94 IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 



ty of draining the wet grounds upon our farms, before we 

 can expect to make them profitable by cuhure. Coarse 

 aquatic plants, it is true, do grow in wet grounds, and in 

 water ; but few of the cultivated crops are found to thrive 

 where the ground is not dry, and permeable to the influ- 

 ence of the sun and the atmosphere. 



It is not enough, that the surface of a soil be dry, or 

 that the soil itself be dry at some seasons of the year ; it 

 must be free from excess of water at all seasons when re- 

 quired to be worked, and during the growth of plants, to 

 the depth to which their roots penetrate for food, at least 

 fifteen to eighteen inches, to insure a healthy growth of 

 vegetation. It is the extremities of these roots which 

 gather the food, and which are constantly lengthening, in 

 annuals and perennials, while the plant grows ; and if roots 

 extend into a wet stratum of soil, the food they take up 

 is either too much diluted, or not otherwise adapted to a 

 healthy vegetation. Besides, stagnant water in the soil 

 injures or destroys the fibrous parts of the roots, and un- 

 fits them for the performance of their functions. Nor is 

 this all : lands that hold water in a wet season, become 

 compact and hard when the water has subsided or evap- 

 orated — impenetrable alike to the roots of the crop, and 

 the amehorating influence of the atmosphere. Wet 

 clays suffer most from drought. The truth of these re- 

 marks may be verified by any farmer who will compare 

 the growth and product of crops upon w^et and dry grounds. 



We have no question of the economy of draining W'et 

 lands, even if they are to be kept in meadow and pasture, 

 provided the work is well done. There are but few 

 nutritious grasses that will thrive in a wet soil. The fol- 

 lowing simple table, says Armstrong, exhibits at a glance 

 the present state of our knowledge on this important 

 part of our subject. 



Whole number of plants in wet meadows, 30 ; useful, 4; useless or bad, 26. 

 Do. dry meadows, 38 ; do. 8 ; do. 30. 



Do. moist meadows, 42 ; do. 17; do. 25. 



We have expended considerable money in this kind of 

 improvement, and our experience has more and more 

 confirmed our opinion of its advantages. An outlay of 



