THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



rose to 66 deg. The following is the result of 

 their observations : 



Temp, of Time of Depth below Surface, 



Atmnspliere Obser- in 



in SliaJe. valion. Inches. 



Deg. 31. 25. 19. 13. 7. 



Jane 10.. 7().(» 9 x.u. -16.10 48.2 50.0 03.0 



15 .. 60.4 9 a.m. 47.25 43.6 50.8 53 57.6 



17., 67.0 9.V.M. 48.0 50.0 52.8 55.6 58.0 



We have here, as Mr. Parkes observes, satisfac- 

 tory evidence that the accession of heat was solely 

 derived from meteorological agency — that is, from 

 action on the surface, and not from the substratum, 

 as the latter possesses invariably a lower tempera- 

 ture, which must have tended to diminish, rather 

 than to increase, the heat finally acquired by the 

 worked bed. 



It is evident, indeed, from these and other ob- 

 servations, that in the month of June rain-water 

 carries down heat, and raises the temperature of 

 the subsoil ; whilst the loss of heat by the strata 

 nearer the surface is quickly restored by the sun's 

 rays. And another important effect is also ob- 

 servable in all soils properly prepared to receive 

 heat and water, and permit their descent — viz., 

 that the transmission of accessions of heat down- 

 wards continues during the afternoon of the day, 

 and throughout the night, whilst the superstrata 

 (but chiefly from 7 inches upwards) ax-e losing 

 some amount of their heat by conduction upwards 

 and radiation. Such is the influence of good and 

 deep drainage and ploughing upon the temperature 

 of the soils thus improved. But the benefit does 

 not end there : others follow from those operations 

 — advantages which were thus well described by 

 the late Professor Johnston (" Chem.," p. 110): 

 " Vegetable matter becomes of double value in a 

 soil thus dried and rilled with atmospheric air. 

 When soaked in water, their vegetable matter 

 either decomposes very slowly, or produces acid 

 compounds more or less unwholesome to the 

 plant, and even exerts injurious chemical reactions 

 upon the earthy and saline constituents of the soil. 

 In the presence of air, on the contrary, this vege- 

 table compound decomposes rapidly ; produces 

 carbonic acid gas in large quantity, as well as 

 other compounds on which the plant can live ; and 

 even renders the inorganic constituents of the soil 

 more fitted to enter the roots, and thus to supply 

 more rapidly what the several parts of the plant 

 require." 



Let us next refer to the limestone soils of York- 

 shire. Here we have on record the observations of 

 of Mr. Charnock, of Holmfield, near Ferrybridge 

 {ihid, vol. X. p. 516). This Journal was kept during 

 the six years from 1842 to 1848. The following 

 table gives a digest of the results obtained in 

 inches : — 



1842. 1843. 1814. 1845. 1846, 

 The total amount of rain- 

 fall was 26-1 1 3 1-49 19-0 28-I8 25-24 



The evaporation from the 

 soil, when saturateJ 



with water, was 30 02 31'19 87-85 3109 33-28 



Dilto when draineJ 21-56 2011 10-4U 23-26 18-30 



The filtratioii from the 

 soil, through a drain 

 three feet from the sur- 

 face, was 4-55 4'28 3-60 4-92 C-76 



If we examine the clay soil drainage waters, and 

 the effect of their removal from the soil, similar re- 

 sults are obtained. 



Mr. J. B. Denton found the temperature of the 

 drained soils, at Hinxvvorth, ata depthof 18 inches 

 from the surface, was commonly two or three degrees 

 higher than the surrounding atmosphere, and 

 about two degrees higher than that of the un- 

 drained soils. One observation of Mr. Denton I 

 have not elsewhere met with. He says, "A remark- 

 able proof of the influence and penetration of at- 

 mospheric changes through the soil to the depth of 

 the drains, is to be seen in the factjthat all the out- 

 lets discharged an increased quantity of water on 

 the (nh of March and 22nd of April without any 

 fall of rain ou the surface, it being observed on 

 each occasion that a very considerable fall of the 

 barometer had taken place within the previous 

 twenty-four hours." 



From the following table, constructed by Mr. J. 

 B. Denton, from the results obtained by him in 

 the drainage of the Hinxworth estate of Mr. Clut- 

 terbuck, several other useful facts may be gleaned. 

 ■It shows the rainfall in inches, and in gallons per 

 imperial acre, from Oct. 1, 1856, to May 31, 1857, 

 and how many of these gallons of rain-water found 

 their way into the drains from several outlets. In 

 my abridgment of the tables of Mr. Denton I 

 shall gave only the quantities of water deUvered 

 from two drain outlets, viz., Nos. 7 and 15 — the 

 first delivering the water draining from fields com- 

 posed of the lower chalk, mixed with clay, gravel, 

 sand, mixed with gault ; the last, gault clay, with 

 lime infiltrated. 



Discharge from 

 Outlets. 



Eii'ifall. 



59,931 



Taal.... 10045 ■227,2-20 160,550 

 Dift'erence between the rainfall bnd 



the discharge from drains .... 66,670 167,289 



227 '220 227 220 

 The mode of draining both the mixed and clay 

 soils of Hinxworth is thus described by Mr. 

 Denton — 



"The mixed open soils were drained by occa- 

 sional and wide parallel drains (from 4 to 8 feet 

 deep), sufficient to discharge the rainfall and re- 

 lieve the pressure of subterranean water passing 

 through the soil from the higher grounds to their 

 natural outfalls, at a cost varying from £1 10s. to 

 £.3 10s. per acre. The drains in this description of 

 soil were reduced to a minimum in number, on the 

 principle that any excess of work beyond that suflS- 

 cient to remove excess of wetness would be a waste 

 of outlay ; whereas in the gault clay soils— which 

 were drained uniformily by a parallel arrangement 

 of drains 25 and 27 feet apart, 4 feet deep, at a cost 

 varying from £5 10s. to £6 10s. per acre— the re- 



