Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-09-13

Farmers Of limited experience i'll draining
wet land, not unfrequently spend an unneces-
sary amount Of labor and money in digging
bitches where they are not needed. The in-
junction ''be sure you are right, then 60
ahead, was never more applicable anywhere
than in the matter of laying out drains.
Draining is one of the most costly, as well M
the most useful operations Of farm improve
ment on those lands which need it, and be-
cause the necessary expense is so great, it is
Of the utmost importance that no useless out
lay be incurred. Most farmers drain too lit
tie They dread to begin job which looks
like a great undertaking, but those who do
begin without first learning from books or
otherwise what others already know upon the
subject often perform much labor aud incur
considerable expense for tiles or digging
which is entirely unnecessary. Some kinds
of land can only he drained thoroughly by
bitches dug at distances Of thirty or forty feet
apart. Claycy lands having but slight III
cination are Of this class
Land, TO be well drained, must be so ditch
ed that the surplus water will be carried oil
in "A short time after a rainfall. Lands which
are naturally loose and porous need fewer
drains than those which are composed chief
ly Of stiff clay, which holds the water like
basin The lands which most need draining
in many parts of New England are the mar
row, crooked swales which cross almost ey-
cry farm in the hilly districts. These swalcs
are the natural beds of small streams per
haps too small for any visible flow except in
the spring, but yet sufficient 10 keep the soil
too wet for cultivation, or for producing any
but the poorer kind of grasses. A single
spring yielding no more water than one would
wish, if laying an aqueduct to his buildings,
may il the wHter is allowed to trickle through
the soil, keep an acre or more of good land
tno ,yat for the plOuub r cultiyaior
Before deciding where to dig drains in &
swalc, one should first learn from what direc-
ton the surplus water comes, whether from
springs at the sides and along the whole
length, or only from single source mt the
head of the stream. 1t is not unnatural TO
find near the top Of hills considerable tracts
of level, swampy land, the drainage from
which, finding its way down the sides, pro-
duees the swaley land 30 common in all hilly
districts Now, if one Of these swales is made
wet wholly by water running ON from above,
it would be a waste Of labor and money TO cut
il all up with drains, for a single ditch run
ming from the lower TO the upper portion,
will as eifectually carry of the water, and
leave the land on either side in condition fdr
cultivation, as though system Of herring
bone drainage had been laid out and charged
for by the most skillful engineer in the land.
Many people seem TO look upon land drain
dBN ~ n'iA'NhAAb W NiAAAN''A'S "Ai'h ~ ~
really as simple as playing in the dirt or pad
ding in tho water, Water runs down hill
II it runs on the top of our fields, or if il
spreads out and fills the soil full of water tC
the surface, it is in the way of cultivation
To remove it We have only to make channe
below the surface and keep the water in it
Water stands on the surface of our fields be
cause the water is lighter than the material
OF which the fields are composed. Were i
otherwise, we should find the sand, loan, anC
clay at the top and the water underneath
Water passes down through our soils whei
the materials are loose and porous like coars
sand, but remains ON or in the soil when sup
ported by layer Of earth so fine and com
pact rs TO prevent the water from passin
through. This is the condition in which W
hud most of the swamps and swales the
are underlaid by stratum Of clay or hard
pan which holds the water us in basin
Sometimes this hard-pan is near the surface
as in most swaley Soils at other times We fin
it many feet below, as in ponds and swampi
To drain a swamp or pond il is only niece
sary TO break a hole in the side of the BASH
when the water will run out. To drain