342 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[October. 



A Genlleman.— How near are the drains in order to produce that result? 

 jjr g„,xn_T»enty feet. Having thus described the various modes in 

 which the drains have been formed, and having stated that, so far as my ex- 

 perience antl observation go, I think a distance of about eighteen or twenty 

 feet from drain to drain is a proper distance for almost any subsoil, I shall 

 now proceed to detail the application of the subsoil plough. 



AVhen I first began to cultivate my own farm, although I had put in the 

 drains, I found they were not so efficacious as I at first ixpected, and I then 

 began to think of stirring up the subsoil, which gave rise to the idea of a 

 subsoil plough. I thought I must construct an instrument which would 

 execute the work with the least possible power. 1 made my plough very 

 strong, and of that form to which the least resistance would be opposed, at 

 the same time taking care to have sufiicient power fairly to stir up the soil. 



I will here explain the principle of the subsoil plough, because 1 have 

 found that many persons, although seemingly acquainted with it, have Inot 

 the proper notion of the principle on which it is based. The great principle 

 is, that there are many subsoils, which, though capable of being converted 

 into a good soil, yet if brought up and mixed with the active soil, will so 

 far deteriorate it as to make it fur some time sterile. It therefore occurred to 

 me that the great point would be to stir up the subsoil, still retaining the 

 good soil on the surface. Stirring up the subsoil would, in the first place. 

 very much facilitate the escape of the water into the drains; and secondly 

 in consequence of the passage of the wafer through the stirred up subsoil' 

 and the attendant admission of air, it would be so acted upon as to be con- 

 verted into good Eoil, while at the same time I was having all the advantages 

 of working tlie active soil as before. 



Upon the application of this principle, I found that which I had supposed 

 before was right, and I have been .successful in every instance in which I 

 have tried it. The process of applying the subsoil plough is this ; a common 

 plough goes along first, and removes a furrow of the active soil. After tha 

 the subsoil plough passes along below, and scarifies the soil to the depth of 

 from twelve to sixteen inches, in some instances eighteen inches. This is 

 continued furrow after furrow, the plough going first to lay the active soil on 

 the part already opened up ; then the plough comes a second time and takes 

 off a furrow from another part of the soil, and places it on that part which 

 :s already scarified. 



Much 'has been said with regard to the proper period for applying the 

 subsoil plough, some conceiving that it should be appUed immediately, and 

 others, at some period after the drains have been out. I think that in places 

 where ihe drains have much effect, the subsoil plough maybe applied the 

 following year ; but in clay soils it is of great importance to give the clay 

 sufficient time to dry, and to have it in a sort of friable state ; because, in 

 the application of the subsoil plough, when clay subsoil has been recently 

 drained, and it IS not sufficiently dry, more harm is done than good; the 

 clay being worked in a wet state is almost prepared for making bricks ; and 

 if we once w ork it in that state it is a long period before it recovers its friable 

 property again. Therefore, I should say that in soils rather free, the subsoil 

 plough may be used the second year after the drainage. 



The proper time to execute drains is in the summer season, because you can 

 then get it much more tidily done, and the drainsara prevented from running; 

 because in many places there are little sandy veins and portions of running 

 sand, which are very apt to fall in before the drains are covered up. In the 

 •winter season this is almost sure to be so ; and another disadvantage is, that 

 you may be taken with frost, which draws off the adhesion of the earth, so 

 that it falls down, and fills up the drain. It is best also to execute them in 

 grass land before it is broken up for cropping, because otherwise it is much 

 too soft. Executing it therefore in the summer season on the lee produces 

 very little loss indeed, because you find that the growth of the grass in the 

 after part of the season will be so much increased by the execution of the 

 drains, that you will he repaid for the time lost for ihe use of the pasture 

 durin" the time the drains were in process of execution. After the drains 

 have been completed, I would recommend you to take a crop from the land, 

 and if the land has been pretty good, it will, perhaps, afford two crops; at 

 all events, one crop should be taken ; and that will pass over one summer 

 before the subsoil is to be ploughed. During this season the earth between 

 the tHO surfaces has time to dry ; it is much more friable, and the subsoij 

 plough will be much more efficacious in stirring it up. Besides, it often hap- 

 pens that there are stones in the soil, which of course, must be removed 

 before you can proceed with good husbandry ; and it will be found that, in 

 consequence of the contraction of the soil, they have become in some degree 

 loose, and will be turned out very easily by the sub.soil plough. In many 

 instances we have stones exceeding 2001b. weight, which are turned out very 

 easily by the subsoil plough with four horses. 



With regard to the direction in which the subsoiling ought to be carried, I 

 should say decidedly at right angles with the drains, because you thereby 

 form channels, from the centre to the side, in all directions. In that manne 

 vou form artificial ihannels from the very centre cf the ridge into the drain 



and. although these may partially close up, still there is an openness given 

 to Ihe subsoil, which will permit the water to pass freely. 



Having thus applied the subsoil plough to stir up the subsoil, the after cul- 

 tivation may be the common rotation of the country, such as the farmer 

 thinks suitable to the soil. But one thing which 1 would very much recom- 

 mend is, that when agriculturists have subsoiled their land, they should 

 follow the practice of laying down the land flat on the surface, without any 

 ridges or furrows. There is nothing more injurious to the land than ridging 

 it up. In the old modes of draining, it was quite necessary to have ridges 

 and furrows ; but now, when land is thoroughly drained, there is no occasion 

 for it, and indeed it is hurtful ; because when water falls on a rounded off 

 surface, it immediately begins to sink away to the lower level, and the water 

 which has fallen on the tops and middle parts of the ridges is added to the 

 water on the side, which thus has to bear a great deal more than its own 

 proportion of the water; the water carries portions of the soil along with it, 

 and the cracks are constantly filling up by the running of the sand from the 

 higher part of the ridge to the lower part. It must be obvious to everyone 

 that when a field is laid down with ridges and furrows, especially on stiff 

 land, a great part of the very best of the land runs down into those furrows, 

 and is deposited in large quantities at the bottom of the ridge, thereby doing 

 a great quantity of materi.al mischief. If it is laid in a flat form, you get 

 rid of this great evil, and obtain this advantage— that if the water is bene- 

 ficial to the soil, which it certainly is, you have that benefit equally distri- 

 buted ; every part receives its own water, and receives the benefit which the 

 water can give. 



It is the suggestion of scientific gentlemen who have turned their attention 

 to the subject of agricultural chemistry, that the rain in falling from the 

 atmosphere absorbs a considerable quantity of ammonia ; and if there is any 

 affinity in the soil for ammonia, if the sod wants ammonia, the affinity will 

 extract the ammonia from the water, the ammonia remaining in the soil for 

 the nourishment of plants. It is also known, that where artificial manure is 

 put into the soil, some of the fibrous parts of it will be carried away with 

 the water, and be carried down to the region to which it belongs ; and al- 

 though not so near the surface as it was before, it is near enough for the 

 plants to reach it when they put down their roots. 



A very peculiar change takes place in any subsoil— it does not matter what 

 composed of— after it is ploughed. This change begins to take place imme- 

 diately, and the soil gradually goes from the state in which it was before to 

 tliat of a mould. If you examine as oil which has become mould, it is of a 

 very peculiar structure. It appears as if all ihe particles were connected 

 together, and it seems to have some sort of attractive property by gathering 

 together in that way. Vacuities for the air are thus formed, and there is a 

 great tendency to absorb and retain as much moisture as is useful to the 

 plant. If it is filled entirely with moisture it is injurious to the plant, but if 

 there is a certain quantity, it becomes beneficial ; and when a great depth of 

 soil is attained, there is great advantage indeed, in anticipation of either 

 a wet season or a dry one. In a wet season the water tlows auay, leaving 

 the soil in a dry state ; but in consequence of the mouldering slate in which 

 the soil is, it is very retentive of moisture, and there is a great magazine of 

 water preserved in soil for a dry season. Being covered by the active soil, 

 the drought may penetrate a few inches, but in consequence of the lower part 

 of the soil being covered with this upper stratum, it is defer;ded from the ex- 

 treme action of the rain and a very dry atmosi^herc ; consequently it will be 

 found that in soil so treated and converted into this mouldy condition, in 

 very dry seasons a sufficient quantity of moisture will be retained lor the use 

 of the plants, which will grow vigorously when land in the same neighbour- 

 hood is completely dry. , • , , 

 A notion has prevailed with some people, that it is possible to dram land 

 too much. I do not think so, from the fact that the mould becomes an ex- 

 cellent magazine for the retention of moisture. A circumstance took place 

 in regard to this in my own district, in 1826, a very dry saason. In that 

 year there was such a long period of dry w eatlier that the pond was dried up, 

 and there was a great deficiency of crops. I had a field which had been 

 treated in the way I have explained, and 1 had a crop of hay on it. The 

 hay in the country round was very poor indeed, producing not above half a 

 crop. On this field, which I had deepened to 10 inches, I had a very splen- 

 did crop. A proprietor of land in the neighbourhood, one of the old school, 

 resisted to the utmost of his conviction with regard to the result of thorough 

 draining and subsoil ploughing. A person occasionally employed by me 

 was also engaged in doing work for him. He had asked about thi hay, and 

 the old genlleman was rather puzzled at the state of the crop, and exclaimed 

 that he really thought I had drained the land so much that 1 should have no 

 crop at all. He was immediately after this completely wedded to the system, 

 and from that day has been vigorously engaged in introducing thorough 

 draining and subsoiling all over his estate ; and he is now having a great 

 deal of poor soil, on a very rich and productive' estate, treated in the same 

 way. Taking the average of that gentleman's estate, I should say that he 

 now produces double ihe qusntity of [corn that he used to obtain. He now 



