AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 35 



written by the Hon. J. Lowell, heided, ' Stirrmg the tarth a 

 relief against drought' republished from the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Repository in the New England Farmer, vol. 

 xi. p. 92. The following is an extract : 



' In this extraordinary [very dry] season, I had a small 

 patch of early potatoes, planted in a warm and sandy soil, 

 . purposely to procure an earlj^ crop ; the soil was, at least, 

 three-quarters pure sand, mixed with some food for plants 

 among the sand. The severe drought threatened a total loss 

 of the crop. The potato stalks were feeble, drawn up, 

 scarcely larger than goose quills, and I expected every day 

 to see them wither ; all hopei" of a crop were abandoned. I 

 thought that they were the fair subjects of a desperate expe- 

 riment. On one of the hottest and driest days, I gavo them 

 a thorough ploughing, passing the plough four times through 

 each row ; first ploughing two furrows from the hills, as 

 near the roots as possible without throwing out the seed po- 

 tatoes, and then returning the loam or earth instantly back 

 by two other furrows. No rain intervened for ten days. In 

 three days after, the potatoes changed their color, they start- 

 ed afresh as if they had received the benefit of ample showers, 

 while not a drop of rain had fallen. 



' The dews, which were abundant, settled upon the new 

 turned earth, while before the ploughing no moisture had 

 been apparent. 



' The last fact, though it cannot have escaped the notice 

 of the most careless cultivator, has not been as yet explained. 

 We can easily see that a soil rendered porous would more 

 readily and easily convey its moisture to the roots. It be- 

 comes like a sponge, and is readily permeable, or rather 

 readily permits the moisture to pass between the particles. 

 But it is not yet understood A>hy it attracts the moisture. 

 Perhaps, however, it may be owing to its presenting a much 

 greater surface to the moist air of the night. The fact, how- 

 ever, which is what most concerns us, is settled. Perhaps 

 some of the experiments of our distinguished countryman Dr. 

 Wells, a physician of London, who rendered himself distin- 

 gushed by his remarks on dew, may tend to explain this fact, 

 though it is not my purpose to ex m.ine the theory. 



'Every man who f^els an interest in the question can 

 satisfy himself at once by stirring a small piece of earth in 

 a time of severe drought, and if he does not find it in the 

 morning more filled with moisture than the undisturbed 

 ground in its vicinity, let him continue an unbeliever. 



