CHAPTER II.. History of the Art of Draining.

HISTORY OF THE ART OF DRAINING.

Draining as old as the Deluge.--Roman Authors.--Walter Bligh in 1650.--No thorough drainage till Smith, of Deanston.--No mention of Tiles in the "Compleat Body of Husbandry," 1758.--Tiles found 100 years old.--Elkington's System.--Johnstone's Puns and Peripatetics.--Draining Springs.--Bletonism, or the Faculty of Perceiving Subterranean Water.--Deanston System.--Views of Mr. Parkes.--Keythorpe System.--Wharncliffe System.--Introduction of Tiles into America.--John Johnston, and Mr. Delafield, of New York.