Draining and embanking : a practical treatise embodying the most recent experience in the application of improved methods / by John Scott.

  • Scott, John.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Draining and embanking : a practical treatise embodying the most recent experience in the application of improved methods / by John Scott. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ■nHHHBMBHBBR ft 5** 15 Deme«ra field b> '4 ten], , ... tion System . , . n 19 I? Secb of land ltd SaLwtla . , , a M I'iktaoiiwiiRoiii. S9 ■ 5! 23 50 Centifcal Pirn. . 53 . 26 52 Flash or Fen W. 55 . I 53,51 Sections of Sea J ■ DKAINING AND EMBANKING, CHAPTER I. REASONS FOR DRAINING LAND. Land-drainage, by which we signify the art of remov- ing the excess of water from the soil, appears to have been practised, in one form or another, nearly as long as agriculture itself. Open channels would first natu- rally suggest themselves as the easiest means of reliev- ing the soil of superabundant moisture. But as land increased in value, and the number of trenches had to be multiplied, it would soon be felt that by covering over those open channels they would still perform their office, and yet leave the space occupied by them available for tillage and cropping. There are other reasons, as the sequel will show, why under-draining is preferable to open or surface draining. Objects of Draining.—The primary objects of under- draining undoubtedly are—to carry off stagnant water ; to give a ready escape to the excess of what falls in rain; and to arrest the ascent of water from beneath, whether by springs or by capillary action; so as to render the land sufficiently dry for cultivation, and at the same time regulate the supply of moisture to the growing plants.