1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



375 



A third consideration, and one, perhaps, requir- 

 ing a little engineering that the farmer may not 

 be able to do himself, is the measurement of the 

 land. If a man owns a farm, it is a gratification 

 to know how many acres and rods it contains. 

 This, alone, would, naturally enough, induce him 

 to have it measured ; but, it seems to me, there 

 are other inducements besides this. Not only 

 should it be measured, and a plan drawn of the 

 whole, but each lot should be measured. Every 

 farmer, before he commences his work in the 

 spring, looks his farm over attentively, and de- 

 cides which fields he will plow, and which lay 

 down : to what particular kind of grain, grass or 

 root crop each piece shall be devoted ; how much 

 manure he will apply, and how much seed. Be- 

 fore deciding these several things, judiciously, he 

 must know the area of each lot. 



In the late autumn, when he sits down and looks 

 over the result of his summer's labor, how can he 

 judge if his crops are up to the average, above it, 

 or below, unless he can tell from how many acres 

 a certain number of bushels of whatever it may 

 be was taken ? 



No man having the interests of fai'ming at heart 

 but wishes to try experiments. It has been truly 

 said, "It is only by experiments that progress in 

 any branch of agriculture can be accomplished. 

 Any one that accomplishes an experiment, and 

 accurately reports it, advances the science and 

 practice of agriculture." How can these experi- 

 ments be accurately reported, or how can one judge 

 of them himself, unless the land is carefully mea- 

 sured ? 



A fifth consideration requiring the engineer in 

 the man, is in reclaiming lands — bringing them 

 from a cold, barren state, into one of fertility. 



Water is one of the great necessities of life, 

 both in plants and animals ; it goes to make up a 

 large portion of either ; yet the farmer often finds 

 it in the way of his improvements. This matter 

 has, of late, in this country, been brought a good 

 deal to our notice ; a great deal has been said and 

 written upon the subject, yet few of us fully ap- 

 preciate its importance. 



It has been ascertained, by careful observation, 

 that more water falls upon the surface of the 

 ground during the year than is needed for the 

 growth of plants ; this, in lands where it cannot 

 pass down through the subsoil, must be in some 

 way removed by artificial means, or it will prove 

 an injury to our crops. 



Draining is a process in agriculture which, if 

 well done, needs no repeating. It is the first step 

 necessary in order to avail ourselves of improved 

 modes of agriculture. We have a great deal of 

 land — and the best we have, if properly drained — 

 upon which the bestowal of any amount of labor 

 and manure is useless unless it is first drained. 

 We may plow deeply, and subsoil in vain, if the 

 land is "water-logged ;" the seeds will rot instead 

 of germinating ; the roots cannot penetrate to a 

 sufficient depth to get nourishment or to sustain 

 a drought. The land is sour and cold, and the 

 grass that does manage to grow upon it is not 

 at all palatable or nutritious to our stock, and 

 in winter the land freezes much quicker and 

 deeper. 



Water is the only exception in nature, I believe, 

 to the law that matter becomes more dense by 

 cold and expands by heat. Water is most dense 



at about forty degrees above zero, and expands 

 both ways fi-om this point. If land is saturated 

 with water in winter the water as it freezes ex- 

 pands and causes the ground to "heave." Small 

 trees are often in this way thrown out of the 

 ground, and many of our biennial and perennial 

 crops injured, or entirely ruined, or "winter-killed" 

 in this way. The land does not get suitably dry 

 for cultivation till very late in the season, if at all, 

 and thus our now too short season is rendered 

 still shorter. Water passes from undrained lands 

 almost entirely by evaporation. This is a refrig- 

 erative process, as any one can see by holding his 

 wet hand in the wind. We often hear farmers 

 speak of land as cold, and for this reason it is con- 

 sidered almost worthless. The land is cold, but 

 not of itself. Place a man exposed to a stiff wind, 

 with wet garments, and he will be cold ; the heat 

 of the sun is expended in evaporating the water, 

 and in this way the heat becomes latent. Ex- 

 change the man's wet garments for dry ones, and 

 he is comfortable ; draw the water from cold lands 

 and we warm them ; the sun's rays will then pen- 

 etrate them ; the air circulate in them, and seeda 

 will sprout and plants grow. Crops will start 

 sooner, come forward more rapidly, be more fully 

 developed and better matured. The roots can 

 sink deeper, having a greater space to collect 

 nourishment from, and are better protected from 

 drought. 



During the spring and early summer the roots 

 are kept from going down by chilling contact with 

 cold water. When drought comes on the water 

 recedes, but it is then too late for the roots to fol- 

 low it ; they are confined to a narrow space upon 

 the surface of the soil, and like the seed sown up- 

 on stony ground, they are soon scorched, and 

 wither away. 



Di'aining in another way prevents di'ought. In 

 connection with proper cultivation the soil be- 

 comes more finely pulverized, and capillary attrac- 

 tion acts with most power in smallest spaces. A 

 finely pulverized soil the better draws up the mois- 

 ture, and the better holds a sufficient quantity to 

 sustain plants through a severe drought. 



If these statements are true, and 1 have suffi- 

 cient proof that they are, how much there is in 

 draining to call forth the engineering faculties and 

 energies of the farmer. If by a little engineering 

 he can make two spires of grass grow where one 

 grew before, how richly is he rewarded. 



It is admitted, I believe, upon all hands, that 

 the most valuable land we have is the swamp or 

 meadow land, that is so situated that it can be 

 drained. Of the draining of these lands no one 

 can entertain a doubt of the advantage derived. 

 The only question that can arise, perhaps, is as to 

 the depth of draining. I do not believe that swamps 

 can be so deeply drained as to injure them, al- 

 though it is unnecessary, perhaps, to carry the wa- 

 ter line to more than three feet below the surface. 

 I have no doubt that deep di'aining will render 

 the top dry and springy for a time ; but it will 

 soon settle, and with the addition of a little sand 

 or gravel it will soon become sufficiently solid for 

 any crop. The soil of our swamps is made up 

 mostly of partly decomposed vegetable matter, 

 but not in a condition to be taken up by the roots 

 of plants ; when the water is removed, this be- 

 comes for a time spongy ; but it soon settles, de- 

 composition goes on more rapidly, and a fine, rich, 



