GRASS CROP, 97 



owns all the land that joins him ; but I am inclined to believe that 

 it is a more laudable ambition to extend his possessions perpen- 

 dicularly rather than laterally, and thereby gain more in depth, 

 while he loses nothing in surface. 



It was a great oversight in the first settlers of this State, not 

 only in clearing too much land, but, in many instances, clearing 

 the wet, rocky land for cultivation, leaving the best part of many 

 farms fyr wood land. And, I am sorry to sa}^ it, the same heed- 

 less and fruitless waste is still going in some parts of the State up 

 to the present time. But we must take things as we find them 

 and do the best we can ; and with these preliminary remarks I am 

 led to the firstly of my theme, viz : 



The Preparation of the Soil. 



Many of us are not aware how large a portion of our farms need 

 underdraining. We are not aware how near the surface of the 

 soil the cold spring water stands nearly the whole season ; and 

 still wonder why those lands do not produce better crops after 

 being manured so liberally, when the truth is they are chilled to 

 death. 



Wherever water stands the land must be cold. Any one of you 

 can tell the efl'ect of evaporation by wetting your finger and hold- 

 ing it in the wind. The evaporation of water from the surface has- 

 the same effect upon the soil, and it lies shivering in the wet. 

 Now if we wish to save all this heat which is constantly going off- 

 from the surface by the evaporation of water, we must draw this 

 water from the bottom by careful drainage, and thereby save the- 

 great amount thus wasted. 



Lands well underdrained will add two weeks to the length of 

 our seasons, or rather there is less danger from spring and- 

 autumn frosts ; as the temperature of such lands is raised from, 

 ten to fifteen degrees above its former rate. 



It may be true that grass endures cold and wet better than 

 most crops, but that is no reason why that crop cannot be bene- 

 fitted by drainage ; and if we wish green fields early in the spring 

 and late in the autumn, drainage will efl'ect more than any other 

 one thing. By carefid drainage we can double the depth of our. 

 soil. It is beautiful in theory that man owns the soil from the 

 surface of the earth to its centre ; but ownership is not always pos- 

 session ; and in many instances cold water has possession of all 

 but a few inches of surface. Water is very good in its place. 



