The Portland daily press., 1898-12-22
DRAINING HILLsIDEs.

Underdrainage to Prevent Surface
washing and Deepen the Soil.
Many farmers whose land is rolling or
billy do not appreciate the benefit that
understanding 1t would give them. The
soil is thin and they complain that the
water runs off too rapidly. That is in
deed just the trouble. There is only
thin stratum on the surface that is per-
meable by water, and when the floods
come they carry every winter more or
less of this surface soil into the valleys
below. The American Cultivator, look
ing at ths matter in this light says;
Wherever the subsoil of hills lie clay an
underdrain sunk three feet deep will
cause the water that comes to it to sink
into the soil and be carried off by the
drain instead of on the surface,
On very steep hillsides it is not best
to dig bitches straight up and down the
hill. A diagonal course leading the wa
ter across the hill, with a gradual de-
scent to the lower part, will be much
better. OF course several drains will
be needed, running parallel, in hill
of much size, and all may run into an
open ditch on the lower side of the hill.
We dislike to run side hill drains into a
large underground conduit. More or
less dirt will be loosened and brought
down in the drains. The covered con-
duit will often need to be cleaned. So
will the open ditch, but it will be much
less trouble than the underdrain. Wher-
ever there is sudden stoppage of rapid
descent there will be large deposit OF
silt, and at such place deep, wide hole
two or three feet below the tile should
be made to be filed with water. In this
still water all the soil brought from the
heights above will be deposited, and
from this on the farther side drain
gan be run that will take only the pure
water above the surface of the silt,
By Thus draining hillsides all the
surface wash can be prevented. What
comes down through the tiles will be
very little except for the first few years.
while the soil is settling. After an nm
derdrain is thus established in it's posi-
ton it undergoes very few changes
The effect of frost on moist ground is
to expand and deepen it, so that it will
absorb more water, In this way the
hillside may be given as deep soil and
with as much fertility as the best low
land, with the advantage over the latter
that it is not likely to be oyerfiowed
with water which remains stagnant.
On many upland hillsides springs
will be struck in the progress OF under
draining, or there may be springs that
appear even now on the surface. These
springs ought always to be tapped.
Wherever there is wet place in the
hillside little digging will probably
find the spring that originates it. Sole
or round tiles should always be used on
hillside draining. Where horseshoe tiles
are used the edges Of the tiles are liable
to be undermined by washing away OF
the soil between them, and in this way
the drain is soon spoiled. With sole OF
round tiles there is no such friction on
the soil beneath
Many hillsides are too rocky for prof
liable draining, and especially those
that are very springy But on almost
all of them ID is possible to make short
underdrains from wet places to the low
err grounds, where 10 can often in rocky
soil find assures in the rocks through
which 1t may pass to the wales below
The greater part of the rainfall Oh
mountains thus finds it's way to the sea
board. II the mountain streams brough
in surface floods all the rain that falls
1t would make greater floods than any
that ara now known. This is shown i.
the heavy floods that come when til
ground ia covered with ice, so that th
natural escape through absorption b.
the surface soil is stopped.