy in collecting and preserv- ing different Substances for Manure,” by Thomas B. Bayley, F.R.S. is the following observation : — “ It may reasonably be expected, that at no very distant period, the peat-mosses of Great Britain and Ireland will be drained, and brought to the highest state of fertility. Their present superabundant moisture renders them not merely unproductive wastes, but extremely injurious to the drier lands in their vicinity. The invention and energy of a Wakefield* and an Elkington, in reclaiming and improving mosses, cannot fail to excite a general imitation of the very successful processes by which they have rendered these bogs productive of plenty ; with the additional happy effects which those improvements never fail to produce on the climate, temperature, and vegetation, of all the countries adjacent to them.” Subjoined is part of a letter received from Charles Town- ley, Esq. of Townley, in Lancashire, respecting Mr. Elking- t, oil’s method of draining, and the improvement made on the ground, by means of his drains. “ Respecting the mode of executing these drains, it differs from the common practice of making hollow drains, only by their being cut much deeper, and by boring with an auger, either to increase the runs of water from the springs, when they are arrived at, or to give them vent when they lie too deep for the spade to reach them. . Mr. Elkington’s art, or knowledge of draining, lies, as you must know, in judging of the precise place where the pernicious springs can be caught, and in carrying them off in the cheapest and most advantageous manner. The mere plan of a drain can give little insight into this kind of knowledge : I should think, the best mode of conveying the system, by plans, to the con- ceptions of others, would be to compose sections of the dif- ferent circumstances that most generally occur in the various strata and runs of water below the surface of the earth, and * Of Liverpool. Mr. Wakefield has lately made wonderful improvements upon the great Trafford Moss, near Manchester, in Lancashire. APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 69 of the most proper situations of the drains that are to catch them. I will only repeat, that those drained hoggy lands that have had the proper manure laid upon them, are not only made dry, but the herbage produced on them is become excellent, from having been, previous to the drainage, of very little value ; and those drained lands which have as yet received no manure, are rendered equally dry, and the coarse and useless herbage with which they were wholly covered is visibly giving way to better grass. The proper manure will soon be laid on them ; after which, I am persuaded, the whole herbage will be excellent : the drains were only finished last year. (Signed) “ Chas. Townley. “ Townley, 2Sth Sept. 1796.” Copy of a Letter and Certificate from Mr. John Maughan to Sir John Sinclair, Baronet. “ Hinclily, 25th Oct. 1796. Sir, — I am extremly sorry at having taken so long a time in returning the certificate you wished me to send ; but I waited to see the effect of a drain I had set out for Mr. Jennings, of Harlington, Bedfordshire, a nephew of the late Mr. Whitbread’s, or I should have sent it sooner. The land I drained for him, had, about two years ago, been attempted to be drained in the common mode, and a considerable sum of money had thereby been expended to no purpose, as the land, at the time I undertook to drain it, was as wet as ever. I have the satisfaction of saying it is now the driest land on the estate, and made so at an expense which does not exceed one twentieth part of what it had formerly cost, by attempt- ing the common mode of draining. “ I am. Sir, your obedient humble Servant, (Signed) John Maughan.” Copy of the Certificate. “ I, John Maughan, of Luton, in the county of Bedford, land-surveyor, late steward to Thomas Powis, Esq. M.P. do hereby certify, that, in consequence of a recommendation 70 APPROVED MODE OF DRAINING LAND. from the Board of Agriculture, I waited on Mr. Elkington, who very readily communicated to me the principles of his art of draining land, which I have since practised myself with great success, and to the satisfaction of those who have employed me. And I hereby farther certify, that I have found Mr. Elkington’s mode of draining of the greatest pub- lic utility : that I have seen land of little or no value, when drained on Mr. Elkington’s principles made worth forty or fifty shillings per acre, and producing the richest crops both of corn and grass : in short, that no mode of improving wet land equals it for public utility. Witness my hand, this 25th day of October, 1796.” Besides the above, many other communications and cer- tificates, testifying the great advantages that have been de- rived from Mr. Elkington’s practice, and what are likely to result from the knowledge of his system being generally understood, might have been added ; but as most of these have already been made public by the Board of Agriculture, in a former paper on that subject, what I have inserted here may be sufficient to convince the public of its utility. PART II. ON HOLLOW AND SURFACE DRAINING IN GENERAL ; PARTLY DRAWN UP FROM COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED TO THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. This being a part of the draining system not coming within the limits of Mr. Elkington’s practice, and founded on prin- ciples different from those that are applicable to the drainage of bogs, and other swampy ground injured by springs, I have thought more proper to add it as a Second Part, than to have incorporated it with the preceding account. When the wetness of a field arises from rain-water that cannot sink through a tenacious soil, and must, if there is no declivity, remain till evaporated, the principles which govern the practice of Mr. Elkington’s art are not appli- cable. But, In all cases (and such are very numerous) where the wetness proceeds from springs, a farmer ought certainly to examine his field carefully, in order to ascertain whether the evil proceeds from the above cause only, or whether it proceeds from springs. If from the latter, he should endeavour to discover if such springs are distinct and unconnected, or whether they do not flow from some main one, which, being cut oft", would drain a considerable tract of land below the spot where it rises, as has been explained and exemplified in the latter part of Chapter III. From want of due attention to this necessary discrimi- nation, it is very common in Essex, Sufiblk, and other coun- ties where draining is very generally performed, to see many superfluous drains marked out in directions where they can have very little effect, and where a single one, well-directed, would have completely dried the field. As the expense, which might thus be saved, is an object of consequence, too much attention cannot be paid to the inquiry. 72 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. SECTION I. On the Antiquity of the Practice of Hollow- Draining. That the Romans were not unacquainted with most of the modern methods of hollow-draining, appears from all their writers de re rustica. Cato, Palladius, Columella, and Pliny, mention them particularly, and describe some circumstances which have lately been considered as modern improvements. Upon strong tenacious land, where the water could only be received at top, they preferred open drains ; on other soils, where the water could be drawn equally from both sides, or could rise from the bottom, they used covered ones. They knew the propriety of directing them obliquely across the slope of the field, a point in which modern drainers are often erroneous. Their general depth was from three to four feet, filled half way up with small stones ; for want of these, with willow poles, and even with the spray of wood twisted into a rope ; one of the latest practices with straw that has taken place in England. Of that material, also, the Roman farm- ers availed themselves, when others were wanting. The ends of their drains they were careful in fortifying with larger stones, in form of bridges, and the mouths, or outlets, were laid in masonry, a circumstance in which Mr. Whyn Baker, of Ireland, thought himself original. From the depth, it appears that their drains were designed to carry off the water of springs, as well as that caused by rain on a flat or retentive surface soil ; for both which they were, in some cases, equally well adapted.* To the proper direction of the water-furrows, in order to convey all surface water into the drains, and to the clearing and cleaning out of the ditches round the fields, they paid particular attention. These circumstances are sufficient to prove that the Romans understood the business of common draining in great perfection, and that our best cultivated counties had little to boast of in this respect, in superiority * The passages of the ancient writers on this subject are quoted and translated by Mr. Dickson, in his “ Husbandry of the Ancients,” vol. i. p. 358, where the reader may see the details at large. OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 73 to tlie ancients, till Mr. Elkington made the discovery of a method with which they were wholly unacquainted. The best of the French writers on agriculture, De Serves, who wrote in 1600 his Theatre T Agriculture, describes hollow drains particularly : they were filled with stones. SECTION II. When first used in England. It would demand a very careful perusal of all the earlier writers on husbandry to ascertain when this practice was first introduced ; but a circumstance occurred in Sussex, which shews that hollow-draining was in use long before any men- tion would be found of it, were such authors consulted, as no notice of it occurs in Fitzherbert or Norden.* In 1770, Mr. Poole, of that county, informed a farming traveller, “ that near one hundred years ago, a very large oak, two hundred years old, was cut down at Hook. In digging a ditch through the spot where the old stump was, on taking up the remains of it, a d rain was discovered under it, filled with alder branches ; and it is remarkable, that the alder was perfectly sound, the greenness of the bark was preserved, and even some leaves were sound. On taking them out they presently dropped to powder. It is hence very evident, that under-ground draining was practised three hundred years ago in this king- dom. We find, also, that alder is, of all other wood, the best for filling drains. Probably no other, except aquatics, would endure nearly so long. Bushes are generally used, but sallow or willow probably better. The Board of Agriculture has been informed by Richard Preston, Esq., one of its correspondents, that land-draining, according to the present practice, is not of more than forty years standing in his neighbourhood, in Essex. This deserves inquiry ; for it is generally supposed to have been used there long before such a period. * Fitzherbert wrote his hook of husbandry in 1534. -j- Eastern Tour, vol. iii. p. 141. 74 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. SECTION III. Nature of the Moisture, or Wetness, against which they are chiefly used. Springs that proceed from water at any considerable depth in the earth, or which break out, from the variation of certain strata, in hills, which demand deep cutting, and the use of the auger, to work their cure, according to Mr. Elking- ton’s mode of draining, have already been treated of. Hollow drains that come under the present description, are chiefly used to correct that wetness of soil which results from rain ; and which, from flatness of surface, or its retentive quality, stagnates, to the injury of both soil and crops. This is the most general nature of the evil which these drains are intended to remedy ; but by no means exclusively of that caused by land springs, whose seat, apparently, is not below their depth. The wetness proceeding from such is, in some cases, removed by these drains, when deep enough cut, and properly directed ; but in many others, from ignorance in the drainer, great sums of money are thrown away, for want of attending properly to the nature of the evil, and of distinguishing betwixt surface water only, and the oozing of land-springs. SECTION IV. Of the Soils on which they act, and of those on which they have been found to fail. In soils that are so tenacious as to retain water on the sur- face till evaporation carries it off, such as are found in Sussex, Surrey, and in many other counties, this method of draining has been tried, and found entirely to fail. The cause of this can easily be accounted for. Very stiff clay will hold water like a dish (the expression of the farmers in those counties who have attempted to drain such soil); and, consequently, the small portion of water which each drain will carry off, is only what falls immediately above it, or what it can receive at top, when the ground on each side has a descent towards it. The water being all on the surface cannot find its way into them. If they are on a declivity the water will run over OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 75 them, as it does over any other part of the field ; and if they are in a hollow it will stagnate even above them, and will be mostly exhaled before any quantity of it subsides into them. This is, therefore, a more expensive soil to drain, requiring a greater number of trenches, and these very close together, than any other soil whatever. Open trenches, with the ridges and water-furrows properly formed and directed, are the only method whereby its drainage can be effectually accomplished. It is necessary to lay it up in ridges properly placed, and to cut small open drains across the ridges, where requisite, communicating with each other, and with the furrows : and thus all the water-furrows operate as drains. The water, as it falls upon the ridge, immediately makes its way into the fur- rows, and runs along them, while there is descent; and if it is stopped in any of them, by the ground rising, is conveyed by the drains across the ridges into some other furrow where there is a descent, along which it marks its way into some ditch or water-course at the extremity of the field.* In Essex and in Suffolk, where it has been found advan- tageous, the soil is a wet poachy loam, more or less mixed on the surface with vegetable mould ; under that, in some places, a raw hungry loam^ and in others a clay marl. On these soils the effect is very great ; for the upper stratum, where the moisture is chiefly lodged, being in some degree porous, the water is easily extracted from it, by means of the drains. The under-stratum being also of a retentive quality, their depth does not require to be great. When Mr. Young, of Clare, who has had great expe- rience in this mode of hollow-draining, observes, that the improvement by these drains is great on clay soils, he cer- tainly means soils of this description. “ I know from expe- rience, that in clayey soils it will answer perfectly ; that it is the least expensive and the most expeditious, as well as most durable, improvement of any in the whole system of agri- cultural economy.” — This will be further treated of in Sect. XVIII. * It is obvious, that laying up such land in ridges, and cutting drains in proper places, may be of great use, but will not effectually remove the wetness ; as the soil, from its nature, wdll always retain too great a proportion of moisture. It is necessary , therefore, to change the nature of such soil by frequent culture, and the application of manures, which will, in a great degree, lessen the power of retaining water. 76 OF HOLLOW*DRAINING IN GENERAL. SECTION V. By what Rules their Direction is marked. For many years, probably for more than half a century, and possibly during a much longer period, the farmers did not make a proper distinction, in fields that had a declivity, between tracing their drains with the slope, or directing them obliquely across it. Large tracts have been drained, or have been meant to be drained, in the former way, and many, even to this day, are guilty of the same error ; but the best farmers are now attentive to so important a point, and studiously mark the direction of their drains obliquely. They are also careful to give them just the fall sufficient to carry off the water in a gentle, and not a rapid, current ; by which means they are less apt to choke, or blow up, as it is sometimes called, whereby spots in the field have, apparently, an artificial spring formed. Upon fields, level, or nearly so, great numbers of which are found in the eastern counties of England, it has been a common practice (although an expensive one), if the wetness proceeds solely from rain, to mark the drains regu- larly at a rod,*' a rod and half, or two rods, asunder, across the land, from ditch to ditch ; or if the drains, from any small inequality of surface, will flow only at one end, then to stop short, or discontinue their length on one side of the field, as soon as the ditch operates in laying it dry. Where the slopes of a field vary, and fall in different directions, the farmer should attend to such variations, and direct his drains so as to cross obliquely the upper side of each declivity. It is a general rule, not to conduct too many drains to the same mouth or outlet ; for if much water flows in any drain, from having thrown many lateral branches into one main drain, the latter must not only be made larger and deeper, but will even then be liable to fail ; and a failure in that case affects so much a larger space of ground, by im- * Sixteen and a half feet. OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 77 peding the course of so many other drains. On this account, it has been found better to make the drains detached, rather than to connect too many of them together, which occasions much water to be conducted to one mouth. Cases will however occur in which, from the position of the ground, it may be found necessary to join several side branches (wings) into one main drain, On this subject, Mr. Vancouver, in his Agricultural Report of Essex, has the following judicious remark : — If the field proposed to be drained lies greatly upon the descent, every care should be taken to make the drains bear sufficiently horizontally, in the first place, to prevent a too precipitant fall of water, by which the bottoms of the drains would be worn uneven, and a temporary obstruction occasion them to blow ; and, secondly, because the more per- fectly horizontal is the field, so that it lies level free, and affords a sufficient fall for the water, the less occasion will there be for the same number of drains as would be required upon a soil of equal closeness upon the side of a hill. The drains in the field that lies nearly level, drawing equally well upon each side ; wEereas those on the hang of a hill, drawing only from the higher sides of the drains, and conse- quently requiring them to be made much nearer or closer together.” SECTION VI. Season for executing the Work. On this point opinions vary ; some prefering winter, and others summer, When a great quantity of work is to be done, all seasons of the year, free from sharp frosts, must be made use of ; and this is usually the case, w’hen a farmer enters on a lease to a farm which has not been drained, or which requires to be done a second time. Stubbles are done in winter, and fallows in summer ; but when a single field or two are only to be done, the farmer may choose the most convenient season. Many excellent farmers would not do it at any other time than summer, from being then able to execute the cuts in a cleaner and neater manner, and free from that kneading 78 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. and plastering which takes place in winter, and which, they think, tends to prevent the flowing of the water from those minute and imperceptible veins and insterstices of the soil through which the water percolates. They have further remarked, that opening the earth in a dry season gives a tendency to drain it, as the particles of the soil, after being separated and well dried, will not so easily unite again ; whereas, the kneading in winter tends to increase tenacity where it is most to be avoided. Farther, that carting on the fields in winter, to bring on stones or other materials, is more difficult and dangerous than in summer. In opposition, however, to these ideas, Mr. Young, of Clare, in Suffolk, is of a contrary opinion : “ I never land-drain (says he) in summer : two incon- veniences attend it ; the increase of labour in a clayey soil when hard and dry is very considerable, and the want of leisure, and when good labourers are scarce.” The want of labourers, in some places, may be an unan- swerable objection, but the dryness is not ; for if the pre- vious furrows opened by the plough, or last course of plough- ing on arable land, be not left to dry, but the spades follow directly, after a little rain there will be moisture sufficient to make it work freely. Many good drainers prefer executing the work when the land is under a layer ^ i. e. sown down with grass. Lord Petre, on this, observes, that the plough for opening the previous furrows works better on a layer : — “ I prefer a lay, if laid down level, as I have a plough on a very simple construction, with which, and six horses, I can plough from ten to twelve inches deep, and lay the furrows as regular as a man can with a spade, so that after the ditch is digged and filled, the furrow can be put into its place again and rolled with a large roller quite level ; and then I dig but one spit with the bottom land ditching-spade, fourteen inches deep. The expense, 2s. Sd. per 20 rod, the digger returning the furrow to its place. I also use this plough on fallow ; but it does not answer so well, as the moulds fall into the furrows. The expense of digging on fallow is I 5 . 2d. per rod.” When the ground is in summer fallow, is certainly the best time for casting drains that are only for carrying off* surface-water, as the distinctions betwixt the wet and dry OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 79 parts of tlie field is then easily perceptible, and any promi- nent inequalities of surface may then be more easily levelled or reduced, by paring off the heights and adding to the hollows. SECTION VII. Manner in which Drains are partly opened hy the Plough, The method practised by Mr. James Young, of Clare, which he has described himself, from very ample practice, is deserving of attention. He says, “When I have marked the drains in a field (usually a rod asunder), I draw two furrows with a common foot-plough, leaving a haulh betwixt them about fifteen inches wide ; then, with a strong double-breasted plough, made on purpose, I split that baulk, and leave a clean furrow fourteen or fifteen inches below the surface ; but, where the depth of soil requires it (for I like to touch the clay), by a second ploughing 1 sink it to eighteen or twenty inches ; it is then ready for the land ditching-spade, with which I dig fifteen inches deep a drain as naiTow as possible.”* The method followed by some good farmers, who do not possess ploughs made on purpose for the work, is this : with their common plough, drawn by four or five horses, and usually stirring about four or five inches deep, they turn a double furrow, throwing the earth on each side, and leaving a baulk in the middle. This baulk they raise by a second bout in the same manner ; then they go in the open furrow twice with their common double breast-plough, getting what depth they can ; after this, they shovel out all the loose mould and inequalities, to the breadth of about a foot, and thus, having gained a clear open furrow, the depth varying according to the soil and ploughs, but usually about eight or nine inches, they dig one spit with a draining-spade, sixteen inches deep ; thus gaining, in the whole, twenty-four or twenty-five inches. But, as this depth is seldom sufficient, when necessary they throw out another, or even two other spits, which makes the whole depth from thirty to forty inches. * Annals of Agriculture, vol. viii. p. 164. 80 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. SECTION VIIT. Depth and Width. The depth is various, according to the nature of soil, the situation of the field, the expense the farmer is willing to in- cur, and to a diversity of other circumstances. Many years ago, three feet was the common depth in most soils ; but, for twenty years past, they have seldom exceeded thirty or thirty-two inches, and the number that are cut only twenty- four or twenty-six, much more considerable. Main or receiving drains are always a little deeper than the others, having more water to convey, and farther to carry it. The deeper they are dug in pervious soils, the farther they will operate in reducing the moisture to a level, where it can less injure vegetation ; but when the spade reaches an impervious soil, through which water will not percolate, there is no occasion for making the trench any deeper. A few inches, however, in the clay, as a safer channel for the water, is of advantage. One general rule is never to be departed from, which is, that the depth must be sufficient to prevent the impression of the feet of cattle from affecting the position of the materials used in filling them. This must particularly be observed of horses walking in the furrow while ploughing, as they then tread four inches, and perhaps more, below the surface of the ground ; add to these four inches nine or ten more for the materials, and when the drains are only twenty-four deep, there will be nine or ten inches of soil to bear the weight of the horse in the act of ploughing. This, as the earth has been stirred, seems certainly too little, and should apparently ascertain that twenty-four inches is by no means a sufficient depth. If, by going thirty inches down, a tenacious soil is not too deeply entered, a greater depth in a more porous one is not only requisite, but ought to be greatly preferable. In all the modern di'ainages in the eastern counties, the farmers have been very solicitous to cut them as narrow as possible ; by which means a great saving is made in the ma- terials used for filling them, such as bushes, poles, spray, or straw; but if brick or stones are used, of course this rule cannot be adhered to. However, there is no occasion for the OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 81 width being greater than one foot, if the stones are only coupled at bottom, or thrown in promiscuously, or more than sixteen inches if laid in the form of a conduit. Whatever the depth of materials be, the mould that covers them to the surface should never be less than one foot thick, or rather more, in all tillage fields. In pasture land, gravel, if at hand (especially if the soil is very tenacious), is preferable to the mould thrown out, which may be spread in any adjoin- ing hollow. The depth and width, &:c. marked in the Plate, is the proportion that ought to be adopted on all land that is wet from surface water, or from its stagnation in a porous upper soil. SECTION IX. Tools Employed. The instruments which have been long in common use in the eastern parts of the kingdom are extremely simple. While the depths of the drains were more considerable than at present, three spades were in use, to succeed one another, lessening in breadth gradually, in such a manner as to form a regular contraction to the bottom ; but, of late years, cheaper and easier methods have been pursued. By previous ploughing all the spades, except the lower one, have been laid aside ; and where a greater depth than com- mon has been required, not more than two have been used. The scoop, which is pushed or drawn along the bottom of the drain, to clear out the loose moulds, and prepare it for the materials used in filling, varies, in size and breadth, ac- cording to the width of the drain. The draining-spade, which is also of different sizes, is represented in the Plate. SECTION X. Of Digging Hollow Drains. The preceding circumstances point out the manner in which these drains are for the most part dug ; but there is a ma- terial difference in the truth and accuracy with which they G 82 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. are executed, according as a workman is accustomed to the business, and skilful or awkward in handling his tools. The work is almost universally done by measure, at so much a score rods, which, as in similar cases, induces the men to earn as much as possible. They require, however, close attention, to see if they keep to the depth contracted for, and that they deposit the earth so as not to fall in in the act of filling, especially as the surface soil should (on one side at least) be kept free from the clay or lower stratum. In filling, more attention is necessary if done by con- tract, which will be afterwards explained. SECTION XI. Opening Drains by the Plough only, ^c. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, gave a bounty, about twenty years ago, to Mr. Makins, of Suffolk, for having invented a plough to cut hollow drains. There was merit in the idea, but it has long since been entirely laid aside, both in Suffolk and Essex.* Another plough, to answer the same purpose, was invented by Mr. Arbuthnot, of Mitcham, of which an account is given in the Eastern Tour, with a plate and measurement of it. And lately, the Society of Arts have made several trials with a plough for the same purpose, called a mole plough, of a singular construction ; the intention of which is, by consider- able force, to draw a pointed circular iron, at a given depth, through the earth, which shall form a pipe in it, not to be filled with any materials ; but in the expectation, as it is said from experience, that the water will flow freely through the soil it has loosened, to a depth below the roots of the grain, and will find its way by filtration, into the furrows. It is imprudent too readily to suppose a limit to human invention ; but it may be observed, that the probability of an effective hollow-draining plough being invented, that shall work so much cheaper than the spade, as to become an * In Bailey’s “Advancement of Arts” there is a plate and explanation of it, p. 6. OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 83 object of economy, is not flattering : none hitherto tried seem fully to answer this idea ; but there can be no difficulty in making one to prepare for the narrow draining spade, to take one spit at bottom. The repeated ploughings or shov- ellings with commoif tools are expensive, and might probably be executed in a cheaper and more expeditious manner by an open drain plough. How far that invented by Mr. Knowles, and rewarded by the Society of Arts, would at a sufficiently cheap rate answer this purpose, has not been sufficiently ascertained. But it is obvious that, from the force and number of horses or oxen requisite to work them, ploughs calculated for this purpose will never come into general use. Another invention for draining land, in Essex, is thus de- scribed in the Agricultural Report of that county: — “The author of this experiment has constructed, and uses a draining wheel of cast iron, that weighs about 4 cwt. ; it is 4 feet in diameter; the cutting edge, or extreme circumference of the wheel, is half an inch thick, which increases in thickness towards the nave or centre, and will, at 15 inches deep, cut a drain half an inch wide at the bottom, and four inches wide at the top. This wheel is so placed in a frame that it may be loaded at pleasure, and be made to operate to a greater or less depth, according to the resistance made by the ground ; which thus cut in the winter, the wheel tracts are then either filled with straw ropes, and lightly covered over, or left to crack wider and deeper during the ensuing summer. The fissures are then filled with twisted straw or bushes, and covered lightly with some of the most porous earth that may be most conveniently at hand ; and thus upon the grass, or ley land, are hollow drains formed at little or no expense, and which, upon trial, have been found to answer extremely well.” This draining wheel is also described in the Annals of Agriculture, where it is said, that twelve acres have been done with it in one day ; but neither the expense of the ma- chine, nor number of horses required to draw it, has been stated. It works or cuts best when the land is wet and soft. 84 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. SECTION XII. Materials with which they are filled. In respect to the materials for filling th%*tlrains, the farmer must be guided by circumstances of situation, kc . — Those most commonly used, are, 1, stone ; 2, wood ; 3, straw and stubble ; 4, heath or ling ; and 5, bricks made for the purpose. If stone taken from quarries is to be used, and the drain formed like a conduit at bottom, the trench is made wide enough to contain two side stones about six inches asunder, and the same in height, with a cap or flat stone laid over, which covers and secures the cavity through which the water passes.* These drains are more expensive than when the stones are thrown in promiscuously, but are the only ones applicable to springs, which may be prevented from injuring large tracts of land by cuts comparatively short. But in Essex, and the other eastern counties, when hollow' drains are filled with stones, it is usually with flints from chalk, or with stones from gravel pits, or gathered off the fields. Very small stones do not answer well for any but very short drains, in which little water is conveyed ; and if of any size, require a greater width at bottom than wood or straw, and consequently renders the expense of cutting greater. Whether the stones are large or small, they should be very clean, and free from any clay or earth that may adhere to them, and put in carefully, so as not to tumble down any of the earth of the drain, which might be apt to choke up the interstices betwixt them. Upon the subject of filling drains with wood. Lord Petre thus expresses his opinion : — “The drains filled with wood, and covered as usual with straw or rushes, are preferable to stones or any other kind of materials ; the reason is, as the wood decays the w'ater continues to pass. When filled with stones, and the drains stop up, which must be expected to take place in time, the earth becomes quite solid round the stones, and as they do not decay, the filtering of the water is for ever obstructed : not so when bushes or wood are used ; continual filtering and * Another mode of laying the bottom stones is described in Sir II, Fletcher’s communication. Section xviii. OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 85 draining are then for ever to be perceived ; and by repeating the operation a second time, cutting the drains transversely of the old ones, the benefit of the filtering’s throuQjh the rotten wood is secured, and the spewing up of old , broken, and damaged drains corrected and carried off. Moreover, as bushes form a much greater number of cavities than either stones or poles, they are less able to stop up, and encourages filtering more than larger and more solid bodies.” “ A load of bushes containing one hundred and twenty fagots will do about three hundred and sixty rods ; and a load of straw containing one hundred and twenty bottles, the same ; the load of bushes is generally worth about 14.9., and the straw I 85 . per load. I ^ therefore calculate this expense about 125. per acre, ditches a rod apart.” Richard Preston, Esq., of Blackmore, a correspondent of the Board, prefers, on twenty years’ experience, black thorns to every other material for filling. There is also another method of filling with wood, by sus- pending the fagots or bushes upon cross billets set on end in the bottom of the drain, as represented by No. 5, in the Plate. This kind of drain has been successfully practised in Berwickshire, where it is said to have continued running for thirty years. It has also been attempted at Livingston, the seat of Sir W. Cunninghame, but is not approved of there ; for it is said, that the feet of the cattle, in ploughing, went down and deranged the billets that supported the brushword, and con- sequently put a stop to the discharge of the water ; but this has been owing to the want of a sufficient depth of earth above the wood, which was not more than six inches.* This kind of drain is, however, much recommended by the writer of the Agricultural Report of the County of Caermarthen, in Wales. He says, The completest method I have yet known is to cut the strongest willows, or other aquatic brushwood, into lengths of about twenty inches, and place them alternately in the drain, with one end against one side of the bottom, and the other leaning against the opposite side. Having placed the strong wood in this manner, I fill the space left between them on the upper side with the small * Sir W. Cunninghame imported this mode of draining from Richmond Park, near London, where it has been very much practised. 86 OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. brushwood ; upon which a few rushes or straw being laid, as before mentioned, the work is done. Willow, alder, asp, or beech boughs, are exceedingly durable, if put into the drain green, or before the sap is dried ; but if they are suffered to become dry, and then laid under ground, a rapid decay is the consequence. I have seen willow taken out of a bog after lying there thirty years, and its bark was as fresh and sappy as if it had been recently cut from the hedge ; and it is well known that beech laid green in the water will continue sound for any length of time.” There is another method preferable to these, and requiring less wood : it is to fix in at every foot distance a stick, in manner of a hoop or semicircular arch; and along these to lay the longer poles or branches longitudinally. This will form a secure vacuity below, and an arch capable of support- ing any weight of earth necessary above it. From its known durability in water, and being sufficiently pliant, the young branches or prunings of larch are well adapted for this purpose. Mr. Majendie is of opinion, that wood of eighteen years growth is much more durable than that which is ten or twelve. Respecting filling drains with straw, the following observa- tions by Mr. Vancouver, in his Report of Essex Husbandry, merit attention : — “ When the soil is a very close and retentive clay, the drains should be made proportionably near to each other, shallow, and filled with straw only, it being totally unneces- sary to use wood, or any more durable material, upon land where the sides of the drains are not likely to crumble in. Upon a soil like this the drains should seldom exceed the distance of three or four yards apart, and twenty inches deep, or such a depth as may be the most conveniently obtained, by first opening the drains with the plough, shovelling the bottom of the lowest furrow, and then digging one spit only with the land ditch spade ; and which, materials included, will cost about 2s. 6d. per score rods. Drains formed in this manner, through the tough and retentive clays, will be found, in a short time after the work is finished, to have formed over the straw with which the drain was filled, an arch of sufficient strength to support the incumbent weight of the soil, and the casual traffic of the field. In twelve or eighteen months, it may be observed. OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 87 that the straw, being of one uniform substance, is all rotted and carried away, leaving a clear pipe through the land in every drain, into which the passage of the water may have been much facilitated, by a due attention to the filling of the drains with the most friable and porous parts of the surface the field might have afforded.” The latest and best improvement in filling hollow drains with straw, is that of twisting the straw into a rope, described in the following passage concerning some improvements in Essex : — “ The most prominent feature of his improvements is, a new method of filling land drains. The common practice is to tread in loose straw ; but Mr. Bedwell has invented a method of winding it into a hard rope, as large as a man’s arm, which he forces to the bottom of the drains, and finds, from experience, copied successfully by his neighbours, to convey the water off more readily, and to have much longer duration ; at the same time, the quantity of straw consumed is not increased, and the operation of filling accelerated. After the cattle have picked it over, he finds the straw tougher, and in better order to wind, than when quite dry and fresh.” The figure in the Plate is a representation (not of Mr. Bedwell’s), but of a more simple movable machine, for twisting the ropes to be used in the same manner.* The next material to be noticed is bricks made for the purpose. These have already been described in Chap. III. and Plate 12. They are effective, but expensive, and not so well adapted for surface-draining, except for conducting away springs, in which work a small extent of drains may answer for a large tract of land. These bricks are made of various shapes and sizes, but generally have a semicircular cavity for the water to flow in, and rest, in stiff soils, on the ground ; in soft soils, upon each other, forming a circular tube, or on common bricks, as a foundation. In Essex, and other counties, pipes of clay, about eighteen inches long, with an opening of three or four inches diameter, are burnt and applied to similar purposes, but are best calcu- lated for conveying any small rill of water or spring for the supply of a house, kc. * See Foote’s Report of Middlesex. 88 OF HOLLOW-DRATNING IN GENERAL. The following judicious remarks respecting the arch brick, represented by No. 3, in Plate 16, have been stated by the writer of the “ Agricultural Survey of Salop : ” I have made what I call a brick arch for that purpose (of draining), full an inch thick, and a foot long, nearly of the shape of a ridge tile, but being not more than five inches wide at bottom, and six inches semi-diameter. It cannot possibly be used in building ; but such having been made at a brick-kiln, the excise officer thought them taxable, and charged them 2s. 6d. per thousand, as common bricks. Two members of parlia- ment did me the honour to represent this at the proper office in London, in hopes of getting off the tax, which has not yet been done. This has checked the use of them; for nothing can be more irksome than a tax upon a material to be used in an essential improvement upon land ; besides, there can be no more lawful pretence for taxing the arch brick of that shape, than there is for taxing the earthern pans and cups at a pottery. These arches may be made when common bricks are at 155. per thousand without tax, at about 305. per thousand, which will lay a cavity of six by five inches, and near 340 yards in length.” SECTION xiir. Mode of Filling. There is one iclrcumstance in filling the drains attended to particularly by farmers who are most solicitous to have the work well performed, and that is, to contract with their men only for digging and leaving clean. In order that the filling may be done by men paid by the day, as a greater security that it should be executed with all possible care, and is usually attended by the farmer himself, or some confidential servant. This is a rational practice, and merits being followed. Mr. Young, of Clare, observes, in the paper quoted before, that It is an invariable rule with me never to suffer the man who digs to cover up the drains, but it is left open for me or my bailiff* to examine ; and then it is well filled up to the shoulder with wheat-stubble, cut and stacked for the pur- pose immediately after the harvest, and a small stick or two at the outlet, to prevent its being stopped by an external ac- OF HOLLOW-DRAINING IN GENERAL. 89 cldent. Lastly, with a common plough I turn a furrow of the upper soil or mould upon the drain, taking care not to turn in any of the dead soil raised by the land-ditch spade, which ought always to be laid on the outside and scattered over the land. It is right not to let the drains lie open any length of time, lest they get injured by wet or frost; my general rule is to fill them up every day.” The different methods of filling both with stone, wood, and straw, will be better understood by examining the Plate. SECTION XIV. Of the Expense. The expense of these drains will, of course, vary with the soil, depth, price of labour, &:c. ; and these circumstances are so different in different districts, and even in different parishes, that it accounts for the various reports of writers on the subject. The price in Suffolk to dig and fill two spit drains is 85 . 4c?. to 3^. Qd. a score rods, without beer. In the following notes of Essex draining, other rates are mentioned, and also the cost of materials used in filling, an article liable to equal variations with the labour. Mr. James Young says, — “ It is not easy to ascertain the price of carting the wheat-stubble to the place where it will be wanted, and stacking it, because the value must depend upon the distance ; it is equally difficult to say what the work of the ploughs ought to be valued at, for though several acres may be drawn out in a day with one plough, yet I never choose to do above two or three hours’ work at a time ; therefore I shall leave every farmer to fix his own price upon these parts of the business, only desiring him to consider that it is work that wdll wait for a leisure time, and frequently, if the horses were not so employed, they would earn nothing. “ I pay for digging the land-drains I 5 . 8■ ciit.be thicker thru the here/ or' the Otiticc will admit the Depdh of the Drain to he , (A.reprcseutiiuj the Depth of it at that Zei el ,) the ranainina part of that flar tivt/i A. to H.iniist he perforated hr the Auper to the Tail or lowcrt point or' the Sand or liock at B, when the Spring will im///cdiLA>' /K/vr.iv/////Ar ///. 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