140 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



from those who have used them. And this, with a single excep- 

 tion, is all we have been able to do on the present occasion. 

 We award the premium of ten dollars for the best mowing 

 machine to Whittemore, Belcher & Co., of Boston, for Wood's 

 new jointed bar mower. 



PLOUGHING AND DRAINING. 



WORCESTER NORTH. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



Before speaking of the subject of ploughing, we would allude 

 to another that underlies it, to wit : field draining. As food 

 enters all plants through the medium of water, a proper regula- 

 tion of it is of paramount importance. 



Rain water is not only a powerful solvent, but it extracts 

 ammonia from the atmosphere which increases and elaborates 

 those elements of fertility in the soil on which vegetation 

 depends for health and fruitfulness. We quote the following 

 from Mr. French's " Farm Drainage." He says : " Although 

 we usually regard drainage as a means of rendering land 

 suflUciently dry for cultivation, that is by no means a compre- 

 hensive view of the object of the operation. Rain is the prin- 

 cipal source of moisture and a surplus of moisture is the evil 

 against which we contend in draining. 



"But rain water is also the principal source of fertility ; not 

 only because it affords the necessary moisture to dissolve the 

 elements of fertility, but also because it contains in itself, or 

 brings with it from the atmosphere, valuable fertilizing 

 substances. 



" About forty inches of rain water may be taken as a fair 

 general average of the rain-fall in the United States. If this 

 supplies as much ammonia to the soil as three hundred weight 

 of Peruvian guano to the acre, which is considered a liberal 

 manuring, and which is valuable principally for its ammonia, 

 we at once see the importance of retaining the rain water long 

 enough at least upon our fields to rob it of its treasure. But it 



