of last September; early in February, the snow disappeared, since which time. the surface of the soil has been frozen and thawed more than twenty times, yet none of the wheat plants are thrown out or winter-killed, and the field is as green as when the snow came last November. Without drainage, we think wheat on this land could not have lived at all through such a severe trial. In thorough underdraining there is much hard work and expense, but as far as our experience goes, it is a thing that will pay."

In many portions of the country, drains are made as follows: Two poles or saplings are laid on opposite sides at the bottom of the drain; then a third pole or sapling, somewhat larger in diameter, is laid over the two, as represented in Fig. 2; when the poles are laid down, the ditch is then filled with the material which was dug out of it. Drains of this kind, particularly in wet, swampy or mucky land, answer a good purpose for ten or fifteen years. Many such drains are to be found in Northwestern Ohio, where they have given general satisfaction.

In constructing drains of this kind, the poles should be covered with turf, or some other material, to prevent the earth from being admitted between or under the poles. straw, small stones, and even brush have been placed on the poles in order to make the drains "draw," as it is called; but this is simply material and labor lost, because the water will very readily find its way into the drains, and wash out the bottom and destroy the whole drain, if great care is not exercised in constructing them. In some parts of the country, fence rails are used instead of poles. But neither brush, stone, poles, nor rails should be used, if tile can be obtained at reasonable prices. The digging and filling up of the drain cost about the same, whether brush, poles or tiles are used, and since tile will last so much longer (we have cited an instance where tiles were laid in 1620, and has made the ground more fertile for all subsequent time, until their removal), it is but reasonable to conclude that tile are in the end much the cheapest. Underdraining at once produces a marked effect upon the crops, whether the conduits are made of brush, poles or tile; the owner of the land is not obliged to wait for years for a remunerative result, as in the case of planting an orchard; therefore, where the farmer can command the means, it is by all means advisable to make the best kinds of drains.

This system of underdraining does not require the use of any foreign mate

rials, the channel for the water being wholly formed of clay, to which this kind of drain is alone suited. It was the invention of Mr. Lumbert, a highly talented agriculturist, at that time living at Wick Rissington, Gloucestershire (England), where he made the first experiment about the year 1803;* in 1845, the tenant (Wm. Bliss) wrote to Mr. Newman, as follows:

"In answer to your letter I have the pleasure of stating that the drains in the field you named are as perfect as when you last wrote me, and as likely to last as when first made; and my opinion is that if drains are well rammed, and not made when the weather is frosty, the clay draining will last as long as any other drain that can be made. What I have ever seen fail in this neighborhood, has been in a year or two after being made, and in my opinion resulted in not being properly rammed down, or allowing the work to be done in the frost, which has the effect of causing the clay to crumble into the drain."

This method of draining requires a particular set of tools for its execution; consisting of, first, a common spade, by means of which, the first spit is removed, and laid on one side; second, a smaller sized spade, by means of which the second spit is taken out, and laid on the opposite side of the trench thus formed; third, a peculiar instrument called a bitting iron, consisting of a narrow spade three and a half feet in length, and one and a half inches wide at the mouth, and sharpened like a chisel-the mouth, or blade, being half an inch in thickness, in order to give the necessary strength to so slender an implement. From the mouth, on the right hand side, a wing of steel, six inches long, and two and a half broad, projects at right angles; and on the left, at fourteen inches from the mouth, a tread, three inches long, is fitted.

The method of using this tool is as follows: When the first and second spits have been removed, the bitting iron is pushed down into the soft clay to the required depth of the drain; it is then withdrawn, and, after being turned round, is again pushed down to the same depth as before, but six inches further back in the trench. By these two cuts, a piece of clay, six inches in length and of the depth to which the tool had been pushed, is separated on all sides, withdrawn by the tool, and deposited beside the second spit. These operations are repeated until a neatly formed trench is completed, from which any crumbs are removed by a

narrow scoop.

A number of blocks of wood (see Fig. 3), each one foot long, six inches high, and two inches thick at the bottom, and two and a half at the top, are next required. From four to six of these are joined together by pieces of hoop-iron let into their sides by a saw draught; a small space being left between their ends, so

* Charles Newman. Hints on Practical Land Drainage. London, 1845.

that when completed, the whole forms a somewhat flexible bar, as shown in the cut; to one end of which a stout chain is attached. These blocks are wetted, and placed with the narrow end undermost in the bottom of the ditch, which should be cut so as to fit them closely; the clay which has been dug out is then to be returned by degrees upon the blocks and rammed down with wooden rammers three inches wide. As soon as the portion of the trench above the blocks, or p'ugs, has been filled, they are drawn forward, by means of a lever thrust through a link of the chain, and into the bottom of the drain for a fulcrum, until they are all again exposed, except the last one. The further portion of the trench, above the blocks, is now filled in and rammed, and so on, the operations proceed until the whole is finished.

Plug draining should never be used when there is a want of fall in the drains, or when there is any risk of flooding, for the tubes formed in the clay are rapidly destroyed when any water remains standing in the drain.

Plug draining, as may readily be supposed, can not be executed very cheaply. The nicety required in all the operations connected with it demands the services. of skillful workmen, so that it sometimes exceeds the cost of tile draining. It can only be carried on on lands which yields the material for making pipes; and now that (thanks to railways) coals are so much at the command of most districts, it can not be recommended; and is mentioned here rather as a method which has been used than with any view to encourage its adoption.

These were made to a considerable extent, in former times in England, even after the mole plow was laid aside, although they are of the same general character of the plug and mole plow drains, that is, no foreign material is required to form a water channel. Figs. 4 and 5 present a sectional view of the wedge and shoulder drains respectively. The description of them we copy from Morton's Cyclopaedia of Agriculture.

Wedge and Shoulder Drains.-These, like the last mentioned drains, are mere channels formed in the sub-soil. They have, therefore, the same fault of want of durability, and are totally unfit for land under the plow.

In forming wedge drains, the first spit, with the turf attached, is laid on one side, and the earth, removed from the remainder of the trench, is laid on the other. The last spade used is very narrow, and tapers rapidly, so as to form a narrow wedge-shaped cavity for the bottom of the trench. The turf first removed, is then cut into a wedge so much larger than the size of the lower part of the drain, that when rammed into it with the grassy side undermost, it leaves a vacant space in the bottom, of six or eight inches in depth.

The Shoulder Drain does not differ materially from the wedge drain. Instead of the whole trench, forming a gradually tapering wedge, the upper portion of the shoulder drain has the sides of the trench nearly perpendicular, and of considerable width, the last spit only being taken out with a narrow tapering spade, by which means a shoulder is left on either side, from which it takes its name. After the trench has been finished, the first spit, having the grassy side downward, as in the former case, is placed in the trench and pushed down till it rests upon the shoulders already mentioned, so that a narrow wedge-shaped channel is again left for the water.

These drains may be formed in almost any kind cf land which is not a loose gravel or sand. They are a very cheap kind of a drain; for neither the cost of cutting, nor filling in, much exceeds that of the ordinary tile drain; while the expense of tiles, or other materials, is altogether saved; still such drains can not be recommended, for they are very liable to injury, and even can only last a very limited time.

MOLE PLOW.

After the advantages consequent upon underdraining became apparent to English farmers, they conceived the idea of underdraining by machinery. Several plows were invented and patented in England, the object of which was to make

surface drains of a few inches depth only. The first account of a mole plow which we have succeeded in finding is in the "Repertory of Arts and Sciences," vol. 8, a serial London publication, commencing about the year 1796. This is the first record we could find of an implement or machine with which covered or underground drains were successfully made. It was pretty generally used throughout England during a few years, but was soon laid aside—at least, we find no reference made to it as being in general use after about 1805. The following, from Mr. Newman's work on drainage, indicates that greater confidence was reposed in plug drains than in the drains made by the mole plow:

"I should state that the mole plow, worked by a windlass, was a favorite machine of Mr. Lumbert (the inventor of plug draining), for which he had a patent. After his invention of the subsoil system, the mole plow was laid aside—a great proof of the superiority of the former. Although it must be admitted that the windlass mole plow, on soils suited for its purpose, is a very useful machine, it is only calculated for strong clay land; and even on such land it has been frequently found that there is a degree of uncertainty arising from some sorts of clay being too soft, and consequently filling up the orifice and spoiling the drain. It may, however, be considered useful as a temporary and cheap method for the tenant, but it can not be called an effectual measure."

We intended at first merely, to mention the mole plow as one of the means devised years ago, and then abandoned, for making drains. But the many recent successes with it in the State of Ohio, in Fayette, Clinton, Madison and Union counties, make it worthy of more than a mere passing notice. We therefore copy the account of the first mole plow (Fig. 6) from the Repertory of Arts and Sciences:

FIG. 6.

PIONEER MOLE PLOW.