456 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



Liquid manure tank. 



Rat proof walls. 



Ice house. 



Cellar for preserving green fodder. 



Room for night watch. 



rainagc of th* Jfarm. 



T may seem unnecessary to inquire, in the present day, what 

 drainage really is. Thousands upon thousands of dollars 

 are being expended on draining operations, and one may 

 therefore be disposed to say that, had the subject not been 

 thoroughly understood, a check would have been put upon 

 the expenditure long ere now. But though such an infer- 

 , . ence as this may so far be justifiable, yet there are no good 

 v grounds for its being laid down and adhered to. I fear 

 that, if the truth were told, it would be seen that drainage 

 is not understood in the way it ought to be ; and, in consequence, consi- 

 derable sums of money are being expended injudiciously in the carrying 

 out of _ this very important improvement. It is right that we should 

 endeavour to find out the true meaning of the term drainage, in connec- 

 tion with improving operations. We may consider this important under- 

 taking in two aspects 1st, Negatively, in its preventing evil ; and, 2nd, 

 Positively, in its effecting good. 



If the soil and sub-soil are charged with water to such an extent that 

 the whole pores and interstices are full and overflowing, it is impossible 

 that the crops grown upon it can have even a good yield. The evils en- 

 tailed upon the soil by the presence of stagnant water are of various kinds. 

 There is, first, a mechanical injury done to it. Its particles, when they 

 happen to be clayey in their nature, are made to cohere so as to prevent 

 the circulation of atmospheric air in its interior. In consequence it be- 

 comes cold and sour, and is less easily wrought than it ought to be. Who 

 has not seen an undrained clay field lying at seed-time in too wet a state 

 to be sown, while all the drained land in the vicinity has been seeded i n 



