362 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



dryer soil. A. plowed Held whicli shows dark, damp spots 

 on its surface is a fit subject for drainage. 



All such soils are so filled with water that the particles of 

 soil are immersed as perfectly as a barrel of potatoes is 

 when the barrel is filled with water ; you tap the barrel at 

 the bottom and the water settles, and its place is as quickly 

 filled with air, illustrating the exact action of drainage. 



All rain water belongs to the soil on which it falls, and is 

 one of nature's arrangements for fertilizing it when made to 

 pass down through the first three feet and be removed from 

 below, either by drain or through a porous subsoil- Every 

 particle of i-ain water is impregnated with fertilizing matter, 

 which is absorbed in its passage through the soil. The won- 

 derful absorbing properties of earth are familiar to the most 

 unlearned. To illustrate it, take a common flour barrel, 

 knock out both heads, leach through it liquid manure, and 

 the liquid that comes from the bottom will be pure water, 

 all impurities having been absorbed in the downward pas- 

 sage, — precisely the action of rain water passing down 

 through the soil and out through a drain. 



Spring water does not belong on the surface of a field at 

 all, neither should it be allowed to come within reach of the 

 roots of cultivated crops. Water cannot stand in any soil 

 within reach of the rootlets without checking their growth, 

 similar to striking a flat stone at the same depth. The 

 objection of too much water in our soil is forcibly illustrated 

 in the process of the germination of our grain. The first 

 growth, commonly called sprouting, requires none of the 

 elements of the soil in which it is placed. It will take place 

 as readily in a barren sand as in the richest loam, provided 



