Chapter I: Preface

The Agriculture of America has seemed to me to demand some light upon the subject of Drainage; some work, which, with an exposition of the various theories, should give the simplest details of the practice, of draining land. This treatise is an attempt to answer that demand, and to give to the farmers of our country, at the same time, enough of scientific principles to satisfy intelligent inquiry, and plain and full directions for executing work in the field, according to the best known rules. It has been my endeavor to show what lands in America require drainage, and how to drain them best, at least expense; to explain how the theories and the practice of the Old World require modification for the cheaper lands, the dearer labor, and the various climate of the New; and, finally, to suggest how, through improved implements and processes, the inventive genius of our country may make the brain assist and relieve the labor of the hand.

With some hope that my humble labors, in a field so broad, may not have entirely failed of their object, this work is offered to the attention of American farmers.

H. F. F.

THE PINES, EXETER, N. H., March, 1859.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

PAGE.

Elkington's Mode 32, 33
Ditch and Bore-hole 35
Keythorpe System 42
Theory of Springs 80-84
Plug Drainage 106, 107
Mole Plow 108
Wedge Drains 111
Shoulder Drains 111
Larch Tube 112
Pole Drain 113
Peat Tiles and Tool 113
Stone Drains 115-117
Draining Bricks 121
Round Pipes 122
Horse-shoe Tile 124
Sole-Tile 125
Pipes and Collar 126
Flat-bottomed Pipe-Tile 129
Drains across Slope 150
Draining Irregular Strata 162
Relief Drains 162
Small Outlet 178
Large Outlet 179, 180
Outlet, with Flap 181
Well, with Silt Basin 186
Peep-hole 188
Spring in Drained Field 189
Main of Two Tiles 194
Main of Several Tiles 194
Plan of Drained Field 195
Junction of Drains 196
Branch Pipe 197
Daines' Tile Machine 209
Pratt's Tile Machine 210
Tiles, laid well and ill 229
Square and Plumb-Level 229
Spirit Level 230
Staff and Target 231
Span, or A Level 232
Grading Trenches by Lines 233
Challoner's Level 235
Drain Spades 235
Spade with Spur 236
Common Shovel and Spade 236
Long-handled Round Shovel 237
Shovel Scoop 237
Irish Spade 238
Birmingham Spades 240
Narrow Spades 242
English Bottoming Tools 243
Drawing and Pushing Scoops 244
Pipe-Layer 244
Pipe-Laying 245
Pick-axes 245
Drain Gauge 246
Elkington's Auger 246
Fowler's Drain Plow 247
Pratt's Ditcher 249
Paul's Ditcher 250
Germination 277, 278
Land before Drainage and After 286
Heat in Wet Land 288
Cracking of Clays 325
Drainage of Cellar 355
Drainage of Barn Cellar 359
Plan of Rand's Drainage 372
" H. F. French's Drainage 376

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

Why this Treatise does not contain all Knowledge.--Attention of
Scientific Men attracted to Drainage.--Lieutenant Maury's
Suggestions.--Ralph Waldo Emerson's Views.--Opinions of J. H.
Klippart, Esq.; of Professor Mapes; B. P. Johnson, Esq.; Governor
Wright, Mr. Custis, &c.--Prejudice against what is
English.--Acknowledgements to our Friends at Home and Abroad.--The
Wants of our Farmers.

CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF THE ART OF DRAINING.

Draining as old as the Deluge.--Roman Authors.--Walter Bligh in
1650.--No thorough drainage till Smith, of Deanston.--No mention of
Tiles in the "Compleat Body of Husbandry," 1758.--Tiles found 100
years old.--Elkington's System.--Johnstone's Puns and
Peripatetics.--Draining Springs.--Bletonism, or the Faculty of
Perceiving Subterranean Water.--Deanston System.--Views of Mr.
Parkes.--Keythorpe System.--Wharncliffe System.--Introduction of
Tiles into America.--John Johnston, and Mr. Delafield, of New York.

CHAPTER III.

RAIN, EVAPORATION AND FILTRATION.

Fertilizing Substances in Rain Water.--Amount of Rain Fall in
United States; in England.--Tables of Rain Fall.--Number of Rainy
Days, and Quantity of Rain each Month.--Snow, how Computed as
Water.--Proportion of Rain Evaporated.--What Quantity of Water Dry
Soil will Hold.--Dew Point.--How Evaporation Cools
Bodies.--Artificial Heat Underground.--Tables of Filtration and
Evaporation.

CHAPTER IV.

DRAINAGE OF HIGH LANDS--WHAT LANDS REQUIRE DRAINAGE.

What is High Land?--Accidents to Crops from Water.--Do Lands need
Drainage in America?--Springs.--Theory of Moisture, with
Illustrations.--Water of Pressure.--Legal Rights as to Draining our
Neighbor's Wells and Land.--What Lands require Drainage?--Horace
Greeley's Opinion.--Drainage more Necessary in America than in
England; Indications of too much Moisture.--Will Drainage Pay?

CHAPTER V.

VARIOUS METHODS OF DRAINAGE.

Open Ditches.--Slope of Banks.--Brush Drains.--Ridge and
Furrow.--Plug-Draining.--Mole-Draining.--Mole-Plow.--Wedge and
Shoulder Drains.--Larch Tubes.--Drains of Fence Rails, and
Poles.--Peat Tiles.--Stone Drains Injured by Moles.--Downing's
Giraffes.--Illustrations of Various Kinds of Stone Drains.

CHAPTER VI.

DRAINAGE WITH TILES.

What are Drain-Tiles?--Forms of Tiles.--Pipes.--Horse-shoe
Tiles.--Sole-Tiles.--Form of Water-Passage.--Collars and their
Use.--Size of Pipes.--Velocity.--Friction.--Discharge of Water
through Pipes.--Tables of Capacity.--How Water enters Tiles.--Deep
Drains run soonest and longest.--Pressure of Water on
Pipes.--Durability of Tile Drains.--Drain-Bricks 100 years old.

CHAPTER VII.

DIRECTION, DISTANCE AND DEPTH OF DRAINS.

DIRECTION OF DRAINS.--Whence comes the Water?--Inclination of
Strata.--Drains across the Slope let Water out as well as Receive
it.--Defence against Water from Higher Land.--Open
Ditches.--Headers.--Silt-basins.

DISTANCE OF DRAINS.--Depends on Soil, Depth, Climate, Prices,
System.--Conclusions as to Distance.

DEPTH OF DRAINS.--Greatly Increases Cost.--Shallow Drains first
tried in England.--10,000 Miles of Shallow Drains laid in Scotland
by way of Education.--Drains must be below Subsoil plow, and
Frost.--Effect of Frost on Tiles and Aqueducts.

CHAPTER VIII.

ARRANGEMENT OF DRAINS.

Necessity of System.--What Fall is Necessary.--American
Examples.--Outlets.--Wells and Relief-Pipes.--Peep-holes.--How to
secure Outlets.--Gate to Exclude Back-Water.--Gratings and Screens
to keep out Frogs, Snakes, Moles, &c.--Mains, Submains, and Minors,
how placed.--Capacity of Pipes.--Mains of Two Tiles.--Junction of
Drains.--Effect of Curves and Angles on Currents.--Branch
Pipes.--Draining into Wells or Swallow Holes.--Letter from Mr.
Denton.

CHAPTER IX.

THE COST OF TILES--TILE MACHINES.

Prices far too high; Albany prices.--Length of Tiles.--Cost in
Suffolk Co., England.--Waller's Machine.--Williams' Machine.--Cost
of Tiles compared with Bricks.--Mr. Denton's Estimate of
Cost.--Other Estimates.--Two-inch Tiles can be Made as Cheaply as
Bricks.--Process of Rolling Tiles.--Tile Machines.--Descriptions of
Daines'.--Pratt & Bro.'s.

CHAPTER X.

THE COST OF DRAINAGE.

Draining no more expensive than Fencing.--Engineering.--Guessing
not accurate enough.--Slight Fall sufficient.--Instances.--Two
Inches to One-Thousand Feet.--Cost of Excavation and
Filling.--Narrow Tools required.--Tables of Cubic contents of
Drains.--Cost of Drains on our own Farm.--Cost of Tiles.--Weight
and Freight of Tiles.--Cost of Outlets.--Cost of Collars.--Smaller
Tiles used with Collars.--Number of Tiles to the Acre, with
Tables.--Length of Tiles varies.--Number of Rods to the Acre at
different Distances.--Final Estimate of Cost.--Comparative Cost of
Tile-Drains and Stone-Drains.

CHAPTER XI.

DRAINING IMPLEMENTS.

Unreasonable Expectations about Draining Tools.--Levelling
Instruments.--Guessing not Accurate.--Level by a Square.--Spirit
Level.--Span, or A Level.--Grading by
Lines.--Boning-rod.--Challoner's Drain Level.--Spades and
Shovels.--Long-handled Shovel.--Irish Spade, description and
cut.--Bottoming Tools.--Narrow Spades.--English Bottoming
Tools.--Pipe-layer.--Pipe-laying Illustrated.--Pick-axes.--Drain
Gauge.--Drain Plows, and Ditch-Diggers.--Fowler's Drain
Plow.--Pratt's Ditch-Digger.--McEwan's Drain Plow.--Routt's Drain
Plow.

CHAPTER XII.

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR OPENING DRAINS AND LAYING TILES.

Begin at the Outlet.--Use of Plows.--Leveling the Bottom.--Where to
begin to lay Pipes.--Mode of Procedure.--Covering Pipes.--Securing
Joints.--Filling.--Securing Outlets.--Plans.

CHAPTER XIII.

EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE UPON THE CONDITION OF THE SOIL.

Drainage deepens the Soil, and gives the roots a larger
pasture.--Cobbett's Lucerne 30 feet deep.--Mechi's Parsnips 13 feet
long!--Drainage promotes Pulverization.--Prevents
Surface-Washing.--Lengthens the Season.--Prevents Freezing
out.--Dispenses with Open Ditches.--Saves 25 per cent. of
Labor.--Promotes absorption of Fertilizing Substances from the
Air.--Supplies Air to the Roots.--Drains run before Rain; so do
some Springs.--Drainage warms the Soil.--Corn sprouts at 55 deg.; Rye
on Ice.--Cold from Evaporation.--Heat will not pass downward in
Water.--Count Rumford's Experiments with Hot Water on
Ice.--Aeration of Soil by Drains.

CHAPTER XIV.

DRAINAGE ADAPTS THE SOIL TO GERMINATION AND VEGETATION.

Process of Germination.--Two Classes of Pores in Soils, illustrated
by cuts.--Too much Water excludes Air, reduces Temperature.--How
much Air the Soil Contains.--Drainage Improves the Quality of
Crops.--Drainage prevents Drought.--Drained Soils hold most
Water.--Allow Roots to go Deep.--Various Facts.

CHAPTER XV.

TEMPERATURE AS AFFECTED BY DRAINAGE.

Drainage Warms the Soil in Spring.--Heat cannot go down in Wet
Land.--Drainage causes greater Deposit of Dew in Summer.--Dew warms
Plants in Night, Cools them in the Morning Sun.--Drainage varies
Temperature by Lessening Evaporation.--What is Evaporation.--How it
produces Cold.--Drained Land Freezes Deepest, but Thaws Soonest,
and the Reasons.

CHAPTER XVI.

POWER OF SOILS TO ABSORB AND RETAIN MOISTURE.

Why does not Drainage make the Land too Dry?--Adhesive
Attraction.--The Finest Soils exert most Attraction.--How much
Water different Soils hold by Attraction.--Capillary Attraction,
illustrated.--Power to Imbibe Moisture from the Air.--Weight
Absorbed by 1,000 lbs. in 12 Hours.--Dew, Cause of.--Dew
Point.--Cause of Frost.--Why Covering Plants Protects from
Frost.--Dew Imparts Warmth.--Idea that the Moon Promotes
Putrefaction.--Quantity of Dew.

CHAPTER XVII.

INJURY OF LAND BY DRAINAGE.

Most Land cannot be Over-drained.--Nature a Deep
drainer.--Over-draining of Peaty Soils.--Lincolnshire Fens. Visit
to them in 1857.--56 Bushels of Wheat to the Acre.--Wet Meadows
Subside by Drainage.--Conclusions.

CHAPTER XVIII.

OBSTRUCTION OF DRAINS.

Tiles will fill up, unless well laid.--Obstruction by Sand or
Silt.--Obstructions at the Outlet from Frogs, Moles, Action of
Frost, and Cattle.--Obstruction by Roots.--Willow, Ash, &c., Trees
capricious.--Roots enter Perennial Streams.--Obstruction by
Mangold Wurtzel.--Obstruction by Per-Oxide of Iron.--How
Prevented.--Obstructions by the Joints Filling.--No Danger with
Two-Inch Pipes.--Water through the Pores.--Collars.--How to Detect
Obstructions.

CHAPTER XIX.

DRAINAGE OF STIFF CLAYS.

Clay not impervious, or it could not be wet and dried.--Puddling,
what is.--Water will stand over Drains on Puddled Soil.--Cracking
of Clays by Drying.--Drained Clays improve by time.--Passage of
Water through Clay makes it permeable.--Experiment by Mr.
Pettibone, of Vermont.--Pressure of Water in Saturated Soil.

CHAPTER XX.

EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE ON STREAMS AND RIVERS.

Drainage Hastens the Supply to the Streams, and thus creates
Freshets.--Effect of Drainage on Meadows below; on Water
Privileges.--Conflict of Manufacturing and Agricultural
Interests.--English Opinions and Facts.--Uses of Drainage
Water.--Irrigation.--Drainage Water for Stock.--How used by Mr.
Mechi.

CHAPTER XXI.

LEGISLATION--DRAINAGE COMPANIES.

England protects her Farmers.--Meadows ruined by Corporation
dams.--Old Mills often Nuisances.--Factory Reservoirs.--Flowage
extends above level of Dam.--Rye and Derwent Drainage.--Give Steam
for Water-Power.--Right to Drain through land of others.--Right to
natural flow of Water.--Laws of Mass.--Right to Flow; why not to
Drain?--Land-drainage Companies in England.--Lincolnshire
Fens.--Government Loans for Drainage.

CHAPTER XXII.

DRAINAGE OF CELLARS.

Wet Cellars Unhealthful.--Importance of Cellars in New England.--A
Glance at the Garret, by way of Contrast.--Necessity of
Drains.--Sketch of an Inundated Cellar.--Tiles best for
Drains.--Best Plan of Cellar Drain; Illustration.--Cementing will
not do.--Drainage of Barn Cellars.--Uses of them.--Actual Drainage
of a very Bad Cellar described.--Drains Outside and Inside;
Illustration.

CHAPTER XXIII.

DRAINAGE OF SWAMPS.

Vast Extent of Swamp Lands in the United States.--Their
Soil.--Sources of their Moisture.--How to Drain them.--The Soil
Subsides by Draining.--Catch-water Drains.--Springs.--Mr. Ruffin's
Drainage in Virginia.--Is there Danger of Over-draining?

CHAPTER XXIV.

AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS IN DRAINAGE--DRAINAGE IN IRELAND.

Statement of B. F. Nourse, of Maine.--Statement of Shedd and Edson,
of Mass.--Statement of H. F. French, of New Hampshire.--Letter of
Wm. Boyle, Albert Model Farm, Glasnevin, Ireland.

INDEX.

FARM DRAINAGE.