ough by the
water; and any pits, wells, or quarries that may be in the
neighborhood. After the _main spring_ has been thus discovered, the
next thing is, to ascertain a line on the same level, to one or
both sides of it, in which the drain may be conducted, which is one
of the most important parts of the operation, and one on which the
art of draining in a scientific manner essentially depends.

"Lastly, the use of the auger, which, in many cases, is the _sine
qua non_ of the business, is to reach and tap the spring when the
depth of the drain does not reach it: where the level of the outlet
will not admit of its being cut to a greater depth; and where the
expense of such cutting would be great, and the execution of it
difficult.

"According to these principles, this system of draining has been
attended with extraordinary consequences, not only in laying the
land dry in the vicinity of the drain, but also springs, wells, and
wet ground, at a considerable distance, with which there was no
apparent connection."

DRAINAGE OF SPRINGS.

Wherever, from any cause, water bursts out from a hill's side, or from
below, in a well defined spring, in any considerable quantity, the
Elkington method of cutting a deep drain directly into the seat of the
evil, and so lowering the water that it may be carried away below the
surface, is obviously the true and common-sense remedy. There may be
cases where, in addition to the drain, it may be expedient to bore with
an auger in the course of the drain. This, however, would be useful only
where, from the peculiar formation, water is pent up upon a retentive
subsoil in the manner already indicated. Elkington's method of draining
by boring is illustrated in the following cut.

In studying the history of Elkington's discovery, and especially of his
own application of it, it would seem that he must have possessed some
peculiar faculty of ascertaining the subterranean currents of water, not
possessed or even claimed by modern engineers.

Indeed, Mr. Denton, who may rightly claim as much skill as a draining
engineer, perhaps, as any man in England, expressly says, "It does not
appear that any person now will undertake to do what Elkington did sixty
years back."

[Illustration: Fig. 3.]

In the Patent Office Report for 1851, at page 14, may be found an
article entitled, "Well-digging," in which it is grav