10 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Even in cases wliere no outlet can lie oLtam- 

 ed, land may be drained to some effect liy dig- 

 ging a ditch of considerable breadth and depth, 

 which will serve as a reservoir for the water, 

 and the earth taken from the ditch will, it' pro- 

 perly spread, not only make room for the super- 

 fluous water, but elevate the surlhce of the soil. 

 In this way the water may be separated from the 

 land to pretty good purpose. But it is always 

 best if possible to obtain an outlet, which it is 

 desirable mav be so low that the water in the 

 ditches may have some motion, lest its stagna- 

 tion cause unhealthy exhalations. 



The preceding remarks are applicable chief- 

 ly to draining on a large scale. The tollowing 

 observations laken from an excellent ^^Essay on 

 the Principles and Practice of Rural Ecunoiny,"' 

 by G. VV. Featherstonhauoh, Esq. may perhaps, 

 more frequently apply to practical purposes, 

 than those which recommend processes more 

 laborious and expensive. " In ordinary situa- 

 tions where there are no obstructions above, and 

 the declivity easy, the task is not great nor very 

 expensive; a cut two feet wide made in the 

 right situation, three feet deep, and narrowed 

 to a foot at the bottom, is sulficiont to lay the 

 land dry for a great distance, if it is carefully 

 cleaned out every fall ; ibr the distant water 

 will in twelve months make itself small chan- 

 nels beneath the surface of the cut, which will 

 be pressed up by continual percolation : by this 

 simple operation, lands which have never produc- 

 ed any thing are made to produce heavy crops of 

 turnips or grain, and become productive here- 

 after: the expense, even when the labor is to 

 be paid for, is nothing compared to the benefit. 

 A laborer may easily make three rods a day, 

 which at fifteen dollars per month for board and 

 wages, is about eighteen cents a rod. A cut of 

 this description, with smaller ones leading to it 

 if necessary, is amply sufhcient, and will stand to 

 all effective purposes in the place of those expen- 

 sive methods practised in Europe. If it be an ex- 

 tensive bottom and proper for permanent mea- 

 dow, the cut may be enlarged to any width at 

 the same expense, by varying the method. The 

 plough and the scraper should be u^ed instead 

 of the spade, taking care to finish the banks with 

 a neat slope to the bottom, by the spade and 

 rake, and sowing a few grass seeds upon it, at a 

 proper season to take root before the freshets 

 come on. If tliis be done in a proper manner, 

 the grass will grow as well on the slopes and the 

 bottom as on tiie surface of the niua<low, and be 

 out with as much ease and advantage. Wide 

 drains of this description seldom want cleaning- 

 out; llie sod prevents the soil washing in. A 

 cut of this description, which I made eight years 

 ago in a piece of interval of 200 acres, has not 

 wanted cleaning out to this moment." 



An English writer in remarking on this sub- 

 ject says in substance, that a swamp, which is 

 covered with moss may be injured by draining 

 it too much — that his crops were best when the 

 surface of water in the surrounding ditches was 

 not more than three feet lower than the mea- 

 c!ovv — that it will be a great advantage to the 

 improved moss-ground if the farmer is able to 

 flood it at proper times, by means of a dam and 

 gate at the outlet. This will greatly add to 

 the fertility of the land, which is drained, but 

 care must be taken not to let the water remain 

 on the ground too long a time, because, though 

 there will be no danger of its re-converting the 



soil into a bog, so long as th;re are channels to 

 carry it off, it will be apt to chili and injure the 

 plants. 



If a swamp is overrun with bushes, a dam at 

 the outlet, by means of which it may be Hood- 

 ed, will, perhaps, present the best mode of sub- 

 duing them, which may be effected by flooding in 

 two or three summers. It will besides atTord a 

 good method of enriching the soil. The Com- 

 plete Farmer says " first dram the land, and if 

 there be any heath or turf on it, burn that off, and 

 shape the surfice over. Then make a dam at 

 the lowest part, and a sluice, and work the wa- 

 ter upon it through the winter. The mud 

 which comes with the land flood will bring a 

 fine sward over it in two or three years, and be 

 afterwards a yearly manure ; so that it will bear 

 annual cutting, and besides be good pasture tor 

 cattle after the sward has become strong enough 

 to bear them. 



There are some drained meadows in the 

 neighborhood of Boston which have dams at 

 their outlets, by means of which the water may 

 be made to cover the surface of the meadow, or 

 stand at such height in the ditches as may be 

 thought necessary to communicate a proper de- 

 gree of moisture to the soil. In a hot and dry 

 season the water is so far purposely obstructed 

 at the outlet as to stand in the drains within 

 two or three feet of the surface of the meadow. 

 The water generally penetrates every part of 

 the soil in the meadow, as high as the level at 

 which it stands in the ditch, and some degree of 

 moisture is drawn by the heat of the sun, (pro- 

 vided the soil be tolerably open and porous) 

 quite to the top of the ground. This ascent of 

 moisture from the wet ground below is eflected 

 by the same principle which causes oil or tal- 

 low to rise in the wick of a lighted lamp or 

 candle. If a soil is naturally too wet, by caus- 

 ing water to stand in its immediate vicinity with- 

 in two or three perpendicular feet of its surface, 

 you will increase the evil more than most ]>co- 

 ple would be aware of; and if a soil is natural- 

 ly too dry, or is suffering in consequence of a 

 dry season, letting water into ditches or chan- 

 nels two or three or more feet below the top of 

 the ground will give moisture to the whole mass. 

 Thus springs which flow under, but near the sur- 

 face of the ground, may often be traced by the 

 verdure of the herbage above them; and the 

 banks of rivulets bear aquatic plants and exhib- 

 it other marks of moistuie for several feet above 

 the ordinary level of the water. A knowledge 

 of this principle may sometimes be of use to gar- 

 deners, and lead to perhaps the best way of wa- 

 tering deliclate plants, viz. Instead of applying 

 water directly to the roots, let it be poured 

 plentifully into small trenches between or near 

 the rows of the plants to be watered, and it will 

 Ijorcolate slowly through the thirsty earth, and 

 in its passage become warmed, imbued perhaps, 

 with particles of manure, and thus answer a bet- 

 ter purpose than cold water from a well and a 

 watering pot, applied dirertly to the plants, at 

 ttie risk of displacing some of the soil and de- 

 ranging the economy of the small and fibrous 

 roots. 



To destroy Crickets. — Mix some roasted apple 

 with a little white arsenic powdered, and put a 

 little of this mixture into the holes or cracks in 

 which the crickets are ; they will eat of it and 

 perish. 



'.' 



FOR THE NEW E.N(iI,AND FARMJER. 



Mr. EDrroR— If you think the following ac- 

 count of the effects resulting from experimenU 

 made with Plaster of Pari-s can be of any use 

 to the public, you have the liberty of publish 

 ing it in your useful paper. 



About eighteen years ago I purchased half 

 bushel of Plaster, with a view of trving it or 

 my land. A part of it I sowed on my mowing 

 some of it I put on my corn, and a small quan 

 tity was left which 1 put into a box and sei 

 away, having \ery little faith in its utility, ant 

 having some fears lest it would eventually in 

 jure the land on which if was used. 



I could not perceive that it had any effect or 

 my corn, and very little, if any, on my grass 

 and of course 1 determined to make use of 

 morti of it. 



In file spring of 1813 I wanted the box it 

 which my plaster had been kept for seven yean 

 for another use. 1 thought to myself what shal 

 I do with my plaster, considering it to be goot 

 for nothing. 1 thought 1 would put it into lh( 

 road, but at length tlie thought occurred to m< 

 it might possibly do some good, and as then 

 was but a small quantity of it, it could do bu 

 very little damage. 1 sowed it upon a piece o 

 dry grass land which had been mowed for man' 

 years, but which produced so little as to scarce" 

 ly pay the expense of getting the hay. 1 sow 

 ed my plaster about ihe first of May, and it wa 

 but a short time before its effects were clearl 

 to be seen. When I cut my grass I could se" 

 exactly where the plaster was sown ; it wa 

 mostly clover, being thick and very much liki 

 rowen. I had a second crop almost as large a 

 the first. The second year the produce wa 

 about as good as the first, and the third abou 

 half as good as the first and second years, an 

 the fourth the same as it was before any plaste 

 was sowed. 



1 now make use of plaster on this piece c 

 ground with the same effect as at first. It pre 

 duced this year a fine crop of grass, principall 

 clover, and now promises fair for a second cro] 



The beneficial effects of plaster on pastur 

 land are very great. 1 have used it in this wa 

 eight or ten years. 1 sow it on the same piec 

 of ground every second year. Five or six pock 

 to an acre 1 think sufficient. My pasturing i 

 essentially improved and produces nearly doubl 

 the quantily of feed than it formerly did. 

 part of my pasture formerly produced little els 

 than bushes, which 1 frequently cut, but coul 

 not exterminate them, and the land being s 

 moist and rocky as to forbid the use of th 

 plough. This p:irt of iny pasture now has quit 

 a new appearance. Since 1 have commence' 

 solving plaster upon it 1 have cut the bushe 

 twice, and they arc almost entirely gone. Tb 

 grass, particularly white clover, grows luxur; 

 antly. 



Ill 1817 I sowed a piece of ground with flai 

 and on two thirds of it I sowed plaster. Th 

 flax on the third part on which 1 sowed no plas 

 ter was not so large by one quarter as the ethei 



In 1818 I planted a field with potatoes, aD> 

 manured one half of it, putting a good shove 

 full of manure in each hill in every second rof 

 through the field. The other half I put a spoon 

 ful of plaster in each hill. When I dug my po 

 tatoes 1 found the produce of the plastered ro* 

 to be full equal to those that were manured. 



In 1819 1 planted a dry gravelly piece of laBi 



