Farm Drainage: The Principles, Processes, And Effects Of Draining Land With Stones, Wood, Plows, And Open Ditches: And Especially With Tiles

Farm Drainage: The Principles, Processes, And Effects Of Draining Land With Stones, Wood, Plows, And Open Ditches, And Especially With Tiles by Henry Flagg French. This classic manual provides a thorough survey of drainage science and practice for American farmers, tracing the history of underdrainage from ancient times through English innovations such as Bligh, Elkington, Deanston, Parkes, Keythorpe, and Wharncliffe, and documenting the adoption of tile drains in the United States and Ireland. It explains the science of rain, evaporation, and filtration, and applies these concepts to practical questions of which lands require drainage, how to design a system, where to place outlets, and what pipes and tiles to use. The text surveys methods including open ditches, plug-draining, mole drains, peat tiles, and especially tile drainage, with step‑by‑step directions for opening drains and laying tiles, supported by diagrams and capacity tables. It also discusses soil effects, germination, temperature, drought resistance, obstructions, overdraining, and the legal framework around drainage, including American experiments and Irish practice. The work concludes with assessments of drainage as a durable, profitable investment for farms.