The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-11-19

narrow ditch. while it gets rid OF the
lines Of grass and weed on the o!u
narrow terraces. But n terrace IS
needed only as a last resort to atone
for shallow plowing. what we heso
On our red clay hills is to retain ,ne
rainfall deeply in the soil. Deep
blowing will go a long way TOWARDS
doing this. A hillside plowed we'll
and SUBSIDIZED till there is sixteen
inches Of loose soil and subsoll, and
the rainfall kept spread out by lever
cultivation, and no valleys mace 70
gather a head of water, Will rarely
wash disastrously. if the soil is kept
we'll supplied with organic decay ana
a cover crop always at hand TO turn
under for a hoed crop.
Then, if in addition to the deep
blowing, there are ines of tiles tax
ing the place Of the terrace hneS
around the hillside, we will not only
have the very best protection against
washing, but the best protecuon
against drouths that are SO damaging
to crops on the hills.
Earthen tiles are doubtless the best
and most permanent OF under-dTalns
either for the lowlands or the MUS.
| But the tiles are often beyond the
reach Of the farmer, and some cheap
err homemade substitute can Often
be made to answer until tiles can De
afforded. The sooner you under
drain your land in some way the
sooner you will be enabled to do the
work in the best manner.
Where one has hills we're with
broken rocks, these can be made into
very effective drains, if properly used.
Many years ago | had a spring that
had been used within the m or
anyone living. But all at once the
surface above the cpring became
flooded and the spring weak. On dig
ging down, l found that what had
been used for SO many years as a
spring was only the outlet Of a stone
drain and that the real spring was a
hundred yards further up the hill.
No one could remeber when the drain
was made, as the place was a very
old one, but that drain had been
working for nearly a hundred years,
SO far as we could ascertain. A stone
drain can be made by setting rocks
on each side of the ditch and placing
larger rocks on as a cover and then
filing In with small broken rocks.
These drains can be made very effec-
tive on hill slopes where the bitches
can be made deep, and on low lands
too, where q good fall can be had fol
a deep ditch. But one important
point, not only with these, but with
tiles, is that the bottom Of the ditch
shall have a regular and uniform fal
and that there are no Says in it t.
collect sand and silt to choke thu
drain. Rock drains are the hes
possible substitute for tiles, and i
well made are very lasting.
1 have also seen very effectiv,
under-drains made by making lon!
, boxes with stuff six inches wide
nailed together, breaking joints al
the way. The water will get int
them all right through the cracks
and I know Of such drains that hav
/ been in use in North Carolina for ia
more than twenty years, for lumbe
will rarely decay much when burie
deeply in the soil and always KEEP
wet.
Then there is another form Of un
der-drain that I have used with SUI
; cess. l had nearly thirty years agf
a cove on a river bottom s~urrOunde
. by steep hills. It was very wet an
covered with willows. 1 had the Wi
v lows grubbed out, and cut a ditch a
4 around next the foot Of the hills t
cut off the springs. From this ditc
l took other bitches running straigl
to the river, where I had a fine fa]
l then cut and skinned pine poles fro1
the thicket and laid two in the ditc]
n side by side, with a space betweel
y A larger pole was laid on top so as
n form a drain. Then pine straw W.
- packed in to keep the earth from Sc
= Ting into the drain and the ditch
!, were filled. This was, as I have sal
nearly thirty years ago, n the Ia
time ! saw that piece of land it had
IN splendid growth of red clover on
If twenty years after; the poles we
. laid, and I have no doubt hat II
an land is still drained. Now almost an,
"a one can get pine poles, and they w
make drains that will enable you
ed clear out the unsishtly ditch banks.
r. LUMBER RESOURCES OF
II NJ 1Aror,