10. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



159 



oiia, «ne in one sense, nlso, the poorest. Its popn- 

 tion, instinct ne it wiis witli ariliir, nnd unnvnlled 

 r iia inJustrv, wns nnomployed, ond in want.— 

 oonis were siicni— niannfnetories were closeil— com- 

 ercinl men looked ni encli other in consternation anil 

 >spnir 1 Whnt was tho cause of this extrnnrdinary 

 ate o( lUinas ? It was to be found in the laws which 

 -ohibit the e.tchange of labor for food. The eyes ot 

 le country were turned upon Manchester. It was 

 •ocssnry, therefore, tlint those assembled should slaiul 

 car from all impiuaiion, and it was most desirable 

 lat Ihep should avoid committing themselves to any 

 istinctive line of party politic, which might com- 

 romiso them in public opinion. Let ihem aclbeie 

 rm'y to principle, but avoid giving nflence to any 

 no— uniting to tho courage of tho lion the gentleness 

 fihe lamb." . , 



Dr. Pye Smith followed with an energetic appea 

 1 the evmpathies cf his audience. He contended 

 int the Corn Laws were a part of that vicious sys- 



m of legislation which had its origin in the night ol 

 cnonince and barbarism. Some person objected to 

 [Uepart in the proceedings of the Conlerence bc- 

 jusf ihey said it was interfering in a mailer oj liseal 

 •ffulaiion. Such ought not so to be recnvod. He 

 rolested against the doctrine that ministers of religion 

 u.^ht not to interfere wiih politics. The alternative 

 ovv presented to the country was this— removal ot 

 liquity, or the ruin of the nation. — Emancipator. 



Ini 



latioii. 



The effecis of running water flowing over grass 

 mds, is so highly bcinlieial that every farmer should 

 ecertnin whether there is not some portion of his 

 inds which may be cheaply irrigated. Wesay c/iotb- 

 •/, because the price of lands in tliis region is not high 

 nou.'h to justifv such outlays as are often prohtably 

 lade'in Enaland and on the continent of Europe.— 

 ■"he waters id' many a small stream in our hill country, 

 rahi by a few hours work with the plough, be car- 

 ied along the hill-side in such manner that ihey would 

 ereolace through the slight embankment and nourish 

 vii/orous (rrowth of grasson all the sloping ground 

 slow the ditch or canal. This is cheap manure— ap- 

 lyin" iiself year after year— and long maintaining the 

 jriilav of the soil unimpaired. At the base ot the 

 ill It wdl often be necessary to open a drain lor the 

 /aier which tinds its way down. Should it come to 

 (lilt and cold soil, as it often would, at the teriniiia- 

 on of the deocent, that soil would be injured. While 

 owino- water is favorable to vegetable growth, slag- 

 int water is baneful. Wherever the farmer can 

 au^e water to flow over his grass lands without stag- 

 alin» upon thein, he will find great benefit irom the 

 periuion. The following article from the Southern 

 Vfriculturist, will be read with interest, though it de- 

 cribes processes more expensive than most cultivators 

 cill be ready to adopt. — JV. E. Farmer. 



Washington, April i, 1841. 

 -0 Ike National IiistUutionfor the promotion of Sci- 

 ence : 



Since the brief statement of the advantages of irri- 

 •ation appeared in my discourse deiivered before the 

 nst.tuiion iu January last, I have received so many 

 pplications for informalion on the manner of water- 

 ng land, that 1 am induced to believe a more extended 

 lOlice of the subject may be acceptable and useful. 



The numerous and abundant rivers, streams, and 

 iroo'is, which traverse our country in every direcuon, 

 ifford fTCat facilities for irrigating the soil, and thon- 

 lands o"f acres of barren land might thereby be render- 

 ■d as produciive as any in the United Slates. 



The thin soils, which drain and dry easily, profit 

 no6f by the use of water, and ale the least productive 

 .vithout it. The gravelly, sandj land ol Chile pro- 

 Jucesby irriiation, upwards of thirty bushels o wbea 

 the acre, and the poor lauds in the neighborhood ol 

 Mexico, are made equally produciive by this process. 

 The crreal advantage, however, to be de.-ived Irom 

 he f°ee use ol water is not so much in the incrense ol 

 :rrnin, as in that of grass crops. A water meadow 

 attached to a farm, gives the farmer an abundance ot 

 manure for that portion of his land which he keeps in 

 tillage ; for he may cmvert into dung ihe whole ol the 

 bay Tt produces, while it requires nothing m relurn but 

 watering , , , j . j 



In the Carolinas and Georgia, the low lands border- 

 ing on the rivers are irrigated as high up as the intlu- 

 ence of the tide extends lor the cullivalion ot nee. J he 

 wates is admitted into ditches parallel and perpenrlic- 

 ular to the river, ^nd thence distributed by feeders 

 over the whole surface, so as lo drown the land, by 

 opening the sluices when ihe tide is rising ; and alier 

 keeping it there as long aa is deemed necessary, tt is 



let olTat low tide. This mcihod might be practiced | 

 with great advantage on all the tide-water rivers tliro'- 

 out our country, where the banks are low enough to 

 admit the water at high tide. I'Mal lands ihaljiavi' not 

 the advantage of tide water, are the most diHicult to 

 irrigate successfully, lor it is essential that when the 

 waur is let oil', the land shmild be drained perteclly 

 diy ; otherwise it will produce coarse grass of inferior 

 quality. . , 



Lands that have a gentle slope, even steep hill side, 

 are better adapted for iriigatiou, as they adniit of the 

 water flowing over them without covering the top o 

 ihc plants, thus giving them the advantage ot air and 

 moisture. A genile current is considered nioro ad- 

 vanta-eous than siaguant watc r, and the (and thus sit- 

 uatedVill always drain dry when tho water ceases to 

 How. On level land it is necessary to conduct the 

 drain so far that it may enter the river low enough to 

 ensure a suflicient fall to dry the land. 



■VVhere the eiream is rapid and the fall great, it la 

 not necessary to consiruct any dam ; hut simply to 

 lap the river high cnougli up lo lead the water along 

 the highest pan of the field ; bul where ihe current 

 is sluggrsh, the water must be raised by a dam erected 

 at the point where it is to be used. 



There are two methods of watering lands. Ihe 

 one by dividing the field into regular beds, and the 

 other by what is called catch work, which is resoited 

 10 where the lorm of the ground is irregular. It va. 

 ries therefore with the circumstances ot ihc land it is 

 proposed to water ; but the conductors, feeders, and 

 drains, must be laid so as lo profit by the natural 

 —iivemcnts of the soil both lo water and to drain ii. 



Tho fi'st thing lo be done by the farmer who de- 

 sires to irrigate his fields, is to lake an accurate level 

 of the ground which he intends lo water, so as lo com- 

 pare the highest part of it wiih the height of the water 

 to bo used. The surface of the water must be eight, 

 twelve, or twenty incnes higher than that of the land, 

 according to the distance of one, two, or three hun- 

 dred yards from the one to the olher. The main con- 

 ductor is then to be cut from that point as Btruight as 

 it can be, to lead to and continue along the highest 

 side of the field. 



If the land has any swells on its surface higher than 

 the rest, it will be neceesary lo give lo each of ihem 

 its own conductor, with feeders brauchingtrom it, to 

 convey the water over that portion of ihe field. The 

 width of the conductors must depend upon the quan- 

 tity of walcr they are required to convey ; and be deep 

 enough to receive the muddiest portion of the sueam ; 

 for although the land will profit by being covered vvuh 

 clear water, it is more enriched by the deposit ot tur- 

 bid streams. Each conductor is to be provided with 

 a sluice to regulate the admission of the water. In 

 case the river does not run in such a direction as lo 

 allow the water, alter flowing the land, to be dischar- 

 tied directly into it, a main drain must be cut along 

 The lower part of ihe meadow to lei-eive the surplus 

 water and convey it to the river. This should be ot 

 the same dimensions aa the principal conductor. The 

 portion of meadow to be wale ed by each conductor 

 is next to be divided into beds from thirty to fifty teet 

 wide, the feeders, wiiich branch at right angles from 

 the conductor, running along the centre of them, ex- 

 cept where the ground falls two ways, when it may 

 be necessary to make the feeders nearer to one drain 

 than the other. A bed two hundred yards long will 

 require a feeder where it leaves the conductor to be 

 twenty inches wide, and gradually diminishing in 

 width to twelve inches the extremity. A dram is to 

 be made between- every two feeders, and parallel to 

 ihom of the same dimensions, but reversed form ; tl^e 

 upper part being ten or twelve inches, and the drain 

 oradnally widening to twenty inches, where it termi- 

 uaies either in the main or in the river. Supposing 

 these works finished and ready to go into operation, 

 the manager opens the sluice lo admit the water into 

 the conductor, where he adjusts the stops in such a 

 manner as to supply the feeders. He next regulates 

 the stops in the first feeder, so that ihe water shall How 

 regularly over its sides from one end to the olher. He 

 then repeats this rrocess in ihe second feeder, and so 

 on, uniil all the feeders are adjusted. The stops may 

 be of pieces of board or of lurt pinned down, if iieccs 

 sary. taking care to keep the heads of the pegs below 

 the surface of the water, otherwise they are apt to 

 Collect weeds and trash. 



The profits arising frcm irrigation are so great that 

 they will justify a considerable outlay. The works, 

 therefore, ought to be well and durably constructed ; 

 the dams and sluices of ihe best materials, and able to 

 resist the sndden rising of the v>atpr. The beds which 

 as aheady stated, are to be from thirty to fifiy feel 

 wide, should be raised from one foot to fourteen inches 



in the centre, so that the water will fall gently olV 

 from the Icedcrs which run along their sununits to the 

 drains. . r , 



I have endeavored to give such a description ol tbo 

 process of irrigation as will at least unable a farmer to 

 judge of the practicability of watering any portion of 

 his land, if not lo execute tho work himself. Those 

 who seek for fuilher informalion on this important 

 eubjecl, may consult the works of Boswcll, WrJL'ht, 

 Smith and Johnson, London's Encyclopedia ol Ag- 

 liculiure, and Stephens' Practical Irrigator. The con- 

 struction of works for irrigation belongs, however, to 

 the civil engineer, and it is to be hoped ihal those of 

 the United Stales will uirn their alicnlion to the tub- 

 ject. 



Our extensive lines of canals may, for the most part 

 be converted into conductors, and the water be benc- 

 licially used to fructify the country through which 

 ihcy pas-. If a blessing awaits the man who makes 

 two blades of grass grow whcie only one grew before, 

 the irrigator will be ihrice blessed — for well watered 

 land will produce at least three times as much grass 

 as the same quality of soil under dry culture. 



J. K. POINSETT. 



Iiidiaii Corn and Sugar Beels. 



We h.ivc certainly never had a more coatiiiued oail 

 scorcliing drouijlit in Ihis vicinity than that with whii.-h wc 

 lire now visited. The clouds sometimes roll up and present 

 all the usual signs or rain ; but it would seem Ihat the dry 

 and heated surface possesses a power of repulsion, or rattier 

 a lack of .itlriiclion, for the sun again breaks out with its 

 svonted (irca, and tlie clouds disappear as if they were in the 



" Deep bosom of the ocean hurled." 

 Pasture is dried up ; potatoes, even those which were plain- 

 ed early, are nolUiiig. But it would seem th,it a kind Prov- 

 idence has given us, in addition lo winter grain, two articles 

 of food for man and beast, which from their early rapid 

 growth and large conducting leaves, are cahalile of sulisls - 

 iiig and thriving well for a long time, without other e.vlctnal 

 moisture than tlie dews of heaven. 



We have now Sugar Beets from 4 to 6 Inches in diameter 

 growing only 12 inches apart, they were transplanted early 

 in June. We have corn planted lolh May in drills 3 feet 

 apart ; 8 to 12 inches apart in Ihe drills, with 1 full ear and 

 a nubldii on almost every stalk. Such a growth of Sugar 

 Beets and Corn we have never had before in the same space 

 of giound, in any one season. A masterly farmer in this 

 vicinity corroborates on a large scale our small c^perienec 

 he also says that his clover hears the drought well. 



We have no douht hut that the green stalks and Sugar 

 Beels raised on a single acre would feed more cows at this 

 time than all the pasture within a mile square. 



A summer drought to some extent seems to us to he aa 

 annual occurrence in the champaign regions of AVes:eru 

 i\'cw Yolk. Hence the importance of a more general culti- 

 vation of those vegetalile productions whicli thrive better iu 

 dry than in cold wet seasons. It strikes us th.at this kind of 

 cultivation should obtain more and more, around our now 

 rapidly increasing villages, along the canal and railroad; 

 routes, where manure is cheap and plenty, and the laborers 

 are not few. S. W. 



n'nterloo, Augusl 2-3, lg4I. 



How to Cure Coru. 



Cut it off at the grounil, as every good farmer will do, 

 then draw it olf and stand it up against the croolis of the 

 fences around the field, from one to two feet thick. It will 

 cure much better and quicker ia this way than if stacked in 

 tlie usual manner; it is a saving of time; and the ground 

 will he clear for putting in wheal if desired. M. N 



Remark.— If the field is not tier;/ umoH, we apprehend 

 will require tho stalks to be placed more than one or two 

 feet thick around tlie fences, unless the crop is very light, 

 or the fences of other fields are used. — Eds. 



Driving Nails luto Hard Wood. 



We have lately seen another experiment of driving 

 nails into hard seasoned timber, fairly tried. Tho 

 first two nails, after passing through a pine board, en- 

 tered about one inch, and then doubled down under 

 ihe hammer; but on dipping the points of the olher 

 six or eight nails into lard, every one was driven home 

 witlioutlhe least difficulty. 



Carpenters, who are cngoeed in repniringold build- 

 ings, sometimes carry a small lump of lard cr tal'ow 

 for this purpose on one of their boots or thccs. 



