#AgHistory
Ever wonder when field drainage was developed, or where drainage tile got its name? The earliest I can find reference to was from translated works of Palladius, (Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius) the fourth century agricultural writer. His works were translated from Latin in the early 15th century. The Romans and later the British, used to dig trenches and fill with stones, pebbles, straw, or hedge branches (with the butts of the branches pointing towards the outflow). Where trees were available, they were hollowed out to form drains, with some apparently lasting nearly 2 centuries). There is actually quite a bit written about this subject and later includes mentioning digging clay out of a trench, placing a tapered wooden roll into the trench, then tamping the clay around the roll, then removing this large dowel or ‘roll’. Later, the British academy of Arts sponsored a competition for the development of trenching plows. As you might expect, the size, weight and horsepower necessary to pull such an implement through heavy clay soil was significant and costly. The lords of the land continued to rely on the more traditional labor intensive methods of hand digging. By the end of the 18th century, drainage spades were still in use (and often, modern versions can be found for sale in Europe), and clay tiles set in place, then covered. By the 19th century, a variety of specially shaped bricks were being made to specifically form pipe drains. What really forced a systematic approach to field drainage was the end of the agricultural depression brought on by England’s war with Napoleon. It was later determined by the ‘Committee on Agricultural Distress’ around 1836 that the only means to improve yields at the time was to fully develop agricultural drainage, and several companies were created that specifically produced tile to be used for drainage of agricultural land. As we all know, drainage tile continued to evolve and is still in use to this very day.
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