1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



419 



ry stump is worth one dollar standing in the 

 ground. During the dry season, which is one- 

 half of the whole time, trees send their roots very 

 deep into the earth, and until they had Willis' 

 machine, it was next to impossible to avail them- 

 selves of them. But this powerful Extractor* un- 

 earths them with ease, when they afford our 

 neighbors, the Chilians, a considerable supply of 

 fuel. Address W. W. Willis, Orange, Mass. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 UNDEHDRAININQ. 



For the purposes of draining, we may safely 

 neglect the more particular geological classifica- 

 tion of soils, and consider them only in two forms, 

 pervious and impervious ; soil through which wa- 

 ter will readily pass, such as loam, sand and loose 

 gravel, on the one hand, and that which retains 

 it a great length of time, as clay, gravel cement- 

 ed with oxyd of iron or hard-pan, on the other. 

 The distance at which drains may be laid and do 

 the best service at the least cost, depends in a 

 great measure upon the kind of soil to be treat- 

 ed ; and this point needs close attention, — for the 

 cost of every drain laid more than is necessary, 

 is thrown away ; but it is on the other side, in 

 laying too few drains, we are most likely to err ; 

 in which case, a much less return will be received, 

 in proportion to the amount expended, than if 

 the work is thoroughly done. 



There is, in most cases, but little regularity 

 in the strata of the subsoil, and the cuts often 

 seen in works on draining, representing half-a- 

 dozen different layers of soil all of the same 

 thickness, and having the same inclination, are 

 in a measure deceptive. I would not, of course, 

 convey the impression that there is but little 

 general regularity in the strata, but only that it 

 is not so minute and certain in its regularity as 

 to enable a person to know, from the strata 

 shown by opening a single drain, that his entire 

 field is of the same materials, lying in the same 

 direction, and at the same distance from the sur- 

 face, as that shown in the drain he has opened. 



Each field should be carefully examined before 

 draining, by an exploratory drain, or by trial 

 holes, and the drains laid so as to cut the lowest 

 point of a porous strata, and carry the water as 

 quickly as possible from the land ; for this pur- 



f)ose, in most cases, the drains should run on the 

 ine of steepest descent, as the sub-strata is more 

 likely to crop out on the side of a hill, than to 

 run down parallel to its surface, and if the drains 

 run on the steepest descent they will tap and 

 draw the water from each strata before it arrives 

 at the surface, and the drains, having a greater 

 fall than could be obtained in any other way, will 

 discharge the water in the shortest possible time. 

 If, on making examination, it is found that the 

 strata does run nearly parallel with the surface, 

 the water will be collected better by drains laid 

 on the half-rise ; a very good fall can usually be 

 secured for drains laid in this direction. The 

 same field may need different treatment in differ- 

 ent parts. Drains are sometimes laid across the 

 slope, but they are, for various reasons, much 

 less effectual than when laid on the line of steep- 

 est descent, or on the half-rise. 



A drain, driven across the slope, may leave un- 

 touched a strata of porous material, which, crop- 

 ping out a few feet below the drain, brings to the 

 surface its collected waters, or if the drain cuts 

 through the porous strata into a retentive one 

 part of the way, yet the unequal thickness of the 

 porous strata will carry a portion of it below the 

 bottom of the drain, and water will be discharged 

 at the surface as before ; or, allowing neither of 

 these cases to exist, but the bottom of the drain 

 to be in a retentive strata throughout its whole 

 length, yet the water will linger in the drain for 

 want of a sufficient fall to carry it off, and lying 

 against the lower side, will ooze through at points 

 where the soil is less retentive. 



Another reason why draining should run on 

 the steepest descent, is, that all water lying on 

 a level with the bottom of the drains can find an 

 outlet into one or the other, by running a little 

 more than half the distance between them, but 

 in the case of drains across the slope, as the wa- 

 ter acts only by gravity, none of it so situated as 

 to depth can run into the upper di"ain, but all 

 must find its outlet through the lower one, and 

 half the water, in order to reach it, must travel 

 from one-half to the full distance between the 

 two. Water stands nearer the surface at a great- 

 er distance from the drains ; therefore, in order 

 to keep the water table at a proper depth, the 

 drains across the slope must be. deeper than if 

 run on the steepest descent. In very steep lands 

 the direction of the natural cracks is across the 

 slope, and the steep drain, cutting through them, 

 relieves them of their water. 



A simple illustration will show the effect which 

 stagnant water, within a foot or two of the sur- 

 face, has on the roots of plants. 



Perhaps it will aid the reader who doubts the 

 benefit of thorough draining in case of drought, 

 to see why it is beneficial. 



No. 1. — Section of land before 

 it is drained. 



No. 2.— Section of land after 

 it is drained. 



In the first figure, 1 represents the surface soil, 

 through which evaporation takes place, using up 

 the heat which might otherwise go to the roots 

 of plants ; 2 represents the water table, or sur- 

 face of stagnant water, below which roots sel- 

 dom go ; 3, water of evaporation ; 4, water of 

 capillary attraction ; 5, water of drainage, or 

 stagnant water. 



In the second figure, 1 represents the surface- 

 soil warmed by the sun and summer rains ; 2, 

 the water-table nearly four feet below the sur- 

 face, — roots of the wheat plant have been traced 

 to a depth of more than four feet in a free mold ; 

 3, water of capillary attraction ; 4, water of 

 drainage, or stagnant water. 



Boston, Aug., 1858. J. Herbert Shedd. 



