334 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



fore to produce results analagous to those of Nature, you must make uni- 

 form channels for the water to escape through, as she did in the example 

 last named. When drains, located near each other, have been constructed 

 some time, you will observe an immense number of small fissures between 

 the drains, which frequently reach to the bottom of the drain, and are 

 caused by the contraction of the earth, arising from its dryer condition. 

 These form channels for the percolation of rain water from all parts of the 

 surface immediately to the level of the drains. To evolve this property of 

 the soil to the greatest extent, the drains must be placed near each other, 

 so as to absorb the moisture retained between them. In forming drains, 

 the very first object that presents itself to the consideration of the drainer, 

 is the nature of the subsoil. If it consists of tenacious clay, the distance 

 from drain to drain should be from twelve to eighteen feet ; if a porous or 

 sandy subsoil, from twenty to thirty feet will be sufiiciently near ; and in 

 gravelly soils, a still greater distance asunder will answer the purpose. 

 Longitudinal direction should be given to all drains, if possible, as the 

 chances of being choked by depositions of mud or sand are thereby much 

 diminished ; and if by any chance it should become stopped, the water, by 

 its altitudinal pressure, will overcome the impediment, or it will burst at 

 the surface of the ground, and show where the evil exists. Thorough 

 draining cannot be considered complete, however perfect it may be, until 

 subsoil plowing accomplishes entire disintegration of soil. Drainage must 

 not be considered, as usual, a completed task, but merely a part of the 

 system. Subsoil plowing is alike indispensable to stir the subsoil, that it 

 may offer no obstruction to the water until it reaches the drains. When 

 deep draining and subsoil plowing are properly and scientifically accom- 

 plished, no limits can possibly be assigned to the amazing productiveness of 

 the soil. Still subsoil plowing may be injudiciously performed, particu- 

 larly when the ground is in a soft pliant condition, and instead of crumbling 

 to pieces, adheres to the plow, and forms a paste, impervious to water and 

 destructive to roots. Therefore the desired amelioi-ation can only be ob- 

 tained by a judicious application of this all-important implement. All 

 practical agriculturists know that land resting upon a retentive clay subsoil 

 becomes consolidated to such a degree, from the action of winters' snow 

 and rain, that many plowings are often found necessary to bring it to a 

 proper state of cultivation, and if a wet spring follows, the whole is often 

 converted into a thoroughly indurated, unmanageable, compact mass. 



Draining is certainly equivalent to a complete and lasting change of soil, 

 as well as a similar change of climate, both in reference to the health of the 

 population and growth of vegetation. It not only deepens the soil, but re- 

 moves the water, and with it the noxious ingredients found in many soils 

 highly pernicious to the descending roots. All soils are benefited by 

 draining, even light, porous, sandy soils, lying on a sloping surface, are 

 greatly improved. In nearly all sandy soils, where no outlet exists, noxious 

 matters either form above or below, render it unfit for cultivated plants. 

 Who has not seen swamps on our highest mountains, beneath which un- 



