132 



THE NEW GENESEE FviRMER, 



Voi 



layed a few days till the other portion woa sufficiently 

 dry. In a couatry where we have much changeable 

 weather, all agriculturists know the advantage of a 

 single day. Jf a field is uuil'ormly drained att over, 

 you will, perhaps, be able to sow your seed one, two, 

 three, or four days eailior than if it were not drained ; 

 eometimes now you lose the opportunity altogether, 

 because it frequently happens that two or three days 

 intervene ; very newly dried land will be ready for 

 being sown, whereas other land, which was not drain- 

 ed, woitld require a week or fortnight before yon could 

 80W it. 



With regard to the application of thorough draining 

 on porous bottoms, no doubt much good will be effect- 

 ed without subsoil ploughing. I have found it most 

 efHcacioua onsandy and gravel bottom. I have known 

 instances of land of that nature being very greatly 

 improved after being stirred up by the application of 

 the subsoil plough. 



A Gentleman — Your observations apply to thorough 

 draining ; many people call it furroic draining. I 

 wish to know whether you have any reference to deep 

 draining, and how, as in the case of a spring lying 

 deep, you meet the dilTiculty occasioned l)y the water. 

 Two feet and a half drains would not touch a spring 

 such as that described on the diagram. How do you 

 get away the spring water ? 



Mr. Smith — They are called furrow drains, be- 

 cause they are made in the furrows. I call the mode 

 of doing it thorough draining. I use the term to ex- 

 press the result. They are called eometimes wedge 

 drains, top drains and tile drains ; but the principle is, 

 that you have the drains sufficiently close together to 

 carry off the water quickly ; and then, that the best 

 mode of laying them ofl' for that purpose is to arrange 

 them in parallel lines, and carry tbem as much as pos- 

 sible in the eloping direction of the land. 



With regard to springs, the spring water can do no 

 harm till it enters the subsoil : so long as it keeps be- 

 low that, you need not care about it. The moment it 

 reaches the bottom of the drain, it finds its way into it, 

 and will be carried off by it. I have found it necessa- 

 ry, sometimes, to carry a drain through the eye of the 

 spring. Springs sometimes come in little channels, 

 at other times in a sheet, according to the nature of 

 the subsoil. When they come in a sheet, the cross- 

 cutting completely scarifies them. If a spring comes 

 outata round opening and happens to fall in between 

 two drains, I have found it necessary to cut the drain 

 into the eye of the spring. But in every instance 

 where the water flows between two beds, I have found 

 that, by cutting the drain across, it was completely 

 cut off. 



I will now describe to yon the modo of construct- 

 ing the draining tile of Lord James Hay. One way 

 of doing it is to construct the tile on the ground, and 

 then carefully place it in the drain ; the other is to ex- 

 ecute it in the drain as you go along, and immediately 

 to cover it up. The composttion of the tile may be 

 varied considerably, but the proportions which I have 

 found to do very well are — 



Lime 1 part 



Blackened cinders Oi part 



Sharp fine sand i parts 



Gravel 3 parts 



making altogether 7^ parts, or 1 measure of lime to 

 6J of sand and gravel : the cinders may either be 

 used or not. The gravel selected should not be of a 

 large size. 



A question has been banded to me, as follows : — 

 "What effect have thorough draining and subsoil 

 ploughing on the habit of throwing out the wheat 

 plant by frost V It is well known to be owing to the 

 moisture that the wheat plant is thrown out, and 

 whatever removes the moisture, will have the favora- 

 ble tendency required. I have know many places 

 where almost every winter the greater part of the 

 plants were thrown out. Now, the result of thorough 

 draining and subsoil ploughing is that they retain the 

 plant perfectly well, and have very abundant crops. 



The beet of the two modes which I mentioned of 

 forming the tiles, is to make them just where the drain 

 is wanted, and in a few days they will become so dry 

 that they can be placed in the drain. One disadvan- 

 tage is, that tbete tiles will not stand carting for a 

 length of time. They require several months before 

 they will abmit of being laid one over one another. 

 But, in most instances, the making of the tiles can be 

 accomplished on the spot, and in the course of a few 

 days they may be put into the drain. It is, then, of 

 great importance to cover them immediately with 

 ■ome light soil, free from stones, and to beat tbem down 

 BO as to preserve it from h^ury. If there are any stones 

 in the soil, they may get down to the tile and seriously 

 injure it. 



[The lecturer ilien exhibited the method of for m 



ing the tiles in the drains, which is do.ie by placing the 

 mould in the place in the drain to be occupied by the 

 tile, then laying upon it the concrete, and after pres- 

 sure by an instrument similar to that used in the for- 

 mer process, drawing out the mould by means of a 

 long handle attached to it for that purpose ] 



I have an interesting communication today from 

 Scotland, which, though not immediattly connected 

 with the subject before us, bears intimately npon it. 

 Tbeieare great doubts respecting theproprieiy of put- 

 ting seed deep into the soil, or covering it very light- 

 ly. Experiments have been made on that subject, 

 but none so conclusively as that which I have now be- 

 fore me, which relates to the springing up of the more 

 tender seeds, the grass seeds ; and it shows tlie great 

 importance of having a eballuw covering over them. 

 This experiment was made by the Messrs, Drummond 

 of Stirling, the individuals who first introduced the 

 agricultural museums. 



This experiment tends to show the great iinportanee 

 of a light covering to grass seeds. I have made a 

 harrow of a peculiar construction, which reduces the 

 surface soil very much without tearing up the grrund. 

 It has no teeth, but acts by little sharp discs, closely 

 set together, Which curve very slightly, i have found 

 this instrument also very efficacious if used as a bush 

 harrow. 



COiitiiination of Mr. Smith's I.octnrc. 



The report of Mr. Smith's Lecture was given from 

 the Mark Lane express, which did not contain the di- 

 agrams to which Mr. Smith is reported to have refer 

 red when lecturing. After that report was in type we 

 received a secoild copy of the Lecture in the London 

 Farmer's Magnzine, iViih the diagrams. For the 

 gratification of our renders we subjoin these diagrams 

 with the accompanying explanations. Though not 

 in their original position, they will not be found out of 

 place ; and the mere report of this lecture to any in- 

 telligent farmer, is worth ten times the annual sub 

 acriplion of our paper. — Ed. 



I shall first endeavor to illustrate by a diagram, the 

 mode in which this system of drainage operates. 



soil itself, the stirred subsoil, and the subsoil which 

 has been laid dry. When the water has drained ofl", 

 air takes its place, and the action of the air is very be- 

 neficial on the whole of the soil moved, particulaily 

 the active soil ; and just in proportion as j'oti have a 

 great area to receive the water, aiid to receive air aa 

 the water is drawn ofl', so in proportion yon have a 

 tide of atmospheric liir passing through the belt of ac- 

 tive soil which is fotind very much to improve it. We 

 know this soil is very much improved by exposure to 

 the atmosphere ; but if it inif roves in a greater de- 

 gree by exposure to the sun and light, it is still im- 

 portantly improved by the passage of the air to the 

 lower strata when the water is withdrawn. 



In order to render a field completely dry, it is ne. 

 cessary that a great number of drains should be placed 

 in it ; and the position in which they should be ar- 

 ranged will be obvious from this diagram, which re- 

 presents a field sloping down, wiih a lising ground 

 in the centre, and rising ground towards the side. 



This is made for the purpose of illustrating the 

 mode allaying oft' drains, and the mode of catching 

 the water whfen any hollows intervene. In laying off 

 the drains, you will drain the fie^d more effectually 

 by laying them ofl'in parallel lines, than by doing it 

 in any other form ; because, if you depart Irom the 

 parallel lines, you get into corners, and into some 

 spaces not so near the drain, and others too far from 

 it. But in laying it ofl' in the manner shown in the 

 diagram, you get a complete effect on the whole sur- 

 face. When drains are laid off to run in the direc- 

 tion down the slope, they have a much greater effect 

 in draining than when laid across the field. It is ra- 

 ther difficult to induce pereons to believe this, but it ia 

 the fact. Ifcarried across the field, though they may 

 catch the water, yet, having less declination it will re- 

 main longer at the bottom of the drains. Another ob- 

 jection is, that the water which is there retained, has 

 a tendency to sink away to the sides of the drain, and 

 therefore will probably come up some distance below 

 the drain. But if the drains are carried in the direc- 

 tion pointed nut, you cut the drain en that the water 

 constantly sinks into it ; and though it may fall a lit- 

 A represents the atmosphere, B the active soil, and t'e into the slope of the hi I, yet the greater part of it 

 C the subsoil stirred by the plough; D 'represents goes to the drain. 



the part of the subsoil above the level of the drain.— \ Sections df the several kinds of drains referred to ] 

 When the ground has been so drained, the first ef- ' 

 feit that takes place is the drying of the subsoil, which 



begins generally at the drain, however close anil dense 

 it may have been ; it begins to crack there by the wa 

 ter giving way. These clacks arc continued till they 



pervade more or less; and irt the course of a few 

 months, or perhaps a couple of years, they may have 



obtained complete effect ; the whole of the soil has 



become dry. The soil which has been worked be- 

 fore on the surface of the subsoil, is in an open state 



from its former working; the rain falls on the earth, 



and is received into the intervening spaces, the cham 



hers all receiving so much rain, and the different 



parts of the soil absorbing a quantity of rain. But 



while the rain is falling, the drains are carrying off 



the water from the whole mass. Of course when the 



rain ceases to tall, this water goes off more rapidly. — 



At first it will be brim full (if 1 may nse the expres 



eion) of water ; it is constantly running ofl', and the 



water gradually subsides. 



The usual practice is to make the drain two feet 



deep, but I prefer two feet six inches, for this reason, 



that it is of the greatest importance that the whole 



should flow olfaa rapidly as possible. Persons are 



apt to suppose that the water will not find its way to 



a drain at a great depth, but that is in some measure 



a great mistake. When there is more water to pass 



through, there Is more retardation to the passing of 



the soil ; but, notwithstanding, by giving the drain 



the inclination which I propose, you have the water 



carried off much faster. There is also this advantage 



— that when there has been a long season of dry 



weather, the whole of the bench becomes completely 



dry ; and in that case it takes much rain to wet it, and 



if the rain is not very abundant, perhaps the water 



will not stand higher than B. When water falls up- 

 on the soil, there is one very great advantage in hav- 

 ing a large bench besides. There is a quantity of air siderably improved, and bills of most of the states will 



which fills all the vacuities in the soils— the active ' answer lor remittances. Pv-bmshisrs. 



Paste for Sharpening Razors. 



Take oxide of tin levigated, vulgarly called prepar- 

 ed putty, one ounce; saturated solution of oxalic acid, 

 a sufficient quantity to forma paste. The composi- 

 tion is to he rubbed over the strop, and when dry a lit- 

 tle water or neatsfoot oil is to be added. The oxalic 

 acid havinga great attachment for iron, alittle friction 

 with this powder gives a fine edge to the razor. — 

 £ng. Pub. 



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