The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1880-11-12
Hints on Land Draining.

Tile are better than stone, and if labor is to
be paid for, and is worth anything, they are
cheaper. If stone are ut hand, and need re.
moval to clear the land on which they lie, the
farmer can afford to pay $15 to $50 per acre
for tile, and dump the stone in a pile, rather
than use them for covered drains The tile
are less likely to clog up with sand and mud
and cost less than half the labor to dig the
drains and lay them.
1t is not good plantO dig drains long be-
fore they are laid with tile or stone. They
are apt to cave in, especially in frosty wealth
cr; and, in case it is desirable to do such
work in winter, it is a better plan to lay out
the drain in the fall, remove the sod and
plow frequently the bottom of the bitches
thus partially dug, in order to keep them
from freezing. AS fast as the bottoms are
dug out to proper grade, they should be laid
with tile or stone and Immediately covered.
One very essential point, in fact the most
essential one, in drainage is to give the drains
n continuous fall. Ifany point is dug out
too low, the water will stand there, and de-
post mud until the passage becomes Distract
ed 1t is easy enough to attain this contin-
uous fall ifthere is water flowing in the ditch
at the time of digging, as the water will
stand at any point below the proper grade;
but in case the ditch is dry and the bottom
of uneven character as to hardness, it will
need close watching to prevent the digger
from going too deep in spots where the bot
tom is soft The level is the only safe guide
in such cases.
When the bottom is clay or hard gravel,
there is little trouble in making covered
drains work well, especially where there is a
good fall to the water but when the bottom
is sandy or peaty, and the fall slight, much
care will be required to secure good working
of the drains. Stones are not satisfactory
for such places, and tiles only are to be trust
ed these should be laid on strips of rough
boards, if the bottom is soft, to prevent
settling, and should be covered with an inch
or two of tan bark or sawdust, if it can be
had, to prevent infiltration of mud or sand
The best place to utilize stone is in laying
open bitches, walls &c, or making roads,
To dig covered drain for stones requires
the removal gilmore than double the earth
needed for tile, and after all is not so good
n job.
1t is often desirable to introduce surface
water into system of covered drains; to do
this safely the only way is to let the surface
water fall into q well, or catch basin, dug out
one or two feet below the level of the drains,
large enough to allow the flow of surface
water to settle and deposit its mud before
entering the drains the accumulated mud will
need removal as occasion requires
Inc COsI oIlne Drainage Oh Huny Il wet nOlc
would be returned in one to three years of
good crops, and the land thus reclaimed is
usually the very best in New England, being
able to withstand drouth better than high
land, and containing abundance of vegeta-
BILE mould.
In case the land to be drained is pure
peat bog it will need the addition of sand, or
loan, as well as drainage, to make really
good soil. Pure peat when drained becomes
dry and dusty, and needs the admiXture of
the soil to make it fertile; three or four inches
of any kind ofloam spread and worked in
will accomplish this purpose.