Ko. 216.] 785 



field unfit for agricultural purposes. I have kno'vn fields that have 

 been perfectly useless to their owners for years from this cause, 

 which might have been remedied in a few hours, by simply opening 

 the channel of the spring; lands that have been long immersed in 

 water, may by proper drainage be made to yield very large crops of 

 grass, or grain, for the reason that water constantly absorbs gase- 

 ous matters from the air, and carries them with it wherever it goes 

 in solution; it is finally deposited by an arrangement of nature in the 

 earth, and is constantly renewed by every succeeding overflow, until 

 the land becomes rich in these impurities of the water, all of which 

 are in a more or less degree indispensable to the growth of plants, 

 being of organic origin, and containing not only decayed vegetable 

 matter, but frequently animal. It is only necessary, therefore to get 

 rid of the superfluous water by judicious drainage, and all these mat- 

 ters become at once capable of ministering nourishment to your cul- 

 tivated plants; and land which in its undrained state was of no 

 use to you, become of inestimable value. Whik saturated with 

 water, it is impossible for the earth to obey the laws of nature, and 

 radiate heat — as all bodies on the face of the earth should; all 

 warm bodies throw out heat to cold bodies, as nature is forever stri- 

 ving for an equilibrium of heat. She is bountiful and yet provident 

 in all her works; she ungrudgingly dispenses her favors to man, yet 

 never wastes; her sun shines and throws light upon all alike; still 

 science can assist nature, and proper drainage is calculated to benefit 

 not only wet, but in many cases even dry soil may be benefited by 

 drains, I once had a small piece of land which would yield me no 

 return for my labor. I ran several drains through it, and ploughed it 

 deep and thoroughly ; the second year after it produced a heavy crop 

 of grain. The conclusion I came to was, that the soil contained 

 substances injurious to vegetation, which were rendered soluble by 

 the rain water falling upon the ground, and carried ofi" through the 

 drains. 



Undrained lands are called cold, and justly so, for the reason that 

 ■they never derive proper benefit from the sun's rays; they give off 

 incessantly a very large quantity of vapor, and with this vapor, 

 nearly all heat may be contained. It is not necessary to take my 

 word for this fact, as you may by the same experiment I tried, satisfy 

 yourselves. In the summer at mid day place a thermometer in a dry 

 field, and it will probably rise to 103° — then in a moist undrained 

 field, it will fall perhaps below 80°. Such was the case in my ex- 

 periment. 



[Am. Inst.] ZZ 



