136 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
the sand was found saturated with water, and a 
permanent supply was secured, the water stand¬ 
ing 60 feet below the surface. 
Now on this land we have a bed of water hold¬ 
ing soil, at least a dozen feet in depth. In hot 
weather, when the surface is dry, this water¬ 
holding bed supplies moisture from beneath. 
Without this source of moisture—this cistern, so 
to term it—the plants would dry out in hot 
weather, no matter how good the character of the 
surface soil. 
The water is drawn up from the subsoil by cap¬ 
illary attraction, as it is termed. But if, for illus¬ 
tration, there were a thin layer of coarse gravel, 
one, two, or three feet below the surface, this 
water would not rise through it, because tbe 
tubes, that is the crooked interstices between the 
particles of soil, would be too large. Water 
rises by capillary attraction in small tubes only. 
If we had a good surface soil, then a thin gravel¬ 
ly bed, then a water-holding bed, we could break 
up the gravel, mixing with it some fine soil, and 
in this way establish a capillary connection be¬ 
tween the surface soil, and the water-holding bed. 
There are many farms, both on Long Island and 
elsewhere, which are now barren, but which by 
the process indicated, might be made prolific. 
About 20 rods from our cess-pool, a neighbor 
dug one on the same level of ground, but did not 
find sand until 25 feet below the surface. Eighty 
rods distant, sand was reached 12 feet from the 
surface. In our neighborhood the depth to the 
sand bed varies from 10 to 50 feet, all within a 
mile, and this on the same level of ground. 
Now then, let us apply these illustrations to 
the waste lands on some portions of Long Island. 
The bed of sea sand and gravel described, ex¬ 
tends under the whole, or at least under the 
greater part of the Island.* The upper surface 
of this sand bed varies greatly, in some places 
rising to the top of the ground, and in others it is 
at a great depth below. Within a single mile, the 
variation amounts to 40 feet at least, as is plainly 
proved in our own locality. 
Again, there are, in many places, beds 
or layers of coarse gravel, interspersed in the 
water-holding soil itself. These also vary great¬ 
ly in their depth below the surface. When they 
come within 2 or 3 feet of the top, the land is 
termed “ leachy.” Farmers say, manure does no 
good, “it leaches down and is lost.” From what 
is above staled, it will be seen that it is not so 
much the leaching of the manure that renders 
them unproductive, as the want of a water-hold¬ 
ing bed, to supply moisture when the surface is 
parched in Summer. The nearness of the gene¬ 
ral sand strata, or of a gravel or coarse sand bed, 
«huts off water from beneath. 
The reasons for our remark that “ there are 
hance plots which might be selected by good 
judges on the ground,” will now be apparent. 
Those “ waste lands ” are variously made up. 
In some places the surface is too sandy for cul¬ 
ture. In others there are large tracts, having ap¬ 
parently a good soil upon the surface, but not 
depth enough of water-holding soil above the 
sand, or above a gravel bed, to sustain the crops. 
But scattered over these, there are occasional 
spots, where the sand or gravel bed dips down in 
a basin form, leaving a thicker layer of good wa¬ 
ter-holding soil. And so we find many excellent 
farms, or garden spots, in the midst of surround¬ 
ing sterility, when the superficial observer 
sees no reason why all the land, having a 
* Long Island is about 113 miles long, from its most 
western to its most eastern point, and varies in its gene¬ 
ral width from 12 to 20 miles. It contains some 1448 
square miles, or in all about 925,000 acres. 
similar surface soil, should not be equally produc¬ 
tive. Some persons are now buying these thin 
lands—to find out their mistake, when they at¬ 
tempt to cultivate them. 
We once seriously thought of buying a farm, 
out towards the middle of the Island, on which 
the surface soil was excellent; and the season 
being wet, the crops then growing were good. 
We were disposed to attribute the bad reputation 
of the farm to bad cultivation. But before clos¬ 
ing the contract, we took a spade in hand and 
dug “post-holes” here and there, which revealed 
a general gravel bed lying at a depth of 12 to 36 
inches below the surface. Our knowledge of 
geology in that case saved us from a bad invest¬ 
ment, and the loss of money and time. We have 
looked at this matter a good deal, aided by many 
communications, and many hours of time passed 
in conversation with those having land to sell. 
Our readers have the benefit of our own ex¬ 
perience and observations. They can take our 
opinion for what it is worth—it may be wrong, 
but it is not over-hasty, nor prejudiced by any 
outside influences. We shall spend much time 
yet in investigation. If a tithe of what “ they 
say ” of Long Island lands be well founded, there 
is yet a mine of wealth in them; but we still 
think that while “there are doubtless some (we 
will say many) chance good plots,” much of 11 the 
good qualities of the magnificent farming lands 
advertised there (on Long Island) are on paper.'' 
-- ■■aO-B—-»-Oi- 
Making a City Grass Plot, 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Here in the City we have but few green things 
at best, brick walls and stone pavements monopo¬ 
lizing most of the space. There is one little spot, 
however, which all housekeepers insist upon 
having, even in cities, and that is a snug little 
grass plot. This serves the double purpose of 
giving a green spot to relieve the eye—a luxury 
we citizens much enjoy—and also to give us a 
“ bleaching ” place for our linen. These grass 
plots frequently become so poor that they are of 
little value, and it takes some time to get a new 
one established from seed. In the country, fresh 
turf can easily be had, and a plot soon be made 
by sodding. Having had several run out beds 
renovated, with good success, I give my plan as 
follows : first remove what turf there is, laying 
it aside carefully; next spade up the bed thor¬ 
oughly, working in some compost where it can be 
had. I then cut the old turf into pieces a few 
inches square, and set out all over the bed about 
one foot, or less, apart, covering with a very little 
soil. They root quickly, and soon make a com¬ 
pact turf over the entire space. I usually scatter 
a little lawn grass seed over the bed just before a 
rain, after the whole is complete. So well do I 
like the plan, that I should chop the turf up in this 
manner, even if I had abundance of it. 
Brooklyn, April 14, 1860. HOUSEKEEPER. 
Not too Late for Clover. 
Although April is preferable for sowing clover 
seed in this latitude, it is better to try it even 
now', if done immediately, rather than lose the 
use of unoccupied ground, or suffer it to become 
a nursery of w-ecds. By sowing just before a 
rain, the seed is washed into the soil, and has a 
fair chance to germinate. Some object to sowing 
clover alone, because the full power of the sun 
destroys the roots, and it is therefore usually 
put in with grain, to secure partial shade ; but in 
good soil the leaves soon spread enough to pro¬ 
tect the roots. For turning under green to im¬ 
[Mav, 
prove the soil, there is probably no crop superior 
to clover, and if w-anted for this purpose there is 
yet ample time. There are hundreds of farms, 
now only an expense to their owners, that might 
in a few years be made to pay handsomely by the 
judicious application of clover seed. 
Sheep Washing and Shearing. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Ever since I worked out by the month, I have 
had a dread of sheep washing, as it is usually 
done. A dam was thrown across a small stream, 
making a pond, and a pen for the sheep built by 
the side of it. We stood in the water waist deep, 
and took a half bath for two or three hours at a 
time ; the sheep were thrown in heels over head, 
and soused, and squeezed until they were pretty 
well wonied out. 4 he W'ater was not always 
comfortably warm, and we often had a blue and 
shivering time, notwithstanding the whisky and 
cidei brandy which were poured down to keep 
the cold out, but which sometimes only drove the 
wits of the men out. I have now a much more 
comfortable plan. A large vat made of plank, 
about ten feet long, four feet wide, and three and 
a half feet deep, is placed near a stream where 
there is sufficient fall. Troughs are laid to con¬ 
duct the water, with their lower ends standing 
about two feet above the vat. Two boys each 
have a sheep soaking at one end of the vat, while 
too men standing on the ground outside the vat, 
each hold a sheep under the stream running from 
the troughs. It requires but little squeezing of 
the wool and much less time, to wash them well, 
than by the old method. ’ It dispenses with all 
rum, and consequently we have no rumpus. 
After the sheep are washed, they are turned 
into a clean pasture, and not sheared until the 
weather is too warm for flannel jackets. The 
man that will send a poor sheep naked out into 
the chilling winds that often make fire necessary 
in May, ought to be put to sleep on frozen ground 
next Winter, with only a snow drift for bed 
clothes. 
To shear a sheep well, requires practice and 
patience. A man in a hurry, ought to leave the 
shearing floor until his hurry is over, for he will 
be likely to butcher as well as shear the sheep, 
or else leave the wool in ridges like a new plowed 
field. To have the sheep quiet, keep him in an 
easy position ; to cut the wool easily and even, 
let the surface over which the shears are passing 
be kept rounded out, and the skin drawn smooth. 
My way is, to set the sheep on his hind quar¬ 
ters upon the floor, with his back towards the 
shearer. While in this position, the brisket, belly, 
and edges of the flank and thighs are sheared. 
Then the operator kneels on one knee, lays the 
sheep’s neck over the other knee, and shears it 
carefully on the left side, up to the head. He 
then stands upon his feet, bends the sheep’s head 
to the right side, and shears the fore leg and left 
side around to within one or two clips of the back 
bone, and so on to the thigh. The sheep is then 
laid on the broad side, the hind leg extended with 
the shearer’s left hand, and the wool clipped from 
that and the buttock. The knee of the shearer laid 
over the sheep’s neck keeps him quiet. The wool 
left while going down the back, is cut with clips 
lengthwise along the spine. The sheep is then 
set up again and the other side finished in like 
manner. All tag locks, burs, etc., should be re¬ 
removed before shearing, and the floor be swept 
frequently to keep straw' or dirt from the wool. 
A very little carelessness will make a very great 
difference in the aggregate price obtained for the 
clips. Jonathan. 
