Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1865-11-03
Making Drains with Plank.

Stones suitable for forming a channel
for the, water in the bottom of = often,
are often scarce, or wanting entirely. aud,
tiles cannot be always obtained within
eonvenleet distance, but planss are CON-
paralr$y cheap and easily got almost
ev@ Swaere. Where the subsoI is COM
pact, pauls may be used with the assur-
ance that they viii last in tae drain 30
or 40 years, and as long as they last,
they viii be ialy equal to tile or stone
The writer has litiel plank drains on his
own farm, the wood Of which hid not
been prepared in any way, yet, after hav-
iny lain 50 years, they were in effective
condition.
To- best way to use p'an'is is, to saw
He R.all OF a certain length. aud lay
tlem C oss Sise OF tac ditch. Whcn they
are thus laid, planks Of al widths may
be use W very economically, and make
!; much stronger drain. than When they
are placed len.thwisa. To mon with
horse-siw win easily cut NJ thousand
feet Of plank in lG-iaeh pieces in less
taAn two hours. P.anNs should always
bewe.l seasoned before they are put az
der ground, as they viii last much longer
than if green, and il every piece were
dipped in eea tar a few weeks previous
TO being Lid in the ditch. they would, no
doubt, last 100 years. We know Of some
while-wood gas pipe, soaked in coal tar.
which. showed no si-ns oil decay at all,
after it had b zen il the ground - years.
When laying dry planks in the ditch,
leave them temporarily about one-lonrth
Of an iuch apart they will soon swell
md touch.
Ii there is little danger fiat the earth
will be washed away, excavate the bottom
with offsets OH each side, laying the
planks on these Shout lers Or oft,cts. The
writer has lald within the last - years
hundreds Of rods Of plank drains, with
tae channel to inches deep, the pllnls
10 inches long aud such drains give ex-
eellent satisfaction to this time. Some
of them have carried fer 10 years
stream as large 3-inch pipe, without
being INSTRUCTED in single sns'ance.
II the earth, whore the draining IL
done, is so shaky and loose that the water
might wash it away, it is not wise to use
planks, unless the sides are protected
with wood. After the ditch is dug. say
10 inches wide OF the bottom, the corners
must be dressed out true, SO that scAnt.
ling will lie solidly and squarely. 1 he
size of the side strips shoali be > >
inches square. and , ,, , X l. and ,
The bottom of the ditch should be point.
I'd to give current when there is bat 1T
tie water, ana a!sc to prevent it washing
the earth from under the side pieces
The planks should always DC assorted
previous to being laid. Al the best ones
should be placed by themselves towards
the lower end Of the drain. If there are
any poor pieces, better burn them for
irewood, or lay them together at Tie up,
per end or in short branches. One poor
piece Of plank will render a good drain
useless in few years. II poor pieces
be all kept together wen the ditch fails
they will all be deeayed nearly alike
The same is true Of good panks. Great
care should be exercised in returning the
first dirt into ditca, lest some Of the
planks be displaced. Before using a
pillow or scraper to cover with, shovel Ii
enough of the hard earth, to hold tao
planks in place. The earth that was
thrown out last, should be returned first,
especially if it is cold and unfcrtile.-
Every ditch should be filed heaping full
to keep surface water from washing opea
holes and filling the drain with earth
Am Al