284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



Far the Nev England Farmer. 



DRAINAGE— POWER OF SOILS TO RE- 

 TAIN MANURE. 



BY JUDGE FRENCH. 



lOffect of Manure not Permanent— What becomes of it— Four 

 ways by which it goes oil'— 1) raining helps to keeps it— Lord 

 Bacon's mode of obtaining Fresh Water from tha Sea— How 

 Soils Retain Manure— Clay Absorbs Ammonia— AUo Lime 

 anil Potash— Burnt Clay Absorbs less— Absorption of Organic 

 Slatters— Liquid Manure Filtered Ijy Clay— Sewer Water and 

 Flax-Water Purified by Filtering— Solutions of Logwood and 

 other Dyes deprived of' Color by Clay— Skunks Sweetened by 

 being Buried— How much an Acre will Retain- Practical Con- 

 clusions. 



Every farmer knows that the effect of manure 

 upon land is not permanent. A new application 

 of some kind of fertilizer is necessary, at each 

 rotation. It is matter of common observation, 

 too, that some lands hold manure much longer 

 than others, and especially, that sandy land re- 

 quires more frequent manuring than a heavier 

 soil of clay. There seem to be but four meth- 

 ods in which manures can be taken from the soil. 

 The first is by escaping into the air, by evapora- 

 tion, as it is usually termed ; the second is by 

 being washed from the surface by heavy rains, 

 or by the melting of snow in spring ; the third 

 IS by washing down or sinking through the soil, 

 -tnd the fourth by being taken up by the growing 

 urop, and becoming part of the harvest. 



Draining prevents surface washing by allowing 



he water to pass into the soil, instead of run- 



ling away upon the surface. It tends, too, t« 



orevent the escape of manure in the form o/ 



:^a8es, or by evaporation, because it makes room 



or it to sink down into the soil. The object 



text to be attained, is to retain the fertilizing el- 



ments in the soil, within reach of the roots of 



he growing crops, long enough for the plants 



c,o appropriate them. 



The objection that draining leaches out of the 

 •oil the elements of fertility, has been practically 

 inswered, by the opinions of learned practical 

 nen, and by observations upon the quality of 

 Irainage water, showing that in general, deep 

 Irains discharge pure water, while shallow drains 

 lischarge water charged with fertilizing sub- 

 .tances. 



As certain soils are known to part with ma- 

 lure much more speedily than others, it may be 

 veil to inquire more critically into the reason 

 f this fact, as bearing upon the question at what 

 epth it is safe to draw off the water from culti- 

 vated land, so as not to take away with it the 

 lod which should nourish the crop. 

 One obvious mode by which soils are capable 

 f stopping the descent of manure through them, 

 1 by straining out, as it, were, the grosser parti- 

 les of matter. This is merely mechanical, and 

 epends upon the coarseness or fineness of the 

 articles of soil. Common salt, it is supposed, 

 'oes not escape by evaporation, and is not muck, 

 at all, taken into soils by absorption, yet it is. 



to some extent, retained in the soil by attraction. 

 The particles dissolvedin water are carried down- 

 ward, and finding particles of soil not saturated 

 with water, are attached to them, and remain till 

 washed away or taken up by plants. 



Lord Bacon, in his "Sylva Sylvarum," speaks 

 of a method of obtaining fresh water, which was 

 practiced on the coast of Barbary : — "Digge a 

 hole on the sea-shore, somewhat above high wa- 

 ter mark, and as deep as low water mark, which 

 when the tide cometh, will be filled with water 

 fresh and potable." He also remembers "to have 

 read that trial hath been made of salt water 

 passed through earth, through ten vessels, one 

 within another, and yet it hath not lost its salt- 

 ness, so as to become potable, but when drayned 

 through twenty vessels, hath become fresh." 



Dr. Stephen Hales, in a paper read before the 

 Royal Society, in 1739, on "some attempts to 

 make sea-water wholesome," mentions that "sea- 

 water being filtered through stone cisterns, the 

 first pint that runs through will be like pure wa- 

 ter, having no taste of the salt, but the next pint 

 will be salt as usual." 



Mr. Bernays, in the Agricultural Gasette, in 

 October, 1849, describes some experiments of 

 his filtration. He found that a solution of com- 

 mon salt was diminished in strength by filtra- 

 tion through a soil, and that the diminution 

 was in proportion to the depth of the filtering 

 column. 



Professor Way, in a valuable article "On the 

 Power of Soils to Absorb Manure," to be found 

 in the eleventh volume of the journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, gives a series of 

 careful experiments on this subject, some of the 

 results of which will be stated. 



His opinion is, that the power of soils to ab- 

 sorb or retain manures is due partly to capillari- 

 ty or attraction, and partly to chemical action, 

 but he thinks there is a power beyond these, and 

 indefinable, at present, which some soils, and es- 

 pecially clays, possess to retain the mineral bases 

 and animal and vegetable ingredients of manure. 



The power of clay, whether pure or mixed, to 

 absorb ammonia, is well known. 



Prof. Way also proves that clays have power, 

 to considerable extent, to absorb caustic lime 

 and its carbonate, and also potash and magnesia. 

 Contrary to the received opinion, he found that 

 the absorptive power of clay is diminished by 

 burning, although it is well known that some 

 clay soils are much improved by burning the 

 surface, and that burnt clay is on some soils a 

 valuable manure. Mr. Pusey says "The action 

 of burnt soil rests, I believe, on some distinct 

 principle, not hitherto understood." 



Indeed, the attempt to solve the mysteries of 

 vegetation by the tests of chemical science, will 



