20 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



tion. It is almost always in such an open fria- 

 ble state that it may be plowed and sovm at any 

 season, without risk of being plowed and har- 

 rowed into the condition of mud. or of being- 

 poached into the state of mortar by tlie horses' 

 feet 



In some countries there are large tracts of 

 such land, and on these farmers are generally 

 fortunate men. The culture is easy, and exe- 

 cuted at a moderate expense. The crops of 

 turnips are heavy ; and if besides tlie ordinary- 

 supplies of dung and tail-dress, the farmers can 

 manage to give their fields a liberal coat of marl 

 or reducible clay everj- eighth or tenth year, 

 the heart and fertility of the staple is maintained 

 «nimpaired for ages. 



In such descriptionsof land, however, it often 



at some former time ; tliither I opened a Btone- 

 filled drain below the plo\\'share, from the low^- 

 est dip of the hollow ; and. ^vhen the water had 

 accumulated, it ran towards the old chalk-pit ; 

 but totally disappeared long before arriving at 

 the place, and thus was a valuable field laid dry. 

 Another arable field contained a pond, which 

 very often overflowed its boundaries. Lo\ver 

 grotmd was at the distance of half-a-mile ; and 

 the expense of forming so Ions a drain pre- 

 vented all attempts to get rid of the nnnoyauce. 

 I advised die tenant to dig a deep drain from 

 the pond up into a high bank ot gravel, into 

 which tlie water oozed away immediately ; and 

 ever after carried oiF all excess. By this sim- 

 ple expedient a large piece of excellent land 

 was reclaimed and brought into a regular course 



happens that beds of clay lie alternately with ' of culture at a very trifling expense 

 those of sand at ditFerent depths beneath the i It is by such means that land, naturally fria- 

 surface. These beds of clay, if the general sur- | ble and loose in texture, may be relieved of su- 

 face of the farm or field lies' sloping, crop out at , perabundant water, and give admittance to the 

 diflPerent distances below each other and above . necessary supplies of air at all times. I have 

 each the stirface staple wiU be either occasion- : already obsen-ed that sandy soils require no ex 



ally or constantly wet If a pasture, rushes 

 will appear accompanied b}" the worst grasses. 



posure for the purpose of reducing adhesive- 

 ness either by tlie action of frost or machinerj- ; 



and herbage produced that will certainly rot and yet we often see such land carefaUy fal- 



sheep, especially if introduced from drier pa.« 

 turage. If tlie land be arable, the crops raised 

 thereon vrUl be unequal ; on the wet places, the 

 com -will be either too rank and inferior, or fail 

 altogether. In such cases, efficient underground 

 drainage is the remedy to get rid of the super- 

 fluous moisture, either by gendy-faUing diago- 

 nal or direct channels. The proper direction of 

 the drains depends on the depth, extent and 

 inclinarion of the beds of clay, and it is well to 

 have a professional man to stake them out un- 

 less the tenant has a sufficient knowledge of 

 geology himself. It is surprising to those who 

 know but little of the nature of the various 

 strata of the earth's surface, how easy it is in 

 some cases to get rid of surface water. For in- 

 stance, if there be wet and drj' places on the 

 same field, the owner may be assured that a bed 

 of clay, or other kind of earth impervious to 

 •water, lies beneath the wet; and a porous sub- 

 soil beneath the dry places. A drain of suffi- 

 cient depth opened (and filled nearly to the sur- 

 face with stones or loose gravel) from the wet 

 to the dr\' places, will certainly render the 

 whole dr\ . In my own practice, and acring on 

 this principle, I have been in many ca-ses verj- 

 enccessful in laving arable fields dry. Two 

 ca&es 1 laay mention as examples : — A field of 

 feie-i\aa acres, of a fine loam, suitable for vv-heat, 



lowed up in the autumn, and even laid in ridges, 

 to receive the advantages supposed to be im- 

 parted to it by the contact of frostj" air. That 

 such an idea, namely, that arable land is bene- 

 fited by exposure to frosty air, has been long 

 entertained, is evident from what has been 

 WTitten on the subject by old authors. Even 

 our amiable poet, Thomson, in one of the flights 

 of his pregnant imagination, says — 

 "The frost-roncocted glebe 



Draws in abundant vegetable souL 



And gathers vigor for the coming year." — Xfinter. 

 Showing that the notion was held by philoso- 

 phers as well as ctdtivaiors ; and, at the present 

 time, there are many among the latter who mis- 

 take the disrupting, ameliorating efiects of frost 

 on tenacious soils for its enriching property, 

 which they imagine is communicated to aU 

 soils. But this is a mistake ; the less light sandy 

 soils are exposed to the sun and air, the less 

 are they exhausted of their humid riches. Their 

 best qualities are as liable to be washed away 

 by winter rains as dissipated by the summer 

 sun ; and. therefore, they cannot be too close 

 and level during winter if it is intended that 

 they should be cropped in the .spring. 



I have often noticed the mismanagement of a 

 field of liiiht .soil by the foUowdng culture : — It 

 was fallowed, cleaned, dunged, plowed, and 



'^eans, or indeed any other crop, had a hollow j sown with tankard turnips about the middle ot 

 near one of the ends, which was everj- winfejr | June. The crop was abundant and a flock of 

 filled widi water, and ruinous to wheat or grass, | full-mouthed vvethers was put on in the end of 

 very frequendy to the extent of bet^veen two j September. ^Vithin a month, the turnips were 



and three acres. This I resolved to drain. A 

 neighboring farmer predicted that the attempt 

 would be a failure ; because his father, when 

 tenant sunk a shaft to the depth of above seven- 

 ty feet, in the lowest dip of the hollow, and 

 filled it with stones, expecting that diis would 

 form a .s ir allow for all the rain and melted snow 

 retained by the hollow. But this expectation 

 was not realized ; the water first filled the pit 

 and dien flowed over the land as before. The 

 cause was ea.sily comprehended : the pit d;d 

 not reach to die chalk-rock, nor did it pierce 

 through any porous stratum; its loamy sides 

 and bottomwerc perfectly water-tight, so that 

 little or none could escape. 



My plan was different I saw marks in an 

 adjacent field of where chalk had been drawn 



eaten off, and the field was plowed into single 

 'bout ridges to lie for the winter. In April, the 

 ridges were p.owed and harrowed down, and 

 barley and seeds were .sov.n. Both rose well ; 

 but throughout the summer growth, die ridges 

 vs-ere as visible in the crop as they were after 

 the plow, the centres of the ridsres bearing the 

 finest and strongest plants of the crop. And 

 the reason was obvious : the centres of the 

 ridges came up fre.sh. moist and mellow, while 

 the inter\-als were filled with the bleached dry 

 crests of the ridges, which, though more pul- 

 verized, were much less fertile and stimulating 

 than the fresher portions of the surface. Hence 

 it was quite evident that if the whole field had 

 been permitted to lie undisturbed till the spring, 

 the crop would have risen more equally and 



