DRAIN LEN'BL. 



79 



SSAIN LEVEL. 



We have repeatedly urged the utility and impor- 

 tance of drainage of farming and arable lands. By 

 it (drainage) we warm the soil, remove surplus mois- 

 ture, and what may seem paradoxical, we actually 

 enable it to endure drouth better. A correspondent 

 writes under date of Dec. 12, 1854: " I am just now 

 much interested to see that from my underdrained 

 muck land, the snow has nearly disappeared, while on 



the adjoining fields it i.s now lying to the depth of 

 sLt or eight inches." To drain successfully, the work 

 must be well done, and faithfully. The usefulness of 

 the whole drain is measured by its weakest part ; 

 hence, a little attention or neglect will cause much 

 trouble and annoyance. AVe give below the follow- 

 ing sketch of a drain level from the Ploxigh, Loom 

 and Anvil, and also append the remarks of Mr. R. 

 L. Pell, before the N. T. Farmers' Club, which will 

 be found interesting as presenting the subject in a 

 new light, from the fV estern Horticultural Review: 



and other buildings. I will now speak of it agricul- 

 turally. You are all aware of the importance of 

 oxygen in the germination of seed and growth of 

 plants, and that it is necessary it should gain access to 

 all parts of the soil, and to the roots of plants. The 

 farmer facilitates the process by subsoil plowing, 

 harrowing and working it. Still some soils absorb 

 oxygen much more rapidly, and in greater quantities 

 than others. Clay, for example, absorbs more than 

 sand, and peats or vegetable mold far more than clay. 

 This depends upon the porosity of different soils and 

 their chemical constitutions. If the clay should 

 happen to contain manganese or iron in the state 

 of protoxides, it absorbs oxygen to combine with 

 it, while the decaying vegetable matter takes in 

 oxygen to aid its decomposition. Some soils like- 

 wise absorb heat much more rapidly than others, 

 the temperature of which often amounts to from 

 111° to 130°, while the air in the shade is at 80°; 

 black soils are thus affected, and consequen'.ly be- 

 come warm first, and promote vegetation more 

 quickly than others. We possess the poner of 

 coloring our soils, and thus gain this adv;intage 

 where it does not naturally exist, by top dressing 

 with roots, charcoal, or other daik subs unces, 

 and at the same time render it capable of .sustain- 

 ing heat by aproper admixture ofsand, and yet our 

 hopes are sometimes disappointed. I had a piece 

 of land of a sandy nature, situated on an emi- 

 nence, which, notwithstanding all my endeavors to the 

 contrary, refused to produce me anything more valua- 

 ble than the detestable fire furze vine, and although 

 there was no portion of my farm that apparently re- 

 quired draining less, I cut a good substantial drain 

 through it, in the fall, five and a half feet deep, and 

 stoned it after the most approved manner, then plow- 

 ed the ground well, and the following spring sowed 

 oats: the yield was sixty-six bushels per acre. Upon 

 a subsequent examination I found the land contained 

 copperas, which, during the rains of the fall, perco- 

 lated through the drain, and left the land in a proper 

 state to produce a crop. 



"Sprengel says: 'A soil is often neither too heavy 

 nor too light, neither to wet nor too dry, neither too 



" We present our readers with the following 

 sketch of a Drain Level, which for efficacy and 

 simplicity is worthy the attention of drainers gen- 

 erally. The implement consists of an upright leg, 

 a cross piece connected to the upright at its cen- 

 tre, a screw-joint a vernier-scale, fixed to the cross 

 piece and running in a slide on the upright, a sight 

 attached to each extremity of and under the cross 

 piece, and a plumb-line. 



"The inslrument should be stuck in the ground, ^f^Ss5<S^:^s'5ST-»_^___ N Sur^^^^ 



and a stick of the same height placed where the ^ " " -- 



drain is required; the two .eights should be brought 

 to bear on the top of the stick, and the instrument 

 locked in that position by the srrew-j(,int ; the 

 seale would marl; the inches of fall per yard. 



"By reversins the instrument, still locked, the 



workmen cnuld use it in the bottom of the drain. 



When not in use, the cross piece could be de- "" '^ 



tached.'and the whole carried about as racily as a i ^old nor too warm, neither too fine nor coar=c, li^K 

 shovel or other workmg tool. -P. L. and Anvil. | „p;„,er too hieh nor too low, is situated in a propitious 



"Mr. R K Pell said: At the htst meeting T called I climate, i.s found to consist of a well-proportioned 

 your attention to ventilation as respects houses | mixture of clayey and sandy particles, contains an 



