84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ward. "We may add to this, that the warmer rains of sprinfr, 

 instead of remaining until evaporated, thus inducing more and 

 protracted cold, pass readil}' downward in drained land, leaving 

 their warmth in the soil, so that heat is not only saved but 

 gained. 



Another advantage resulting from drainage is, that such lands 

 can be worked advantageously at an earlier period in spring ; 

 for the draining goes on all the time; the subsoil is never long 

 saturated, and we often find such land in spring to be drier at 

 a foot or two feet in depth, than on the surface; and just as 

 soon as the top soil is fit to work, farming operations can go 

 on. Clayey loam overlying a solid clay subsoil, I have thus 

 worked early in April, which before draining, it was not safe to 

 disturb until the middle of May. Thus is the season virtually 

 lengthened, and not only by an earlier spring, but also, by a 

 later autumn. 



Such soils as we now have under consideration, are not only 



familiarly spoken of as cold, but also as sour — not because 



there is actual acidity in them, (though this may possibly be 



sometimes the case) but rather because organic matter, both 



vegetable and animal, lying in a soil saturated with water, is 



not readily decomposed, but remains in a sort of putrid or 



stagnant, certainly, an unprofitable and unavailable condition — 



sometimes, it may be, little better than poisonous. But draw 



off the water, and air immediately enters, taking its place ; 



and this facilitates the rapid decomposition of organic matter, 



and its conversion into soluble and suitable food for plants, or 



as the phrase is, " the soil sweetens " at once. Ventilatioii of 



soil is, perhaps, as little or even less thought of, than draining; 



but the access of air to the roots of plants, is undoubtedly, not 



only beneficial, but necessary to their health and thrift; and 



every farmer virtually acknowledges its importance, whenever 



he disturbs the soil, with any tool, for any crop. 



This substitution of air in place of water, making the soil 

 porous, also makes it a worse conductor of heat ; and we find, 

 accordingly, that the depth to which it freezes in winter, is 

 considerably less after being drained, than before ; and roots 

 consequently suffer less. Winter wheat might thus pass its- 

 earlier stages in perfect safety on drained land, when it woul(J 



