98 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



We could not lire without it, nor could our animals ; but neither 

 man nor animal can live in it ; neither can grass flourish in it. 



There are thousands of acres throughout the New England States 

 that support but a scanty supply of herbage, and that of verj'- poor 

 quality ; not because the soil is not capable of supporting more 

 and better, but because the plants cannot subsist upon water 

 alone. Drainage will change the character of these lands, and 

 nutritious grasses will take the place of coarse aquatic plants. 



Drainage is the fundamental principle, the root of all improve- 

 ments in cultivation ; but that alone cannot accc)mplish all the 

 desired ends. Drawing ofi" cold water from the bottom of the soil 

 instead of allowing it to evaporate from the surface, and letting 

 air occupy its place, assists the decomposition of the vegetable 

 and mineral matters already in the soil, and renders them digesti- 

 ble food for plants ; but there are very few of our farms that have 

 all the plant food needed, and that deficiency we must supply. 

 We must not expect to get something for nothing. We do not 

 expect to cultivate a field and take a crop from it year after year 

 without returning an equivalent. Although, in the process of 

 plowing and cultivating, the vegetable matter of the soil is more 

 exposed to the action of the atmosphere and consequently wastes 

 more rapidly, still our meadows cannot endure this exhausting 

 ^process forever without a fair return. 



What has been done in other States can be done in tins. We 

 •occupy one of the best grass-growing States of the Union. In 

 New York are large tracts' which, a few years ago, Avere con- 

 sidered so entirely exhausted and worthless that the owners sold 

 for a mere pittance and emigrated West. Now those very lands 

 are among the most productive in the State ; and that is largely 

 ■ due to drainage. 



F P. Bissell of Hebron, Conn., says: "Drainage is too much 



•rueglected. I drained a small plot of ground which was so soft 1 



could not drive a team over it in a dry season. Now I can go 



over it at any time, and the quantity and quality of the grass are 



increased three-fold." 



John T. Norton, Parmington, Conn., sajvs : " Wherever there 

 has been standing water, or a cold wet soil, I have put in drains, 

 either stone or tile, with admirable effect, a single crop almost 

 paying the expense." 



Wm. C. Young, Mansfield, Conn, says : "Much benefit is derived 



