THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



cumstanees can rely to a mucn greater extent on the 

 atmosphere for its nitrogen, than when 



it is grown 



Tiie 



ires 



in the cold dry springs of Northern Europe. 

 Wheat plant is not necessarily one that re 

 Ikttch niir^gen in the soil, any more than its con- 

 fers, the Grasses ; it is entirely a matter of 

 circumstances. In the moist and warm atmosphere 

 q[ Xalapa in New Spain, Humboldt found Wheat 

 was iak>ed solely for fodder, for there it had no 



In that region, it would 



lame 



be no greater test of the fertility of land than the 

 growth of the common Grasses in Britain. ™ L 

 Wheat is a most exhausting plant— taking a — b 



Quantity of manure to grow it— in the higher lati- 

 tudes of North America and Europe. 



It may be stated as a general law that those plants 

 "which can be grown both in spring and in autumn, 

 require more highly nitrogeniscd manures in the 

 former than in the latter season ; or, in practical 

 language, they are very truly said to exhaust more 

 When ra >d in spring than in autumn. Thus, those 

 crops which are often grown by the farmer with 

 manures that are deficient in nitrogen, demand an 



provinces, is probably one of the grossest absurdities 

 hi the agriculture of Europe." Certainly it doe> 



look very absurd to see such an extent of fine land 

 under Rye, where the climite is generally supposed 

 to be so very superior for the growth of VVheat; but 

 it -w the w&nt of manure that is the great drawback 

 to the extension of its cultivation, whether in Italy 

 or in Ireland. Even in the rich soils of Flanders, 

 with their overrated system of farming, the Wheal 

 crops have a shabby appearance in sight of the luxu- 

 riant crops of Rye; there VVheat encroaches on the 



all 





£.-, j ~ 3 — ~ 



But breadth of land sown with Rye, as the manure 

 increases on a farm in much the same way as it has 



the 



The 



ay be used can hTd^teFn^d in 

 ■ Jre ifc *W b * observed that the tint 22^ *4 

 pipes can be shown to be sufficient T.i Ule ***** 

 all this water, or even more **' tlie ^Wj 



As an illustration of this method ««i u 

 take the case of a 50 acre field. T ^11 |V PpH< * bi %, 

 more than 47 cubic feet of water m "i Jf *£* ^ 

 per minute in the extreme ca<^ +rv i* a,i *ha!w I 



now, wouu m^uSSkS £t22** * 



and sunnopino^ a fall ^f on rff '^bo 



see. 



us 

 *Hiai» 



O 7 " — " ~ — 



enormous supply of that valuable element in the 

 hands of the market-gardener, when they are grown 

 out of their agricultural season. This principle can 

 be traced through ft great number of our cultivated 

 plants, and it holds out a means of solving points of 

 much practical importance, that we may in vain 

 look for in any other direction. It is also in 

 tie nicer shades of this and similar modifying prin- 

 ciples, and in the analogy which one plant bears to 

 another, under given conditions, that we can expect 

 to arrive at a rational explanation of the cause of 

 tie different exhausting powers of the cereals. 

 But we must always keep in view that there are 

 many points of differences i n plants which we can 

 never fathom, any more than why one species of 

 plant is externally different from another. 



Just look at the requirements of Wheat and Rye. 



iTij u ° f the Wheat P lant re q uj re that it 

 iliould be sown in autumn over the continent of 



turope. It is very sensitive of solar heat, and on 

 tfte return of spring it is amongst the first of the 

 Graminaceous plants to push forward its leaves 

 to the extreme cold and dry atmosphere of European 

 springs-even while the Grasses in the pastures are 

 yet dormant, like the Oak, and will not unfold their 

 tender shoo's until the air becomes more eenial and 

 adapted for fulfalling th e functions which Nature has 

 assigned them. The hue quantity 



ione over the spring crops in Scotland with 



increased production of meat on a given space. 



prime difficulty in Scotland also is to get a sufficient 

 supply of manure to grow a large breadth of Wheat 

 — to proscribe and limit its cultivation on the farm 

 is only on a par with the policy of the fox in the 

 fable, who despised the luscious produce of the 

 Vine, as it was beyoncf his reach. In many parts of 

 Britain, however, the conditions of soil for growing 

 Wheat are separated from those which influence the 

 produce of the spring crops by a much wider boun- 

 dary than that of the Wheat and Rye on the conti- 

 nent of Europe ; and there is no country where 

 there are greater facilities for studying the causes 

 which modify the exhausting qualities of the cereals 

 and other plants, if we do not tie up ourselves to 

 inflexible and unnatural theories. R. 



52 feet per 



Le velocity wo 

 minute, and 



Q 



found 



o he 



V> i^ ~* w nearly 

 section of'pipe in area in aquarefeet) i'. fi wl (== *** 

 feet of water delivered per minute <<i • cube 



pipe would not be at aH adequate to fiEg Sift 

 teet under the circumstances suddowI b ' ^ 



By talcing the instance of a 2 or •? \ n »h ■ 

 determining its delivery under assumed Z P ' pe ' ^ 



of 



required by the Wheal" in %£% and ' 7Z 

 America is probably a consequence of the ungenial 

 coDd.Uons of the first stages of its growth. It is a 



ofF,?r n &V55 l0n £ rec °g»^ on the continent 

 of Eu.ope, that W heat ls more exhausting than Rye • 



or m other words, the former requires Inch more 

 manure or a richer soil to grow it than the latter! 

 Rye is even grown as a forage plant in Europe, after 



mLttt r ,d r l Canj a C1 °P 0f Wheat ' WheS 

 £ i™ VTfcr** and as Productive as Rye 



It wo, l.f/h °i AleXIC °' but * is not so j « Europe. 

 It would therefore appear that, owing to certain 



atmospheric conditions peculiar to EuroL RyeTets 

 nd of U nitrogen in the manure than The* does 

 « is is plainly revealed in the history and neceSs 

 of the agricultural systems. necessities 



Some of our finest qualities of Wheat are irnm-r. 



t^nyn Ry, J^^fflESS 

 X. „: Inu ? h ]ess expenditure for manure. This is 



8 Uw £ tel /° Pe ^ ubsiSt 0n the b]ack , ^stead 



^w^^^th?r 1 Whea i are gene - 



<* %e ; this it nif; i i land as much as thre « 



poor or^ut of c P S t ? lar1 ^ se ^ when the ^ " 

 Bye wm ofte ; f g°*£l J » j these circumstances, 



would be out of the miT^L advan,a g e when it 

 ^^uclivepowe^tt^^^.W^'- The 

 iurope for WhS are v.^ 1 ° f the C ° ntinent of 

 what can we exit to A? mUCh . f xa ^ r ^ I but 

 every one is imTel^i-f/V 11 /^ Sub J ect when 

 amount of enSSSlLV* / he - aIse idea ' that the 



are satisfied th,t ™^. S -?. e , w . hol « matter. We 



OX LAND DRAINAGE. 



Under the term drainage is included the regulation 

 of the water-level in loughs— the changing, improve- 

 ment, and new forming of river channels, and the 

 sewerage, draining, water supply, &c, of towns. But 

 for our purpose, the most important office of drainage 

 is to provide for the escape of water from the soil 

 which supports and nourishes plants, whose existence 

 and growth are modified or prevented by the aetion and 

 influence of water, or by want of it. The method of 

 effecting this desirable object is what is called thorough 

 drainage, and thougli cases of any of the other provinces 

 of drainage, which we have mentioned, may demand the 

 attention of the agriculturist, it is principally with this 

 and its various applications that he shall have to deal. 

 In all these cases it is very necessary to be able to 

 calculate the quantity of water which will be discharged 

 by given relations, or under given circumstances of 

 mclmation, size, and shape of conduits, &c. To give a 

 rule applicable to all cases, would be to embody in a 

 formula almost the whole subject of hydraulics or 

 hydrodynamics; and though it is done, and to themathe- 

 mathical scholar appears simple, yet to purely practical 

 men it presents apparent complexity and difficulty 

 Leaving it therefore to what we have in previous lectures 

 said, and to what we shall say when treating it as a 

 separate and distinct department, applicable to this as 

 well as to numerous other cases, we shall rest satisfied 

 with introducing the following practical rule, which will 

 furnish the velocity with sufficient accuracy for ordinary 

 purposes. J 



Multiply the hydraulic mean depth (in feet) by the 

 declivity per mile (in feet), extract the square root and 

 subtract one sixteenth of itself from it, the remainder 

 will be the mean effective velocity in miles per hour • 

 from winch the amount of discharge may be calculated! 

 the quantity discharged equals the velocity multiplied 

 by the area of the section of conduit, q = v s It 

 should be here explained that the hydraulic mean depth 

 is the depth of the rectangle, whose area is equal to the 

 sectional area of the stream, and whose base is equal to 

 the line of contact between the water and the channel 

 or what the French call the ptvinltre mouille. Hence 

 in a circular conduit, such as a pipe, it is on 

 the radius, or one fourth of the diameter. 



the reader may become familiar with XhhZZ^Ti 

 estimating the effects of pipes, drai ns ^ £ ' , "'f ? * 

 pared to any quantity of water which it « £Z ^T 

 convey from one place to another. ^^swy to 



A five-inch pipe would give a velooifv n f „• 

 hour, and is therefore admissible In £°L? T^ 

 velocity would not wear hard materials nor cant ,„* 

 great mechanical mischief. When a rivwZTn * 

 through a flat country, its course might be Av^iZ^ 

 its channel systematically, suitably, and property formed 

 and simultaneously the ground may be daLd S 

 improved, the whole being done with a very moderate 

 outlay ; but of this case we shall speak more i a detail 

 when considering the conditions of proper and possible 



lt'iMirofiAn * 



irrigation. 

 It 



one half of 



xam 



5 



( 



5338 



Find the discharge of a pipe or stream 

 (rectangular) 6 feet broad and 2 deep, with a Lfl of 

 ieet per nule. " 



Here the hydraulic mean depth = 1-2 feet wli/>r»fn,. n 

 the velocity is 2-3 miles per hour nearly Th^eTre a 

 mass of water, 2-3 miles long, 6 feet broad, and 2 deep 



cube yards, or 14.5,464 cube feet), would be 

 delivered every hour, which is equal to 24.4 cube feet 

 or nearly 15,000 gallons per minute. Such fc ti 

 quantity of water which can be conveyed away an 1 such 



tion of th! Plel, ™y consideration is, the determine 

 turn of the quantity of water which must actually be 



££ rJSSiWL -W* . The W**f of -in 



atmospheric conditions of m^ V&Ced ln the «ame 



^d even of ScotUnd But XT 7 ^ ° f En S land > 

 firmly s^tJ ?„ f ° d '_ Bu , t the ^PPosite opinion S 2 



•W^iCflfcS lu unra «^a^-._ a ** y-% 



Une ls Te >7 apt to look 



from not I 

 tess of Wh 

 w of this 



•^ farm^IaTS 1 ° deSt P " aCtlCal »* 



in 24 hours. 



WniDarativ« «Ji-^^ Horn not being aware of th. 



cur 



It 



r| of an inch in depth all over the surface 

 , . . 1 " ,s ls the maximum, when t« is nrnvbl^l 



to he learned gentleman who cut a small ho?e for 

 knen though he had already provided a door for 



a 



its 



N 



o\v 



it has al^o 



a«„„-v„;.«~'.' ™» «' "■» —^s: -" SiitKL*Si5=S'.?*-«'«SSl 



^ % 



Sr*i"A*w5lSt 



Franc 



»*4, P sheet of water to be deli^Vt ?** 



frequently necessary to execute some cuttinp 

 and embankments in drainage and irrigation, but we 

 cannot detail the methods of making these, at least in 

 this place. They have been already pointed out 

 Rivers are often modified for the purpose of navigation, 

 &c. Engineering is then called in, to exercise a very 

 extensive influence ; but we cannot for the present 

 dwell on these cases. We must now proceed to discus 

 the methods of thoroughly draining land for agricul- 

 ture. It is surprising to see what a quantity of the 

 country still requires the skill and energy of the drainer, 

 though every one admits the advantages of this system 

 of improvement. 



It was early observed that in valleys and hollows 

 lined with stiff retentive clay, the water which fell on 

 their own surface, or on that of the surrounding emi- 

 nences, collected in reservoirs under the surface, which 

 broke out in springs in the sides or bottoms, and kept their 

 vicinities continually in a state of wetness, destructive of 

 healthy vegetation. Though this evil would necessarily 

 impress itself on the attention of the farmer, yet in many 

 cases it appealed impossible to take the water away, 

 owing to the obstruction of high ground all round it, as 

 well as to the retentive character of the land itself. 

 Many cases, however, admit of easy and effectual 

 treatment. 



If it be found by boring that the retentive soil lies on 

 a porous bed, which often haj>pens, a complete remedy 

 will be afforded by cutting a well through to this bed, 

 and conveying the water into the well by small draiu$ 

 from the various springs or points at which the water 

 collects. In some case© tapping with a geological auger 

 will be quite sufficient to let the water escape through 

 such a porous substratum. When no such porous sub- 

 strata are fouud, a draiu of suitable size must be cut 

 from the spring, or through them all, if many exist, $s4 

 conveyed to a lower level to discharge itself. This dram 

 may in some cases even be partly composed of a syphflt 

 bringing the water over some eminence when the wet 

 soil is land locked, so to speak. All these cases require 

 the exercise of some skill in their treatment. Their 

 occurrence is only exceptional, though it is striking, and 

 calls loudly for relief when it does exist ; ami no doubt 

 many places may be much improved by it at a very 

 small outlay of capital. It was to this subject and « 

 these principles that Elkington founded his system ^ 

 drainage. His chief error seems to have beenr-*s#ro% 

 all necessity for drainage to the same circumswno* 

 and treating all on the same principles. Nodoiibttn* 

 method has merit, and finds many instances wheK 11 

 may be advantageously applied. But it is certain w 

 all land may be improved by drainage, and ^""S^ 

 more extensive, nay universal system is needed, 

 is supplied in thorough drainage, which has a vane tv 

 other names, such as parallel drainage, &c*> aa(i w 

 we now consider. . , . 



Thorough drainage consists in forming a niain JJW 

 commencing it at a low level to which it is mtenae u 

 conduct the water to be there discharged, and ^J 

 it up through a low part of the ground to be <w ^ 

 submains leading from this main at various point* ai» 

 different directions, along other hollow part* ol . 

 ground, where any such exist, and minor drams 

 are laid at suitable distances apart, parallel, or as i ^ 



so as may be to eaeh other, and also nearly as p . 

 at right angles to the main or submiiin to HW* 

 flow. , tJi ^ 



The materials expense, distance apart and dep ^ 

 these drains, are still much canvassed, and niu ^ 

 appears ridiculous is said on the subject. v ^ 

 consider these subjects successively, a"d we tr 

 wc hall settle them very considerably. ^^ 



Regarding the depth, on which we shall find uw^ %Q 



the 



audio 



>f the 



i} w hich 



i Dearly 



aim, " tbe quantity fh" y eet 0t water to be delivered in 24 h™ m S ,imi "« Tne {,e f ,u, » <m * mou w . " l 't he evident v> 



even in the ri^l * . 8 on a0 acre equa's 13 590 cuhJfi . » 0U1 *' questions considerably dependant, it must bee" 



even m the nche 3 t &c. From these Ivo pruxciples tt tnZf^T' ever ^ one tlmt when a Lil is stiff and ret^ ^ 



principles the smallest pipes that water cannot make its way through it, but moat « 



