SI)C Jarincr'0 itlciutl)!^ llisttor. 



173 



Subsoil Plowing. 



The Journal of ilie traiisaciiniis of ilie Ilfi;li- 

 laiiil Asi'icultiiral Socii'ty of SroUaiul, lor Jaiui- 

 niy, 1847, contains an accoiinl of some very vul- 

 iialile e«|)LMinieMts In n^garil to subsoil iilowing, 

 fuini.sljeil by Air. J. Wilson. It is stated tliat tlie 

 fniii on wliicli lliese exfierinitnts were made, 

 had been imder cultivation for a long period ; 

 that it consists of various kinds of soil — from a 

 gravelly earth to a tenacious clay. The usual 

 dejith of |ilowiiig for many years had been from 

 five to six inches, and a hard crust hail been 

 formed at that depth. 



Tlje tield lirst experimented on, contained 

 thirteen acres, most of the soil l)eing heavy, in- 

 clining to clay, on a clay subsoil, and the rest 

 light soil, on a gravelly subsoil. It was under- 

 drained ill ISiS, with tile, at the distance of lif- 

 teen feet between the drains. Previous to drain- 

 ing it had been very wet, and the cro|is it bore 

 were generally poor. It Avas sidisoiled in the 

 fall of 1844, the plow going across the drains. — 

 A common two-horse plough was first used, tak- 

 ing a depth of six to seven inches, and a subsoil 

 plow with two horses followed, taking an addi- 

 tional depth of seven to eight inches. Eleven 

 acres were plowed in this manner, and two acres 

 were left, which were oidy plowed to the ordina- 

 ry depth of six and a half inches. The whole 

 field was manured alike — the manure being trom 

 yard dung and guano — and is was sowed to yel- 

 low turnips in tiie fore part of Jiuie. No differ- 

 euco was discernnble in the crop till about the 

 first of .Vngnst, when the snbsoiled porlion show- 

 ed superiority, which became more iuid more 

 app.-uent till the ciop was taken up the last of 

 October. The stdjsoiled portion gave 2G tons 7 

 cwt. per acre, and the part not subsuiled, 20 tons 

 7 cwt. per acre — making a difference in lavor of 

 snbsoiling of 6 tons 7 cwt., or a value of £3 18s. 

 per acre. 



'i'he next experiment was made upon a field 

 which had been furrow-drained with tiles in the 

 autumn of 1844; the soil rather inclined to sand 

 on a subsoil of sandy clay. Two acres were sub- 

 soil plowed to the depth of fifteen inches in De- 

 cember, 1845, and two acres were only plowed 

 to the depth of six or seven inches. Two ridges 

 of the field were trench -plowed to the depth of 

 thirteen inches. [Trench plowing is performed 

 by ruimiiig a plow of the common construction 

 in the furrow of anothr of same kind. Its oper- 

 ation and effects are dilJ'erent fiom those of the 

 subsoil plow, as the surface soil Ie covereil by 

 the earth taken up from below by the second 

 plow.] The field was manured alike with ma- 

 nure Irom the fuin-yard, aiul planted to pota- 

 toes. The trench plowed part gave 7 tons, 1 

 cwt., 2 quarters, per acre ; the snbsoiled, 7 tons, 9 

 cwt., 2 quarters ; and the part oidy plowed, G tons 

 14 cwi., 1 quarter, per acre— making a difference 

 of 15 cwt.,1 quarter, per acre, in favorof snhsoil- 

 ing, over the part plowed oidy in the ordinary 

 way ; and a difference of 8 cwt., over trencii 

 plowing. 



The next experiment was made on a field 

 which had been partially drained several yecrs 

 since. The soil, ''an earthy loam incnmlmnt on 

 cla}." A portion of the field was snbsoiled, and 

 the remander plowed to the ordinary depih. — 

 The field was sown to barley in 1840. The ap- 

 pearance of the crop was most favorable on the 

 snbsoiled portion during the time it was grow- 

 ing, and when threshed, gave the follow iiTg 

 suits: The subsoiled portion yielded 8 qu 

 ters, 3 bushels, per acre, with 36^ cwt. of stra., . 

 the part not subsoiled, yielded 7 quarters, 4 bush- 

 els, Specks, per acre, with 28 cwt. of straw- 

 making a difference in lavor of subsoilins of 6 

 bushels, 1 peck of grain, and 8i cwt. of straw 

 per acre. 



From the Soulhero Planter. 

 Undcr-Draininjf. 



There is a species of draining known as un- 

 der-draining, much in use in England, and which 

 is now resorted to iu the Northern Slates, to a 

 considerable extent, but which has been but Ut- 

 ile tried in our part of the country. It has been 

 well said that the science of agriculture is iu its 

 infancy in the I'niled States, and the remark is 

 peculiarly applicable to the South. It is a liale 

 singular that iu a land where every other science 

 has received the utmost attention and been for- 

 warded iiiore than in any other country, and 



ling re- 

 lar- 



where every other mechanical pursuit has been 

 brought to perlectiuu by the a|iplicaliou of sci- 

 ence to its (lelails, this, the most iinporlant of all, 

 should remain stationary. In China we liiid this 

 state of things precisely reversed. Every other 

 occupation remains iu its infancy, while agricul- 

 ture has been brought to an aslouishing degree 

 of perfection. Even in Egypt, the governmeni 

 is now expeniliiig eight or ten millions of dollars 

 for the proper irrigation and draining ol' its own 

 land merely ; while in this laud of eulightenment 

 and industry, not even the most trilling sum is 

 expended by any one for the irrigation of the soil, 

 (though the very troipient waul of rain wouhl 

 render an elfei'tual system of great utility, and al- 

 though we have every where hundreds of small 

 sirctams that might with little expense be made 

 to water hundreds of acres,) and whiui we drain 

 at all we still pursue the old and iiiellectual mode 

 of large open ditches. 



Such draining (besides its other comparative 

 disadvantages) is ellectiial only to a certain ex- 

 tent. It carries olf the surface water. But in 

 heavy, tenacious clay soils the water precolates 

 to a certain distance and there remains, unless 

 near a drain in which case it liiids its way into it 

 and is so carried off. IJiit to run open ditches 

 all over a lield would take up too much soil, and 

 interfere with the cuhivatioii. In En;;laud and 

 riculland the system of small covered drains has 

 been introduced and practiced with signal succes. 

 The first plan that came to be much used there 

 was to dig very narrow ditches, not more than 

 from three to six inches at bottom and very grad- 

 ually enlaiging as they approach the sm liice.— 

 These were dug at intervals of from sixteen to 

 twcntj'-five feet all over the land, and were two 

 or three feel deep. They all communicated with 

 some large open ditch, liy which the water col- 

 lected was led off. When finished, those which 

 were siiHiciently narrow were merely arched 

 over with turf and clay, liigli enough from the 

 bottom to admit all the water that might filler 

 tluongh to pass off. On the bottom of olliers 

 a board was laid to form a continuous surface, 

 and arched tiles maile for the purpose laid upon 

 it. Others were filled U[) with loose stones and 

 sometimes with brush. Hy the time the brush 

 was decayed and gone, the earth above it would 

 be sufliciently firm not to need its support. In 

 all cases \vere the coverings of the drains deep 

 enough to allow the |)loiigh to pass along the 

 earth thrown over them withom interfering with 

 it, thus leaving ihe whole surface of the ground 

 free for cultivation. (Jreat improvtnienls have 

 been made on this method. The drains are now 

 sunk to the depth of fiuir feet, and pipes of 

 baked clay are used to carry off the water. — 

 These are from "one and a half to two inches in 

 diameter, and from twelve to eighteen inches in 

 length, connected by allowing the descending 

 end to enter the next below it as a socket, or by 

 merely placing the two ends close to one anolh- 

 er. The triHiiig openings at each joini, « ilh the 

 holes perforaled at the tops, are found snflicient 

 to admit all the waler that falls into the drains ; 

 while the increased depth at uhich the drainage 

 takes place draws the water from a niuch great- 

 er distance." It has been found that by placigg 

 the ilrains at the depth of four feet they are not 

 needed so frequently ; and instead of irom six- 

 teen to twenty-five feet, they are only required at 

 distances of from forty to fifty feet, and that 

 at that distance they drain the land just as well 

 and iu much less time. Besides, the first [ilan 

 costsfrom twenty to thirty dollars per acre, while 

 the new plan costs only fiom twelve to eighteen 

 dollars. 



Wliat ;ire the advantages of under-draining 

 over the smiiice system? One evident advan- 

 tage is that they carry off the superfluous water 

 from heavy, wet, clay lands more completely 

 than any practicable .system of surface draining 

 could. In lands of that descriplioii a lew ditches 

 at the bottom of declivities will not do. The 

 water Will not run off from such lands as it does 

 from others. It sinks into the earth and remains, 

 keeping it in a clammy, wet, and cold state, 

 which prevents more than one fourth the crop 

 which might be ohiaiued from it, being received, 

 anil preventing cultivation early in the spring 

 and late iu the lidl. And as the firmer can only 

 make use of it in the warm season, he can only 

 raise upon it a moderate variety of products. To 

 drain such lands perfectly with open drains 



would require such a multiplicity of furrows and 

 ditches, as would take up an immense deal of 

 the ground and materially iuterliu'e with the cul- 

 tivation of it. But by under-drains, it may bo 

 most perfectly and t'unoiigldy drained without 

 in any way impeding the course of the plough or 

 occupying a fool of the soil. 



In some soils, therefore, it is the only way to 

 drain effectually; but iu nil soils they "have the 

 advantage over the open ditches, iu effect, on the 

 fertility of the land. Kaiii-water ilself contains 

 substaiues of the greatest importance to vegeta- 

 ble growth — carbonic acid and ammonia. When 

 it is permilled lo precolate through the soil, it 

 gives it the full beuelit of these, anil this it is al- 

 lowed to do in the system of nnder-diaining. — 

 When it is cariied off by open furrows to ditch- 

 es, of course this advantage is not secured. — 

 But by under-draining not only are the warm rains 

 allowed to pass through the soil, and to enter in- 

 to permanent combination with the roots of 

 plant.s, but through the passage they make, the 

 warm air rushes iu and gives the earth that gen- 

 ial temperature, so essential to luxuriant vege- 

 tation. This precolalion of water through the 

 soil renders it porous, and " porous soils readily 

 imbibe heal and as readily part with it, every 

 portion of their own siirfices radiating it, when 

 the air in contact with them is of a lower tem- 

 perature than their own. Tliis is the precise 

 condition for securing the deposit of the deivs so 

 refreshing, and during a drought so indispen.sable 

 to the progress of vegetation. Dew can only bo 

 loimd on surfaces that are below the temperature 

 of the surrounding air, and rapid radiation of 

 the heat imbibed during the warmth of a sum- 

 mer day, is ue<'essary to secure it in snfiicient pro- 

 fusion for the demands of luxuriant vegetation 

 in the absence of frequent showers." ISesides 

 all this, it should be recollected that every rain 

 that is carried off by open liirrows and diiehe.s, 

 carries with it a great quantity of those line pani- 

 cles of soil, in which the chief fertility of the 

 earth consists. By the under-draining all these 

 are preserved, and the conveying off the water 

 in that way only carries this fine soil to the roots 

 of the plants. 



We conclude by giving the following extract 

 which will exhibit in another point of view the 

 advantage of a thorough system of nndcr-ilrain- 

 iiig, that being the only system by which all 

 lauds can be well drained : 



Another essential benefit derivable from 

 drained lands consists in the advantageous use 

 which can be made of the subsoil plough. If 

 there be no escape for the inoistnre which may 

 have settled below the surface, the subsoil plough 

 has been found to be injurious rather than bene- 

 ficial. By loosening the earth it admiis a larger 

 deposit of water, which requires a longer lime 

 for evaporation and insensible drainage to dis- 

 charge. When the water escapes freely, the use 

 of the subsoil plough is attended with the best 

 results. The broken eartii thus pulverized lo a 

 much greater (leplh and incorporated with the 

 descending pariicles of vegetaiile sustenance af- 

 fords au enlarged range for tlie roots of plaiilj!, 

 and ill projinriioii lo its extent, (lirnishes ihetn 

 with adJilioiial means of gro-Mh. The farmer 

 thus has a means of augmenting his soil and its 

 capacity fiir production wholly independent of 

 increasing his superficial acres ; for with many 

 i-rops it matters not in the (|Uautily of their pro- 

 ductions, whether he owns and ciiltivatrs one 

 hundred acres of soil, one foot dep|), or two hun- 

 dred acres of soil, half a foot in depth. With 

 Ihe latter, however, he has to provide twice the 

 capital in the first piircha-e, is at twice the cost 

 in fencing, planting and tillage, and pays twice 

 the taxes. The uniler-draiiied and subsoiled 

 fields have the further advaniage of securitv and 

 steady developement in Kcisons of droughr, 

 as they derive their moisture from urealer depths 

 which are frequently unaffected by ihe parching 

 heat. Tills seiuires to them a large yield while 

 all around is parched and wilhered. 



A more enlarged and general, or what may 

 justly be termed a pliilantliropic view of this sys- 

 tem, will readily (ielect cnnslderations of great 

 moment, in the general healihfnbiess of climate 

 which would ii.'sult from the drain.-igi; id' large 

 areas, which are now sr.turatcd, or in many in- ■ 

 stances covered with stagnant waters, ami uhich 

 are suf!c;red lo puluie the atmosphere by tluir 

 pestilent exhalations. 



