185G.] Under-Draining — Its Bsneficial Effects. 139 



in such cases boneficial, may we not conclude that all lands arc materi- 

 ally improved by being speedily relieved of all surplus water, that is, 

 of that which is not necessary for the promotion of vegetation ? Indeed 

 there is a sufficiently obvious reason for this, in the fact that a soil 

 saturated with water soon becomes cold and sour, and unhealthy for 

 plants ; and this must be the case to a greater or less extent, after every 

 heavy rain in summer, with clay lands, such as ours, unless properly 

 drained. 



Much of the best of the soil, the very cream of the land, is lost to 

 us, by being washed away by the force of waters accumulating and 

 running off upon the surface of the ground, after every rain, so that we 

 are pained to see the condition of our fields at such times. But the 

 under-drain induces the water, as it falls gently upon the earth, gently 

 and harmlessly to soak down through the soil, rejoicing to do good, 

 which is unminglcd with evil; and to make its way from the outlet 

 pure and sparkling, seeming to laugh and dance, as it leaps into the 

 rivulet, that in its flow it is carrying away nothing but what is its own. 



Nor is this all : The chemist informs us that the atmosphere becomes 

 fraught with gaseous substances, which are given off during the various 

 processes of vegetable and animal decomposition, among the chief of 

 which are ammonia and carbonic acid gas, both powerfully promotive of 

 vegetable growth. These impurities, as they are called, combine with 

 the watery particles as they float through the air, in the form of clouds, 

 and as they descend in showers. Thus the rain washes the atmosphere 

 of these substances, which might otherwise become offensive and hurt- 

 ful to men and animals, and reaches the earth laden with abundant 

 stores of nourishment for the growing plants. But in order to get the 

 full benefit of these manures, thus freely furnished by nature, our soil 

 should be well pulverized by deep plowing, and our land under-drained. 

 For in passing off through the soil, the rain water (and the snow water 

 when the ground is not closed by freezing) parts with these enriching 

 substances, which are absorbed by the roots of the plants, or by the soil 

 itself, to be held in readiness for them. 



Under-draining facilitates the operations of the cultivator. As a 

 consequence of the speedy riddance of the soil from surplus water, the 

 fiirmer or horticulturist may commence operations two or three weeks 

 earlier in the spring, and will gain several days after each heavy rain ; 

 while for the same reason, his season will be extended much farther into 

 the frosty months of autumn and winter. The spring rains, besides, 

 come down tempered with a more genial warmth than the yet chilled 

 earth, and their waters percolating through the well drained soil, 



