64 Water, its Properties and Uses. [July, 



ture of the earth and atmosphere, is a matter of considerable im- 

 portance to the agricultm-ist. It is a law well understood, that 

 by evaporation of water, cold is produced, or rather heat is ab- 

 stracted from other bodies in the vicinity. It is ow^ing to this 

 principle that many soils are called cold, and these are the soils 

 which consist largely of clay, and retain the water which falls 

 upon them, giving it oif to the atmosphere by a gradual process 

 of evaporation. The soil which is dry is in a condition to absorb 

 the genial rays of the sun, and become warmed for the proper 

 growth of vegetation, whilst in wet soils the sun's heat is all ab- 

 sorbed by the water, and is expended in converting that water 

 into vapor, with which it ascends into the air. There may be no 

 other difference in the two soils of neighboring fields than this, 

 and one will produce nothing but moss, and coarse grass, and 

 weeds, whilst the other w^ill be highly fertile. From the pre- 

 sence of too much water, the temperature of the one is kept so 

 low that decomposition of the materials of food does not take 

 place, and if it does, there is not heat enough to sustain the vital 

 energies of the plant. 



This cause is the origin of the immense bodies of peat which 

 occupy the low grounds of so large a portion of this country. 

 Carried with water whilst the vegetable matter is collecting, the 

 cavity becomes gradually filled with a soaked and spongy mass 

 which soon becomes dry, but only undergoes a partial rotting un- 

 der the water. Such places, although the surface may be dry a 

 portion of the summer, can never be made productive as long as 

 they remain wet. 



Here then, a practical rule suggests itself, and which has been 

 worth more to the agricultural interests of some entire nations, 

 than all the other aids that science has offered. We refer to 

 draining; not to the old-fashioned ditching which was once call- 

 ed draining, but to the thorough drying of the soil, by thorough 

 draining, which has been practised in Britain to the almost entire 

 renovation of agriculture there. Thousands of acres which be- 

 fore were considered as good for nothing, have been reclaimed 

 and made among the most productive lands of that kingdom^ 



