AGRICULTURE. 



power of absorbing and retaining ammonia and 

 other gases consequent upon organic decay, 

 which are brought down with rains and dews 

 from the atmosphere, and these give to water 

 the power of dissolving much larger quantities 

 of inorganic matter than can be taken up by 

 positively pure water. Of the ingredients hav- 

 ing such power, the chief are carbon and alu- 

 mina : were it not for the presence of which in 

 the surface soils, the decay of organic life would 

 not be retained for the use of forthcoming crops, 

 but would filter downward and render every 

 well and spring a cesspool. 



So perfect is the action of these materials 

 that one per cent, of either or both, disseminated 

 through a soil to a depth of 12 inches, is quite 

 capable of abstracting from fluids, during their 

 downward course, most of those substances re- 

 quired to sustain plant life ; and recent discov- 

 eries are quite sufficient to assure the agricul- 

 turist that he need not fear the loss of ma- 

 nures by downward filtration. A pure gravel 

 or positively pure sand are the only exceptions 

 which are practically to be met with, and these, 

 overtopped by a loam to an ordinary depth, will 

 never receive from the upper soil any solutions 

 which would be valuable to plant life, unless 

 such solutions be added in quantities far be- 

 yond what would ever be applied in practice. 

 Were it not for this law, all the progressed and 

 more soluble portions of organic life would have 

 passed towards the earth's centre, leaving the 

 surface sterile and incapable of sustaining man. 

 The full understanding and appreciation of this 

 fact may be fairly registered as belonging to 

 the year 1861 ; for, although before suggested, 

 it lias not been generally admitted and under- 

 stood until this time. 



In the mechanical operations upon the soil, 

 while agriculture was pursued simply as an art, 

 the farmer merely knew that a disturbance of 

 the surface produced increased results but he 

 now understands the laws on which such in- 

 crease depends. 



Rains and dews may be viewed as the natu- 

 ral means of cleansing the atmosphere, taking 

 therefrom all the volatile exudations of organic 

 life and restoring these to the soil for reassimi- 

 lation. We find the atmosphere at all times 

 containing certain proportions of these gases, 

 and during droughts the quantity held in at- 

 mospheric suspension is materially increased. 

 The first half-pint of rain, falling on the roof 

 of a house, during a shower, will be found so 

 highly charged with ammonia, sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, etc., as to emit a peculiar odor ; con- 

 sequently the water from dews and the early 

 parts of showers is more valuable to farmers 

 than that furnished by continuous rains. To 

 fully avail of this effect, the soil should be 

 deeply disintegrated so as to permit the atmos- 

 phere permeating the soil to deposit its mois- 

 ture upon the surface of the colder particles be- 

 neath the surface of the soil. We all know 

 that a glass vessel containing ice or cold water, 

 if placed in the sun's rays at midday, during 



droughts even at midsummer, will be speedily 

 covered on its outer surface with drops of wa- 

 ter, which of course are condensed from the 

 atmosphere ; for if the soil be dry the atmos- 

 phere must contain moisture, however dilate, 

 as there are but two places in which it can 

 exist, viz., the earth and the atmosphere its 

 quantity at all times must be- constant. In the 

 same way, then, the surfaces of particles of soil 

 colder than the atmosphere, are capable of re- 

 ceiving a proper degree of humidity, which in 

 turn is capable of absorbing all the gases from 

 the atmosphere requisite to render the moisture 

 a more perfect solvent of the inorganic food re- 

 quired to sustain plants : in this state, and in 

 this only, can plants receive it they cannot 

 take up inorganic matter imless in solution, and 

 no plant can grow without its reception. All 

 these necessary conditions may be secured by 

 Underdrawing and Subsoil-ploughing. 



Underdrawing. This consists in burying be- 

 neath the soil, in a proper manner, a series of 

 tubes or pipes, so made as to be capable of re- 

 ceiving from the soil any excess or surplus of 

 water it may contain, and leading it to lower 

 points whence it may be discharged and find 

 its way to outlets. For the method of con- 

 structing underdrains, we would refer the 

 reader to the recent works of Judge French, 

 Klippart, and others. The best specimen of 

 practical underdraining with which we are ac- 

 quainted, may be found at the Central Park, 

 New York. 



Millions of acres of apparently valueless soils 

 have been rendered capable of profitable cul- 

 tivation by underdraining. Drains have been 

 made of stones, porous pipe, tile, wooden tubes 

 of various kinds, etc. ; but practice has proved 

 that the ordinary draining tile, made of un- 

 glazed burnt clay, forms the safest and most 

 efficient and durable underdrain. It is also 

 ascertained that the tiles laid at a depth of five 

 feet, in soils where underdrains may be so 

 deeply constructed, produce results better than 

 those attainable by drains of less depth. These 

 drains should be at such distance apart as to 

 thoroughly remove all excess of water from 

 the soil, and in so doing, they insure full aera- 

 tion. Both ends of each drain should be open 

 to and at the surface, producing a continuous 

 draft of air always passing through them, and 

 as the atmosphere is warmer than the soil, the 

 heat rising during its horizontal travel passes 

 into and through the soil, materially elevating 

 its temperature it also secures motion to the 

 air in the soil, which, in passing between the 

 particles, supplies the necessary amount of hu- 

 midity, and with it those gases which guaran- 

 tee all the chemical changes required to furnish 

 the inorganic food to plants. 



The chief advantages of underdraining may 

 be summed up as follows : 



" Underdrained soils never suffer from 

 drought," provided that the subsoil be disin- 

 tegrated as in the process known as subsoil' 

 ploughing. Less manure will suffice for crops. 



