THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



23*bote& to mcLvUultxm, ®ort(culture, anti the ^ousehoifc &vts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 

 Xenopfion, 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State. — Sully. 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



P. D. BERNARD, Publisher. 



Vol. XIV. 



RICHMOND, APRIL, 1854. 



No. 4. 



' For the Southern Planter. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



BY PROFESSOR GILHAM. 



NUMBER VII. 

 (Continued from page 67, Vol. XIV.) 

 DRAINING. 



At the close of our last number, after having 

 enumerated the various evil effects resulting from 

 the presence of too much moisture in the soil, we 

 stated that there is but one effectual remedy for a 

 wet soil, and that is thorough draining. Not that 

 the removal of excessive moisture will necessarily 

 make every soil productive, but such are the evil 

 effects of too much water, that no wet soil, whether 

 otherwise fertile or the reverse, can be properly 

 improved until after it has been drained. 



By draining we do not mean the digging of a few 

 open ditches around the fields or through the lowest 

 portions of them, which would prove exceedingly 

 objectionable in many ways, without accomplishing 

 the object for which they were dug, but we mean 

 the construction of a net w T ork of covered or blind 

 drains, as we have sometimes heard them called, 

 which underlie the entire surface to be drained, 

 placed so deep as not to be interfered with by the 

 plough, and so arranged as to carry off all water 

 except that which the retentive power of the soil 

 enables it to keep within its pores. 



We have already stated that a soil, to be in the 

 best possible condition with respect to moisture, 

 must rest upon a porous subsoil, or be so inclined 

 to the horizon, that any excess of moisture, whe- 

 ther derived from rains, or higher lands, shall pass 

 rapidly from it; when, from the nature of the sur- 

 face, the position of the strata which underlie the 

 soil, or the retentive nature of the subsoil, there is 

 not a free passage for excessive moisture, the drain 

 is the only means that we can resort to to remedy 

 the defect. Now, since there are comparatively 

 few soils which are in the condition first mentioned, 

 it follows that there are few soils which would not 

 be more or less improved by thorough draining. 

 At the same time we may say that draining be- 

 comes absolutely necessary only when the excess of 

 moisture becomes so great as to prove a bar to pro- 

 fitable cultivation. In proportion as the value of 

 lands increase, from whatever cause, or in propor- 

 tion as population increases by which the necessity 

 Vol. XIV.— 4. 



for increased productiveness becomes greater, so 

 does the necessity for increased attention to the 

 subject of drainage become greater. In Great Bri- 

 tain large areas have been drained,, but it does not 

 follow from that that we would be justified at this 

 time in draining to the same extent ; on the con- 

 trary, we feel assured that an extensive system of 

 draining in Virginia, if undertaken at this time, 

 would be the height of folly. But while we would 

 not at present recommend draining upon an exten- 

 sive scale, we would recommend every farmer to 

 examine his farm well, to ascertain whether he has 

 not a few acres, at least, which are now useless, or 

 nearly so, from being too wet. If he finds any such 

 land, let him ascertain what would be the probable 

 expense of draining it, and then let him compare 

 this expense with what he knows must be the in- 

 creased productiveness of the land after it is drained. 

 There are but few farmers who will not find some 

 land that needs draining. 



After what was said in our last number in rela- 

 tion to the effects of too much moisture in the soil, 

 the benefits of the drain must be apparent to every 

 one ; it may not be amiss, however, briefly to call 

 attention to some of them. 



Land that has been drained well never retains any 

 stagnant water upon it ; neither will the water from 

 washing rains run off over the surface, carrying off 

 the very best portions of the soil ; but it will ra- 

 pidly sink down into the soil, carrying with it what- 

 ever fertilizing substances it has taken from the 

 air; and as it sinks, it will be followed by air and 

 warmth. As the water sinks rapidly through the 

 soil to the drains, the latter is much sooner under 

 the beneficial influence of air and warmth than if 

 it had not been drained ; and it is also sooner in 

 the proper condition for ploughing or any other 

 needful mechanical operation; while in times of 

 drought it never bakes or becomes hard, as un- 

 drained lands frequently do. 



Crops upon drained land generally ripen earlier 

 than upon undrained, and they ripen more uni- 

 formly, while winter crops are less liable to be fro- 

 zen out. 



Draining, besides ameliorating the condition of 

 the surface soil, produces very beneficial effects 

 upon the subsoil. It is made lighter; is more rea- 

 dily worked, and the roots of plants penetrate it 

 more readily; besides, as the water sinks through 

 it air follows, producing those changes which are 

 always so beneficial, and which fit it for the supply 

 of healthy nourishment to the roots of such plants 

 as penetrate it. But the beneficial effects of the 

 drain upon both soil and subsoil are far greater 



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