VOL. I. 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



si3SJ2ai2>5?T)5 42.^0^:^:12 a334i;» 



>'0. 10. 



BDMUSD RUFFIN, EDITOR AXD PROPRIETOR. — T. W. WHITE, PRIS^TER. 



OX SURFACE DRAi:SIXG, A?fD THE CCLTIVA- 

 TlOX OF CORX. 



To the Editor of the Fanners- Register. 



Sir, — I promised you, some time ago, a com- 

 munication on the subject of draining, confessed- 

 ly one of the most important operations in hus- 

 bandry. I now imperfectly fulfil that promise. 

 It is my design to treat only of the mode of re- 

 lieving land from the surface water, where it can 

 be done by open ditches. I have had but little ex- 

 perience in rearard to under-drains and embank- 

 ments, and that little is not satisfactory. I shall 

 briefly and incidentEilly touch on a few other mat- 

 ters. 



I consider it the duty of every Virginian, at all 

 conversant witli agriculture, to contribute his 

 mite, even though it be as small as mine, to the 

 resuscitation of our ancient and venerable Com- 

 monwealth. Impoverished and mangled as she 

 has been, she has still within herself" all the ele- 

 ments of prosperity and happiness. Though a 

 perfect system of husbandry may not exist on any 

 estate within her limits, there are, nevertheless, 

 many creditable approximations to it. If the good 

 practices found here and there, few to be sure, and 

 lar between, can be collected and irabodied, as 

 complete a code of agriculture may be formed, 

 as would be desirable in the present state of our 

 population, in reference to its nature and amount. 

 This the Register may, and I trust, will effect. 



The fields of Middle, and more particularly of 

 Lower Virginia, are generally of considerable ex- 

 tent, with occasional low and wet places interspers- 

 ed, which require ditches to render them arable. 

 The custom anciently was, and it is by no means 

 yet entirely exploded, to plough up to these ditch- 

 es, so as to raise the earth on their margins higher 

 than at a little distance off, forming effectual bar- 

 riers to the escape of the water from the neighbor- 

 ing land. The corn rows ran up to these banks, 

 the fertile strips along which were lost, as head 

 lands. The rows traversing the entire field, neces- 

 sarily embraced both wet and dry land ; the ground 

 was frequently worked out of order, and much in- 

 jured ; and the crops were inferior where they 

 should have been best. The plan which I recom- 

 mend, obviates these objections, and secures seve- 

 ral advantages, which will appear in the sequel. 



In order to carry this method properly into ef- 

 fect, the main ditches should be judiciously laid off. 

 They should passthrough the centre of the bottoms, 

 or hollows, intended to be drained : the courses 

 should be as long and as straight as possible ; and 

 where turns are necessary, they should be gradual, 

 avoiding sharp angles. The ditches should be 

 twice or thrice as wide at top as at bottom, or 

 sometimes more, in proportion to depth ; which 

 much facilitates scouring them out, and prevents 

 the sides from crumbling and caving in, under the 

 influence of frost, as will happen when the sides 

 are perpendicular. I have improved many of the 

 old ditches on my estate, by straightening and re- 

 modelling them, where it could be done without 



Vol. I.— T.S 



much labor. The earth deposited on the ditch 

 banks must be thrown off, with hoes or shovels, 

 into the lower places, so as to equalize the sur- 

 face; and with the same view, and to produce a 

 declivity towards the ditch, one or more plough- 

 ings off' from it will often be found advantageous, 

 when practicable. 



The ditches having been arranged, ridges of five 

 and a half feet for corn, or beds of eleven feet for 

 wheat, should be laid off, parallel to the ditches in 

 their whole extent, and multiplied on both sides, 

 so as to reach quite up to the adjacent high land. 

 The valievs are all thus detached from the drier 

 portions of the field, and may be worked at the 

 proper time and in the proper order. They are 

 put in a state to be benefitted by the grips or cross 

 drains, which convey the water from the finishing 

 furrows to the main ditches. These grips are 

 about a foot wide, and are made with great des- 

 patch with the plough and hoe, aided by the spade; 

 or if the courses are short, by the spade alone. 

 Thev should be sufficiently deep to drain the water 

 thoroughly fi-om the furrows; and to prevent their 

 washing, pieces of plank or durable wood, with 

 channels cut in the middle, to permit the passage 

 of the water, may, when neccessary, be let into 

 the earth, at their entrance into the ditches. The 

 srips should cross the beds diagonally, ar.d i ncline 

 down stream, at an angle of ■ii^BKim^^l^ forty 

 five decfrees, unless some local peculiarity requires 

 a deviation, so as to get the advantage of any 

 descent which that distance may afford. 



By this method, a different cultivation both of 

 corn and wheat, may be adopted, from that prac- 

 tised on the highland, where a more even surface 

 should be preserved. The corn plant has the ad- 

 vantage of an elevated ridge, well drained. Two 

 of these ridges may be united for wheat, which 

 should be sown in low situations, at the commence- 

 ment of seed time, or as soon thereafter as the 

 state of the ground will permit ; so as to enable 

 the plant to take gocxl root before the frost sets in, 

 and by its forwardness, to have an additional 

 chance' of escaping the rust, so often fatal to that 

 crop. A better opportunity too is afforded, of lay- 

 ing the ground dry before winter; and an idea 

 prevails, that early sown wheat, though by no 

 means exempt, is less liable to the depredations of 

 the flv on low, than on highland. 



I have mentioned the union of two of the corn 

 ridges of5\ feet, for wheat. They may, when the 

 field reverts to corn, be easily singled, in the fol- 

 lowing manner. The eleven feet beds should be 

 broken up as early as possible in the fall or win- 

 ter — the former much better — and simply revers- 

 ed. The cross drains and ditches should be open- 

 ed, to dry the ground and give it the advantage of 

 frost, the ameliorating intluence of which is lost 

 on land that is sobbed^ and the decay of the sub- 

 verted vegetable mass retarded. In the spring, as 

 late as it1:an be deferred, these beds may b^ re- 

 ploushed with two horses; the plough passing up 

 and down the bed, just so near the water furrow as 

 that a little earth may occasicnally roll in, but not 



