1S46.] Water, its Properties and Uses. 65 



What would be thought in this country of a man who would buy 

 a farm of 130 acres, and have immediately dug on it eighty or 

 ninety miles of drains'? And yet such is not by any means a 

 solitary fact in England. 



This process may not be as extensively necessary in this coun- 

 try as in Great Britain, and yet there is no soil which is not im- 

 proved by making it of such mechanical condition as to readily 

 discharge any superfluous water which may otherwise stagnate 

 upon it. This is perfectly consistent likewise, with the doctrine 

 of irrigation, where the water from running streams is made to 

 flow over the land and saturate it. If the soil in this case be not 

 perfectly permeable to the water, so that it may readily pass 

 through, more injury than good will be the consequence. The 

 iatention in irrigating land is to flow it with water holding in so- 

 lution salts and gases, and decomposed matter of organic origin, 

 part of which substances will be deposited in the soil. All 

 water of creeks or rivers or springs, is charged with the soluble 

 substances of the soil and rocks over which it passes, and the 

 gases of the earth and air. These are all conveyed directly to 

 the roots and into the circulation of plants. 



Another effect of water in regulating the temperature of the 

 air, may be found in those countries which lie contiguous to large 

 bodies of water. Maritime countries — islands of the sea — in- 

 deed all lands near large waters, have always a milder climate 

 than more remote ones. The fact is well known that the banks 

 of our large rivers for some distance interior, are protected from 

 early frosts by the heat given out by water during the process of 

 freezing. 



A fact may be mentioned here of some little singularity, and 

 depending upon this cause. In the fall of the year, at evening, 

 when the ground freezes for the first few times, it will be found 

 that a thermometer suspended a few feet above the earth's sur- 

 face will indicate a degree of heat from 1^ to 3° above the freez- 

 ing point, so rapidly is heat given out by freezing water. 



The atmosphere is always charged with the vapor of water, 

 and thus aids vegetable life and serves important purposes in the 



No. VII. 5 



