CAMBHIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 798, 28 July 1877, Page 2

CAMBHIDGE FARMERS CLUB.

The regular monthly meeting was held at the National Hotel, on Tuesday eveniug last. Present : The President (B Maclean, E?q), Messrs B B Walker, QClark, Paarson, Parker, Jamjs Runciman, John Martyn, W Martyu, Robert Fisher, R Parr, M Doughs, Brooks, flume, Fantham, F Hicks, J AllwiiJ, Richard Reynolds, Joseph Gane, H Buttle, H A. C Forgusson, Henry Reynolds, John Hunt. The minutes of tue last meeting ware read and confirmed.

NEW MEMBERS.

Mr William Mu-tyn proposal, and Mr George Clarke seconded, the nomination of Mr F A Whifcaker as a member ot the Club. Mr Henry .Reynolds proposed, and Mr James ttunouna i seconded, Mr JJB VVhyte. Mr Henry E ;yholds proposed, and Mr Buttle secjndud, Mr Thomas Momn. Mr Ro >ert Fisher, on behalf of Me John Kunci.nan, proposed, and Mr Reuben Parr seconded, Mr Edward Like, ofOiiaupa. All the abovo gentlemen wera unanimously elected.

CHE E33AY

, Mr 13 B Wa;ker then proceeded to read a paper on o raining —

Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I have been naked by several mernb jm of this Club to revl a paper on Draining. I must say I would rathar havo listened to aue33ay on tnis importantjuibject from some of the gentlemen I see here to night, as I feel sura oh it. serial of them could handle, tho subject much batter than myself. 1 need hardly aay that the draining of the large swamps ia this distristis of great importance, not only to tnose immediately conne-ted with the tijigantio undertakings, but to everv member of this omu} unity. It has been said that One man that makes two blades of grass grow where only one used to grow id a benefactor to aid country, How much greater banofactor to his country must the. man be that makes co^pfidlds and pastures out of staguant swamps, thus doubling the available acreage of the district^ rendering it more healthy and fit to support a large and increasing population. From the limited knowledge i> possess of the formation of some of th-j swamps iu this district, their subsoil, cause of wetness, fall, &c, which nuy ditfer veay much in some o£ them and therefor reguire somewhat different modes of treatement, I shall confine my remarks to the broad principles of draining, about which there cannot be any mistake and which apply alike in ah cases where there is surplus surfuo water to be got rid of. The iir3t tiling with a view to draining on a large scale, is to have a survey of the country made by some competent person, and the levois accurately taken and laid dowa on a working plan by distinct red lines, show ing the various levels every . 10 feet, which I may better describe by supposiug the country, the levels of which are to be taken as being lifted up out of the sea, the highest point appearing first above the waters to be marked U, showing the highest level. Then suppose a further

rise of 10 feet to take place, another line represented by the water line would show the next level line marked 20 lot, and so on by lines every 10 feet below the last till the lowest poiut is reached, wlrioii should be tlie natural outlet for the water. I'n.e" advantage of having such a plan will be at once evident to nay person comlucting draining operations. on a large soate. by referring to it he can see at a glance which is the lowest ground where the main outlet drain should be cue, and ho will thus be enabled to lay off cross drains to the greatest advantage with regard to fall, &c. miking your paddocks more shapely, aad avoiding many mostly uiist ikes. A little study of this plan would assist in determining the size of the various main drains and How many oi them would, ba required. In making a survey for draining purposes, particular noticed should be taken of tho causes ot wetness, js far as cin be seen on one sur« tace, such as springs and creeks and cue levels of their outlets shouli be .noted down on the plan. Every ..train as it is cat should be drawn on the plan as a guise in future works. The iuueessfui practice of draining is greatly assisted by a proper knowledge of the various ucrata of whica the district is compose I, and i.ncir capability of admitting or rejecting oi.e passage of water throu^li them ; elso a knowledge of the made by whica wat r U conducted in or on somj of tlis strata from high to low situations. This knowledge can only be obtuiued by boring examining weLs, deep cuttings, and bauks of creeks. Under t!ie Moanavale cjwauip a stratum' of gravel is found lying on a bed of clay dippiug from east to west dbjut three fc^tin the mile, thi3 stratum of gravel admits witer at its highest edge and conducts it down to thd low ground till an outcrop of the lower stratum of clay takes place which cans -s the wa er in the stratum of gravel to be forced up by the pressure of water above, into the. swamp deposito which covers, it to a depch of from five to sixfiejn feeb. .When strata of this sort are met with they assist the drainage considerably, as by deep drainng ana bearing into the over charged water-bearing strata below the drain, a free passage is thus given to the confined water which forces ics way upwards, in proportion to the elevation and volume of the supply, keeping the anger^ holes open without any trouble. In some cases a porous stratum may be found underlying a stratum of clay, by boring into which water will find its way downwards, this lormation is met with about Cambridge, and if taken advantage of would often afford a cheap and easy means of draining some of the low swampv places that are still to be seen oa the most improved farms in t~is district, and in some of the unimproved parts of this town, When timber is met with .in cutting drains the work may be done much cheaper, it there is fall enough, by going right; down underneath the timber, than by making y.uir drain saj four or fivo feet deep, at which depth you will invariably have to cut through the stumps of trees just where they are the largest and m >st knotty. It all probability too, ic wilt be found necessary to deepen the drain if it has only been made the above depthj which, in tho two operations,- will cost one-third more than it would to hare got right under the timber at first and uiade id 7 or 8 feet deep. In -drams where there is not any timber, and the ground is too soft to stand if cut to tha required depth at once. I have found it best to make them the full width intended, and three or four feet deep. Then when the ground has had time to settle and the surface water to drain off to some extent, deepen them again. In this way drains may be cut six or seven feet deep through swamp that would close in if cut to anything like that depth at first, drains may be made in soft ltnd by giving the aides a baoter of 18 inches in 12 iuchej oerpendicular. This form of drain will be found very costly if made six feet deep (less than which is of little use) necessitating fcbe removal of a Jarger amount of eartli which must be thrown back 14ft from the side of the drains if it is six feet. doop, and tho swamp soft, otherwise it will cause the sides of the drain to bulge in. D^ep draining will dry the land much faster than shallow draining and prove the cheaper in the end, Some of my

drams are ei.ht feet deep and nine feefc wi< e. Drains less thaa nine feet wide wil not aot aa fences. Sheep and cattle win try- fay amp them, and will generally succeed bat somo o£ thnm will be found, at the. boottoro of. the drain. Ai a rule, wheu is undulating, all main drama ihould be nude right through the owest ground and straight a« possible to the nearest outlet, and should bo cut •ieeper and wider towards the lower end in proportion to the extra quantity o£ water; they will have to carry. In draining on a large scale, every main drain will form a division between future paddocks, and the crow drains should be arranged with a view to assisting in the formation of future inelosures. At the same time effectual draiaage should, not for one moment.be lost sight of, to secure 1 h „'.. a[ l draius flll0 «ld be made straight. Every bend in a drain ia nob only a loss of fall but retards ths fbw of water, and adds to the difficulty of fencing A. knowledge of the laws that govern the natural surface drainago of country is very essential jfco the praotical drainer in layiag O afc a syatom'of drainage that will fall in with and assist nature, which may be done to m >st advantage by Straightening and cleaning out natural- water courses, and where fall is dencient they mu3t be made" wide in proportion to their want of it. The Amazon, *hich is the largest natural drain in the world, his. only got a fall of ° a "-fifth of an inch per mile for the last V t" 11 -!' Abo7e t . bat for a dist*ncß of L.OOO miles the fall is six inches per mile. The fall m tha Waikato, is teninclm per mile, the same as the fall in the River Murray in Victoria. In making calcuationa and taking levels for drains in large swamps, an allowance should be m*de for their sinking as the wsfttlf is draining out of them, which will in «ouaa places reduce tho fall five or six feet oalow what it is now. A fall of three feet per mile, may be considered a fair fall for draining purposes. Many persons have to do with less, but when six or nine can be got it is a great advantage, *s it does not require such large drains with plenty of fall to carry off a given quantity of water, and the drain3 wash oub cleaner than when only a. moderate fall oau be obtained. In such a swamp a? Fen Coart, skirted by along range of hilia, it will be necessary to cut a catchwater drain i Q tha s>vamp along the fooS of the hills, ia such a position that it willcatoh all the water that runs from the high to the lov ground. This drain should be cub as clo3e ai possible to the foot of the hills, taking particular care that all springs from the bills are left on the upper aids of the diain so tdat the water from them may be received by the catca- water drain, from bha lowest print of which oucfall draius shouli be cut to the nearest convenient oatiei; for rec^iv-

ing bhe large supply that will have to be carried off dunug heavy rains. Wuen , vater has got into a draiu che sooaer it is discharged the better, to make room for more, la newly drained swamps tha drains will have a much larger body of water to dispose of than they will after a bboroughly soaked surface and subs&U, inabead of haviug their pore's tilled with water, are drained, and rdadered capable of absorbing a larsje portion of th» rain fall, much of which .will . not reach the drains, buo will be dispwad of by the i>roce33 of evaporation. Fewpeopl? ite of the quantity of water toat evapo" rates from tue spa even m temperate climates. In the Valley ot the Kluue, only oue third of the total rainfall reaches the sea. Toe river Thumbs, at Sbaiues, has drained 3,086 square miles of hill, plain, aad wide vailias, aad tuere discharges oae-third of the rainfall of the district. In Victoria several of ohe nvera afcer draining a large ax cenc of oouniry, discharged their water in lakes that have not got aay oouimuuication with the sea. Tue water collected in these lakes during the rainy season is nearly all disposed by evaporation in the uo seasons. 1 had written to. somewhat greater lengtu on tbe draining of springs, but f jaciuj lust 1 should exhaust your stock of patienoe with the above, 1 thought I would leave the spring3 for aoma ooner member to deal with.

Mr'J*mes Runeiman wanted to a<k vtr Walker it there was n it souw e-ir of jret-Jraining. He had listeneJ with sjreat iatereat to hu ess iy, "bub he was of >pioion that if all be water was taken off ab once, tho stuff )f tue s*auip gob boo dry and became barren. He hud noticed on some parts of oha \&. aiuv-ila Estate, tlwt at the ou.6hts.of soon of chi drains where chay werj very leap the soil seemed vary barren and the grass was very pour. t£e thought it was much oetter and moro practicaaleto -maite the drains a oerßaiu depth first, and then re-deepen them as they se^.ned to require it. ile aUo wishii ti aa* y£r Walker whether the scuff taken out of the drains s tould oe puc on bjfcli sides or only on one side. JMCr Walker also spoke about baring to flud ouo che various strata of which che dUtrioo is oomp aed, and their capability of allowing the ij^er 'to pass through them. tie wished to ask whether he meant boring on the artesian principle. Air Henry Reynolds quite agreed with alt Mr Walker he,d said in his essay. • He thought it best to liy out first one large main drain. But in the case of a swamp being 20 or 30 feat deep, how deep would it be necessary to have the. drains ? Mr Fantham had listened with interest to all Jdr W*lker had read to them. On Sir Oracroft Wilson's est ite it had been found necessary to mike drains a great depth. Bub at'ber the swamp had settled down-, it had to be made still deeper. The Chairman said he quite agrred with iSlr \V.dker's remarks aboub ditches. Where there was thiber it was best to go to the necessary depth at once aud get under the timber, especially wuere there was nob a very great fall. Oa the Fen* oourt Estate he had so ma drains that had been nude four feet deep, now biey were only fifteen inones. This w■s oauaed parliy by bhe sinking of tue swamp, and partly by sitting up. dome of his drams Had water id them origiually nine incues .. from the cop, njw the wvter was hr^e inches. Swamp, were caused by tue original natural outlets of the spring hiving become stoppad, and it was necessary to open these natural outlets again. Even if a new chaanel h*d to be made, it would be better to find ouc the old bed of the river and follow it. He did not alcogether approve of straight drains ; creeks never take a straight oqurse, they always wind about. Even if a straight drain is made, the channel at tiie bottom suou begins ti» low its straightness. 16 was natural for oreeks to wmd aboub, and you could not ge againsb nature. With regard to Mr Walker's suggestion thaG chdre should be a catchwaoer drain along the foot of the hills, practically he diJ not see its raoom.neaaabion 5 all the creeks ran along tne bottom of gulleys, and it would not be advisab.e to divert these irom their natural cjunneU.

Mr Hioks though* a. oatoliwater drain such as Mr Walker recommended, would be necessary in a swamp skirted by a -, range of hills, not to ttika the main streams, but to tarn the springs into the m:un stream*.

Mr Henry .Reynolds wanted to know hovr the Presidenc wouli manage if there were no natural wacercounes to follow. In the Piako Swamp oao could go eight or ten miifeaand would find it as Am as la table. He thougUt ib oeut to keep aa straight as possiow, It waa not well to

•pprove of members to be proposed at next meeting. Mr Henry Reynolds said, the comtnifctee hai ngread to postpone the Horticultural Show, as Octo' er was a very bad time fuv gar Jenera to show their flowers. Ho also stated that he had received on communication from Messrs Reals & Son re the Clubl ouse. After a cons-ideroble amount of discus* Bion, it. rteolved that tho Secretary telegraph to Messrs Kfala & Son, and ask what tenders had bf en received, arid to call a special meeting of the Club /or Thursday next, at 4 p.m., to consider steps to be taken for the immediate erection of the building. Mr James Euiioiman moved — 'That the Secretary write and obtain all the information possible about the reaper and binder/ Be would not burden the Club with the proposition he gave notice of atlasD meeting, as it would not be possible to get one out in time for the coming harvest. Mr Walker seconded. Mr Fantham said, Mr Anderßon, 1 of Canterbury, was agent for these machines, and would be able to give all the information necessary. Mr James Kuuciman's motion was put aad carried. The members of the Club who required manurea then gave their names to the Secretary, with the quantities. Tenders for tho supply of tnese, amounting to about 70 tans, it was resolved to advertise for ia the • Staf ' and the • Herald/ to be senc in to the Post Ufftoe, Cambridge, before noon on Thursday next. A letter was then rend from Mr G J Neal, agent for the W.8.N. C0., stating charges for freight on manures, to be delivered on the bank of the river. jC&g^it was found were higher than last ■year. ' ( On the motion of Mr Fantham, it was , resolved to advertise in the Waikato Times for tender* for the delivery and freight of manures at different places on the river, at par ton. ' NOTICES OF MOTION; Mr James Runcitnan gave notice that he. would propose Mr Andrew Primrose, as a member, at the next meeting, and also Dr Waddington. Mr Parker gave notice that he would propose Mr Kennedy Hill. Mr Buttle gave notice that he would propose Mr Thomas JRunoiman. Mr James Kuuciman gave notice, on behalf of Mr John Runoiinan, that lie would, at the next meeting, bring forward his motion on the Artesiau Wells. This concluded the business.