AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
1Q5 
which should remain to warm and stimulate 
the roots of growing plants. Let us here 
sum up some of the more prominent 
ADVANTAGES OF DRAINING. 
1. Draining, by rapidly removing the water in the Spring 
and after heavy rains, and by warming the soil, is equiva¬ 
lent to lengthening the season, and gives a wider range of 
cultivated plants, a longer season for growth, and a longer 
ti me for plowing and working the ground. 
2. Land freed from excess of moisture, expands much 
less in freezing, and the roots of Wheat, Clover and other 
crops remaining in the ground over winter, are not de¬ 
stroyed by winter-kill. 
3. In hot weather, the circulation of warm, moist air 
through the open drains, condenses moisture in the cooler 
soil, and furnishes additional security against drouth. 
4. The free access of air renders poisonous compounds 
of iron, manganese, &c., inert, and Clover and other deep 
tooted crops will not be killed, but they will continue to 
grow and flourish from year to year. 
5. The depth to which the roots penetrate in soils freed 
from poisons and filled with air, secures to the plants 
sufficient moisture to withstand the surface effects of 
drouth. 
6 . Water by sinking through the soil into drains, is pre¬ 
vented from washing the surface into gullies, and from 
carrying away into streams the richer soluble portions of 
soils and manures. 
7. The removal of the standing water allows warmth, 
which can not descend through a body of water i^pene- 
[iate farther into the soil. m y 
8 By causing the water to descend into drain ^instead 
of evaporating from the surface, another chief source of 
coldness is removed. 
9. Rains in descending through the ground, carry the 
heat of the atmosphere with them, and thus warm the soil 
and roots of plants. 
10. The presence of water causes soils to bake, so as to 
render them hard to work, and also to prevent the free 
growth and expansion of roots. 
11. When all excess of water is removed, compact and 
clay soils become light and pulverized by working them. 
12. The free circulation of air in the soil, carries in am¬ 
monia, and other fertilizingsubstances to the roots of 
plants. 
13. The air circulating in the soil, decomposes vegetable 
acids and removes sourness; and the decomposed veget¬ 
able matter furnishes organic food for the growing planls. 
14. The roots extend farther and deeper into the soil, get 
a firmer hold upon it, and draw nourishment from a larger 
area. 
15. Removingthe water from the pores, admits the air 
which is essential to the growth of the roots. 
WHAT SOILS NEED DRAINING 
The considerations above presented, show 
that there are very few soils, no matter how 
dry, apparently, which Would not be improved 
by thorough under-draining. There are few 
so constituted at the surface and below, as 
to furnish all the advantages of a system of 
open under-channels. As a brief general 
rule we would say : go into any field, four or 
five days after a free fall of rain, and dig a 
hole three feet in depth. If after an hour 
or two any water collects and remains in the 
bottom, it may be considered as a settled 
fact that the soil will be improved by drain¬ 
ing. The degree to which this will be bene¬ 
ficial may be judged of by the amount of stand¬ 
ing water, by the quantity of rain which has 
previously fallen, and by the length of time 
after its fall to the period of making the ex¬ 
amination. We have often made a survey 
of this kind during the driest Summer months 
when but little rain had fallen for many 
weeks previous, and yet at a depth of two 
to four feet from the surface, abundant 
moisture would ooze out from the sides of 
a hole ; and sometimes this has happened 
when crops upon the surface were parched 
with drouth. The constant presence of the 
sub-water had prevented the roots from 
going down beyond a few inches, and from 
reasons previously ; and now with a partial 
failure of the water near the surface, the 
plant is left without adequate moisture to 
furnish a flow of sap to supply the evapora¬ 
tion from the leaves. Such soils must be 
drained to yield profitable returns for culti¬ 
vation. 
If water runs freely over the surface soon 
after a light shower commences, we may 
know that the soil is already filled with 
water. 
Wherever a cellar drain is needed, we 
may know there is a compact soil below, 
which will keep too much water above it. 
Iflduring warm weather, and at a dry sea¬ 
son, we find on digging down two feet that 
the soil is moist, or very damp to the touch, 
and forms a damp compact mass by working 
in the hand, this is a pretty certain indica¬ 
tion that the soil suffers from an excess of 
moisture. 
In searching for these wet spots, it will 
be readily seen, from the considerations 
above presented, that it is necessary to ex¬ 
amine a great number of places in each field, 
and especially those that are less productive. 
There are comparatively few soils which 
are of such a character that rain water, and 
that from melting snows, will readily settle 
down through them (not run off over the 
surface). 
A little knowledge of “ Geology,”—enough 
to understand the character and arrange¬ 
ment of the soils that make up the surface 
of the earth, would materially assist in the 
comprehension of this subject. A column 
or two devoted to this subject will not only 
be interesting, but afford much practical in¬ 
formation both with reference to treating 
land, and selecting farms, and especially with 
regard to laying out and sinking drains. 
Let us inquire 
How were soils originally formed, and how 
are the materials forming them arranged in 
the ear ill's surface ? 
The surface of our plants consists of large 
masses of water, and rocks covered over 
with various depths of sand, clay, pebbles, 
&c., called soil or earth. Sometimes this 
soil is hundreds of feet in depth, sometimes 
but a few feet or inches, and sometimes the 
rocks come to the surface. We usually find 
solid beds of rocks by digging down a few 
feet only. 
The surface soil is composed of a vegeta¬ 
ble (organic) part, and a mineral (inorganic) 
part. The organic part is merely decayed 
and decaying vegetable matter, such as leaves 
roots, grasses, &c., which have in process 
of time become commingled with the earthy 
part. This is usually found only in a few 
inches of the surface soil; though in peat 
beds it often extends many feet downward. 
This organic or vegetable part—which can be 
readily burned off—usually constitutes but 
a small portion of the surface soil ; while the 
rest, and all below, is a mass of earthy, in¬ 
organic matter, made up of sand, clay, gravel, 
large and small fragments of rocks, pebbles 
and large rounded stones, called boulders. 
These soils—with the exception of the or¬ 
ganic part—are entirely made up of broker,, 
finely pulverizea, and decomposed rocks ; and 
were all probably once in the form of solid 
rocks. Whenever a stone of any kind is 
exposed to frost, heat, rain, or a moist at¬ 
mosphere, it is continually decaying ; little 
particles of various substances, such as sand 
clay, potash, lime, magnesia, &c., are wear¬ 
ing from its surface and these mingling 
together form new soil. All rocks and stones 
exposed to air are continually decreasing in 
size and weight, and never growing as some 
have supposed Take from your field the 
very hardest stone, carefully clean, dry and 
weigh it, and lay it back in the field for a 
year or two, and again weigh it in the same 
manner, and if the balances are delicate, 
they will certainly show a decrease in the 
weight of the stone. A pile of rocks, or a 
stone fence,remaining for a short time only, 
will enrich the ground by additions of new 
soil. More than one-half of many soils are 
yet undecomposed, as may be easily ascer¬ 
tained by separating the finer portions with 
a sieve. The effect of plowing, Summer 
fallowing, ridging in winter, &c., is to hasten 
the decomposition of these, adding new soil 
from the gravelly portions. 
To illustrate the manner in which our 
present soils were originally formed, gather 
from the field a quantity of large stones of 
various kinds, such as slate, granite, &c., 
wash them clean from adhering soil, and 
subject them to strong heat and sudden 
cooling a few times, and also to freezing and 
thawing. After they are thus in part broken 
into fine pieces, put them with water into a 
vessel and let them be agitated till the corn¬ 
ers of the small and larger pieces are round¬ 
ed. After this allow the mass to settle, and 
we shall have at the bottom a soil like that 
in our fields. In this case, the rounded 
stones will first fall to the bottom, the gravel 
next, the coarse sand next, and the fine sand 
and clay will settle last upon the top 
If at successive intervals, we pour por¬ 
tions of these mingled materials and water 
into the raised end of a long box, having an 
uneven bottom, there will be formed in the 
bottom of this box different layers of gravel, 
sand, clay, &c. The gravel will usually fall 
near the raised end, the coarse sand next, 
the fine sand next, and the clay and finest 
sand will settle last—in greatest quantities 
where the water is deepest, producing a clay 
soil; in less quantities with the lower sand 
forming a clay loam— that is much clay with 
little sand—and in still lesser quantities 
higher up forming a sandy loam —that is 
much sand and little clay—while some of the 
clay and fine sand will be mingled with the 
gravel. After a few additions of our new 
made soil, we shall have in that box a repre¬ 
sentation of the arrangement of soils on the 
earth's surface. Here will be clay, there 
sand ; in this place gravel, and in that 
masses of stones ; in one place clay loam, 
and in another sandy loam ; and there will 
be successive layers of these, one above the 
other. 
By similar processes, we suppose the 
loose materials of the earth’s suiface have 
been produced and arranged. “ In the be¬ 
ginning,” we may suppose the earth’s sur¬ 
face to have been composed of various solid 
rocks. In long periods of time, by the ac¬ 
tion of volcanoes, heat, frosts, water, and air 
