36 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[FEBRUARY, 
»f the proceeds upon the other ten acres, and 
save the one-third for other purposes. 
Farmers cultivate too much land. If they will 
take into account the extra cost of tilling a large 
surface for the same crop, they can hut discover 
that a little land well tilled will pay better and 
involve less care than the same expense on a 
large surface. You may laugh at our notions 
of “ high farming,” but we have on our side the 
facts , the figures, and—the “ dimes.” Stick a 
pin here! 
Braining—Why—Where—How. 
WHY. 
Please read the preceding article before be¬ 
ginning this .It is no idle, visionary state¬ 
ment, to say that four out of five, of all the cul¬ 
tivated fields in this country, can be under¬ 
drained with profit , and this includes a large pro¬ 
portion of the fields usually esteemed dry , or at 
least not wet land; and we hazard the predic¬ 
tion that one half of the present cultivated land 
mf the northern States east of the Mississippi 
river will be drained within the next 25 or 30 
years. Draining is less practicable in parts of the 
Southern States, and less needed in a warm than 
in a cold climate. Further, those farmers who 
first go into draining will first reap the benefit. 
It needs no argument to prove, for every one’s 
observation teaches, that a warm, genial soil, 
free from excess of moisture beneath, is far more 
favorable to the growth of crops, than one which 
is cold and subject to excess of moisture a part 
of the year. Take any moderately dry, loamy 
land for example, and from November to April, 
at least, it is filled with water, that is it has more 
moisture than is required by the roots of plants. 
This water prevents the passage of air among 
the particles. In freezing, it expands much more 
than the soil, for water expands fully one-eighth 
of its bulk in freezing, while the solid soil ex¬ 
pands not at all if dry, but rather contracts a 
little. This expansion of a wet soil, or of the 
water in it, tears and breaks the roots of all 
plants. The constant rising to the surface and 
evaporation of the water in Spring, not only 
carries off much heat, but it prevents the pene¬ 
tration of the sun’s rays, and of warm air. 
Now put under this soil a series of drains at 
suitable distances to carry off all surplus water, 
winter and summer, and what will be the result? 
The air will penetrate among the pores, oxydiz- 
ing or destroying the poisonous compounds 
abounding in that portion of all soils which do 
not come in free contact with the air. These 
poisons being destroyed, the plants will grow 
more vigorously. The penetrating air will also 
aid in fitting the elements in the soil to nourish 
the growing plants. The moist but not wet soil 
will be only moderately expanded by frost, and 
will not break and tear the roots of growing 
crops. Wheat, for example, never winter-kills 
on thoroughly drained ground. The sinking 
away of the excess of water into the drains, of 
course, prevents its evaporation from the surface, 
and the soil is warmer. This freedom from evap¬ 
oration in Spring, and the earlier warmth re¬ 
ceived from the sun and air start the plants 
ahead a week or two sooner, and this alone often 
makes half difference in the yield. When land 
is under-drained, it can be worked, not only much 
earlier in spring, but also sooner after a rain. 
The gain of time in this respect, is often of great 
consequence. 
Drained land is not liable to be affected by 
long cold rains, which are so often destructive 
to corn and other crops, and which always retard 
their growth. On the drained land, the excess 
of water soon sinks away, and the crops start 
afresh as soon as the rain ceases. 
But, further, a dry field, if well under-drained, 
is less affected by the drouth than one not so 
drained. . This seems paradoxical, but it is nev¬ 
ertheless true. The air always contains a good 
deal of moisture, which it invariably yields up to 
any thing colder than itself with which it comes 
in contact. A tumbler of ice water will con¬ 
dense moisture upon its surface from the dryest 
air. Now, open air passages (drains) under a dry 
soil, and the air will pass in through these open¬ 
ings and up through the soil, and the soil being 
colder than the air, will take moisture from it. 
In a hot dry day, the warm surface of the soil 
produces a rapid upward current of air - which 
sucks up the air through the soil from the drains, 
and a vast amount of water is thus deposited in 
the soil. Go to the open end of a drain on a hot 
day and you will find such a strong inward draft, 
that it will put out a candle instantly; and we 
have seen the current so strong that it would 
draw in bits of paper, leaves, and other light 
substances. This air is a bearer of water to the 
roots of the parched com and grain. This is no 
fanciful theory but sober fact, and has been 
proved a multitude of times. 
We have then, among many others that 
might be named, the following advantages from 
draining land: 
It prevents winter-killing of crops. 
It warms the soil in spring, and lengthens the 
season of growth. 
It enables one to work his land several days 
earlier in spring, and after rains. 
It keeps the ground dryer in a wet season, and 
It makes it more moist during a drouth, or 
during hot dry weather. 
It is reasonable that a warm dry, drained soil 
should be far more productive than if without 
such treatment. 
Two Hours with Mr. Rarey. 
USEFUL HINTS ON BREAKING AND TRAINING 
HORSES. 
During the past month, Mr. Rarey has been 
entertaining and instructing the citizens of New- 
York, and thousands who have come in from 
the surrounding country, with lectures and illus¬ 
trations of his theory or system of breaking and 
training horses. We very cheerfiilly accepted 
his invitation to spend a couple of hours in list¬ 
ening to his explanations and studying the prac¬ 
tical application of his method upon several 
horses. His quiet manner, and evident con¬ 
sciousness of being in the right, are calculated to 
win favor. The principles at the foundation of 
his method are so self-evident, that few persons 
can listen to him and see him operate, without 
coming away feeling that he is about right—or 
at least that he is no charlatan. We may men¬ 
tion an incident that illustrates the influence he 
exerts over those who hear and see him. When 
going through the process of subduing a vicious 
horse, he referred to the effects of kindness and 
an opposite treatment. A gentleman who sat by 
our side remarked: “ I shall send my coach¬ 
man to hear him if it costs me fifty dollars—it 
will be worth that to my horses.” Several oth¬ 
ers sitting near responded that they should do 
the same thing. 
In short, we endorse most of the teachings of 
Mr. Rarey; they are such as we have, for years, 
tried to inculcate in the Agriculturist —though in 
a less clear and definite manner than is done by 
him—and we think he is doing the countxy a 
real service in Aese exhibitions and lectures 
We will try to give our readers some intelligen' 
idea of the subject by a brief outline of a part o . 
one of his entertainments, throwing in some ol 
his remarks in “ quotations.” 
A horse is brought in, said not to be a bad 
one. Mr. Rarey approaches him in a firm, but 
gentle, soothing manner, rubs his face, pats and 
fondles him, until the animal seems to really 
take a liking to him on first acquaintance. He 
so far gets the good will of the horse that he 
readily follows him by barely touching the bridle. 
He next ties a straw in the bit, and the horse 
leads as well with this as with a halter, and 
even better. “ All hard bits, and hard pulling 
make hard mouths; your barbed, and curbed, 
and crooked bits only toughen the mouth and 
stir up resistance.The horse must be treat¬ 
ed as a thinking animal, in part...... A horse 
always carries himself more gracefully, and is 
more readily guided by a lady rider, than 
by a man, because the former carries an easier 
rein......” 
A vicious, biting, kicking, untamed horse 
was brought in. His first manifestation was to 
bite, but Mr. Rarey was quickly at his left side,, 
and seizing the bridle hanging over the neck, he 
began to turn the horse round to the right 
(away from himself,) by pulling the strap over his 
neck in that direction. The horse thus turned 
round, was too busy in keeping his center of grav¬ 
ity right, to stop to bite or kick. “ If you are 
riding or driving a horse hard on the bit, and he 
attempts to run, or rear up, don’t pull straight 
back with both hands, but with one rein turn 
him round if riding, or first one side and then 
the other if driving. This will require so much 
effort on his part to keep square on his feet that 
he will neither run nor rear.” .“A balky 
horse may usually be started by simply turning 
his head round so as to disturb his center ©f 
gravity.” Having pretty thoroughly diverted 
the horse’s attention by frequent turnings, he 
next gets up the near foot, and buckles a strap 
around it. (See engraving on next page). “ To 
raise a fore foot readily, press one hand upon 
the shoulder (keeping his head turned from you 
with the bridle strap if he be vicious) and with 
the other hand strike the leg gently in front; 
the horse will involuntarily raise it up.” 
When one leg is thus fastened in a bent or 
doubled position, the horse is compelled to stand 
and hobble round upon three legs. This of 
course also requires his whole attention. He is 
then turned round and lead about, on three legs, 
until he manifests considerable anxiety. A strong 
strap or belt is then buckled round the body be¬ 
hind the fore legs. A long small strap is thrust 
under this, and one end fastened to the right 
fore leg, below the fetlock joint. The other 
end is held in the hand, and as it passes under 
the body strap, pulling it raises the other fore 
leg. The horse is then led round, and when he 
raises the off leg to hobble along, a gentle pull 
on the strap doubles it up and the horse is 
brought upon his knees. Holding the strap 
firmly in the hand will prevent his straighten¬ 
ing out the leg, and he is kept upon his knees. 
“ In all these movements keep cool but firm. 
Exhibit no temper, but act as if conscious of your 
superior power, and do not irritate the animal.” 
The strap was made fast to the belt so that 
it was impossible for the horse to rise from his 
knees. While thus kept on their knees, 
some of the wilder horses floundered a good deal. 
Mr. Rarey sometimes left them alone to fight it 
out by themselves, but he usually kept turning 
the head round to induce them to put forth eft 
