UNDERDRAINING MEADOWS WITH THE SUBSOIL PLOW, ETC. 
51 
way of comparison with other places heretofore 
given. 
Year. Year. 
1844, $4,225 1847, $4,847 
1845, 3,467 1848, 3,690 
1846, 4,923 
This, it will be seen, is very greatly less than a 
Louisiana sugar plantation ; so that a much 
smaller crop may still leave as large a surplus. 
I have no room to describe the many beauti- 
ful paintings and statuary that adorn the man- 
sion, but I must say that the literary visitor will 
find here one thing to admire, which is too often 
missing from gentlemen's houses, both north and 
south, and that is, a most valuable and exten- 
sive library ; and an owner who is one of the 
best-read men in the country. The mansion 
house is located, for the benefit of a healthy 
site, upon a tract of almost bare sand, in the 
midst of pine woods ; and, being surrounded 
with so much wildness, the comforts, intelligence, 
and hospitality found within, are all the more 
striking. A spot for a well-cultivated garden, 
has been made by great labor, that being one 
of the necessary appendages to every dwelling 
place of highly-improved minds. 
It is seldom that I have spent a day more 
pleasantly to myself, and, I hope, profitably to 
my readers, than I did the one at Silverton, the 
residence of Governor James Hammond, of South 
Carolina, 15 miles below Hamburgh, on the Savan- 
nah River. Solon Robinson. 
Drilling Wheat. — Can any of our readers 
give us comparative results in drilling and sow- 
ing broadcast? By drilling, every seed is placed 
at a regular depth below the surface, and is sure 
to germinate and have a strong foot hold for the 
roots ; thus preventing waste from birds, and 
liability to winter-kill by throwing out roots 
which have but a shallow hold upon the surface. 
Subsequent cultivation and the destruction of 
weeds can be effected by the use of the cultiva- 
tor or hoe, if necessary ; and there is probably 
an additional advantage in the prevention of 
rust, from the free circulation of air between the 
rows. This is a practice much followed in Eng- 
land. Who has tried it, and with what success, 
in America? We hope to hear from some of our 
corespondents on this subject. 
Patent Hoops. — A machine has lately been 
invented for making hoops, which bids fair to do 
away the necessity of growing hoop poles here- 
after. Any tough, straight-grained timber will 
answer the purpose. It is first sawed into square 
strips, the width desired for the hoop; these strips 
are next turned round, like a hoe handle, and 
then slit through the centre. Each stick thus 
makes two half-round hoops. They are then 
steamed and bent; Casks hooped with them, 
present an extra-neat appearance. The whole 
work is done by machinery. Just previous to 
setting them, it is necessary to wet them in cold 
water. A specimen of these hoops was ex- 
hibited at the late State Agricultural Show at 
Syracuse. 
trNDERDRANING MEADOWS WITH THE SUBSOIL 
PLOW. 
Some of our best farmers have lately adopted) 
with entire success, the system of underdraining 
their heavy clay and wet meadows. This is 
done in the most summary manner, by attaching 
two yoke of good oxen or two pair of horses to 
a strong subsoil plow, which penetrates to the 
depth of 15 to 20 inches below the surface. 
The sod is divided and separated by the plow to 
a distance scarcely exceeding one and a half 
inches, which immediately closes after the fur- 
row; and if moist, when the operation is per- 
formed, the turf speedily unites and not even a 
line is visible beyond a few days. 
By this operation, a large underdrain is left 
at the bottom of the furrow where the point, or 
nose, and wing of the subsoil plow has passed, 
and nearly of their size, which, in stiff soils, will 
remain open for years. On meadows where 
there are puddles of standing water, as is always 
the case on stiff soils after rains, the effect is in- 
stantaneous. If the plow has been started in a 
ravine or low part of the meadow, (as it should 
be, so as to form a descent for the surface water,) 
when it passes through the little basins, the 
water vanishes as if by magic, and it is heard 
gurgling rapidly along its new-found aqueduct 
till it reaches the outlet. In addition to this 
more immediately perceptible effect, if the 
meadow thus drained, be closely watched for a 
few weeks, and especially during wet weather, a 
marked improvement will be noticed, over sim- 
ilar undrained meadows. The grass will be 
thicker, ranker, and more forward ; it will ma- 
ture quicker, and yield a heavier growth of 
sounder and sweeter forage. 
The distance of these furrows, or drains, should 
vary according to the compactness or tenacity 
of the soil, and the frequency of the basins to 
be drained. In the heaviest soils, the drains 
may be advantageously run within ten feet of 
each other. If less adhesive, and few pond holes 
exist, the furiows may be a distance of 20 or 30 
ft. No meadows, unless of the lightest kinds, 
will be injured by this operation, while all oth- 
ers will be decidedly benefitted. This results 
from the imperceptible yet rapid drainage of 
the water which is held in excess by the soil, 
and the escape of which is so beneficial to the 
vegetation. 
This operation has been adopted in England 
many years since, but with an implement con- 
siderably differing from the subsoil plow. It 
consisted simply of a pointed iron, some three 
inches in diameter at its largest end, which was 
connected with the beam by two strong, thin 
coulters. The iron point was often sent three to 
four feet below the surface, and required a 
strong force to move it. This implement has 
been principally superseded where first adopted, 
by the substitution of thorough and more per- 
manent tile underdraining. 
»©.. 
An Onion from Kossuth's Garden. — Mr. J. P. 
Doyle, of this city, has in possession an onion 
grown last summer in the garden of the celebrat- 
ed Hungarian patriot, Kossuth. It was taken 
