213 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
wogs with which Avc arc all so familiar. These, 
as we all know', have, at first, tails, but no legs, 
then hind-legs, then fore-legs, then the tail is 
absorbed, and the little toads come up from the 
w'ater, often in great numbers. Tree-toads and 
frogs undergo the same transformations. The 
common northern tree-toad, {Ilyla versicolor,) 
lives chiefly in open woods upon decayed mossy 
trees, tlie color of whicli it closely resembles. 
Tiie ends of its toes are flattened into roundish 
disks, Avith Avhich, partly by means of the pres¬ 
sure of the air, but chiefly by a sticky secretion, 
it is able to walk upon the under sides of smooth 
substances. All these animals are not properly 
amphibious, but live in comfort only in a moist 
atmosphere, resorting to the water only at breed¬ 
ing time. On moist days and evenings they are 
most active, and the tree-toads are especially 
noisy wdien a rain storm is approaching. 
Walks and Talks on the Farm.—No. 43. 
In inaklng out my income tax, the Assessor 
demurred to the large sum I had expended for 
labor. He is himself a farmer and “ could not 
understand,” he said, “ how so much money 
could be spent.” 
“ I have not spent quite $8 an acre, and if I 
could have afforded it, and could have got the 
right kind of men, and could have bestowed the 
necessary supervision, I would have spent double 
the amount.” 
“ Well,” he reiflied, “I can’t allow it, I never 
heard of such a case. Mr. Black sold $3,600 
from his farm last year, and only deducts $300 
for hired help.” 
“How large a farm has he?” 
“ One hundred acres.” 
“His own labor and that of his children 
Avould be Avorth at least $500 in addition to the 
$300; and this brings it up to my figures, or $8 
an acre. This farm is jrrobably the most fixyor- 
able one for your purpose that you can select. 
The small farmers, taking their OAvn time into 
account, really employ more labor than the 
large farmers—and this is one reason Avhy their 
farms are more productive. I confess, howmver, 
that I am unable to see -how a man can, on a 
farm of 100 acres, get such large returns, and 
expend only $300 for hired help,” 
“ He has a splendid wheat farm. Hot an acre 
of it that is not naturally underdrained. He 
groAVS large crops of clover and plows them in 
for wheat, and this is better than guano or phos¬ 
phates. You can spend all the money you like 
on your farm, and never make it as good as his.” 
“That maybe, but I think I have a legal 
right to spend it, and if I do spend it, I do not 
see Avhy you should not allow it. Everybody 
can not have the best farms. . Some of us must 
take the poor ones, or let them remain untilled 
and unproductive. And the man Avho takes a 
run down farm, and endeavors to bring it up, 
injures no one but himself; and it is hardly fair 
to tax him for every little improvement that he 
makes, oi subject him to I'idicule and abuse.” 
In my case they do both. If I get out a few 
evergreens and ornamental shrubs around the 
house, and raise grass and a few floAvers under the 
dining-room windoAV, instead of potatoes and 
cabbage, they call it fancy farming and a great 
Avaste of land, and yet at the same time put an 
additional thousand dollars tax on the farm. 
It Avould seem as though the farmers them¬ 
selves, the local Assessors, Railroad Companies, 
and the Government itself, Avere all opposed to 
improved agriculture. Last year I ordered a 
ton of laAV-bone phosphate from Philadelphia, 
and the Erie Railroad Company charged me 
$33 for freight I I do not know, but I presume 
they Avould have carried a ton of Avhiskey or 
tobacco for half the money. Of all improve¬ 
ments most needed in American agriculture, un¬ 
derdraining confessedly stands at the head, and 
yet it is this very improvement that the Govern¬ 
ment specially singles out as one Avhich cannot 
be deducted from the Income tax. According 
to John Johnston’s experience, he sometimes 
got the whole of his money back in one year, 
and always in two, and it Avould certainly be 
Avise in the Government to encourage the pi’ac- 
tice of underdraining, by allowing money so 
expended to be deducted in making the returns 
of income. If a farmer spends $1000 in under¬ 
draining, and i\\Q profits, as Mr. Johnston states, 
are $500 a year, the Government in ten years 
Avould get $350 in additional tax. If put into 
Five-Twenties, the Government Avould get $50 
the first year ancT that would be all. 
One AAmuld think that Avhen wheat brings $3.35 
a bushel, people would begin to realize the im- 
lAortance of fostering agricultural improvement, 
and stimulating production. In England, ma¬ 
nures are allowed to be transported free of toll, 
and many of the landlords pay for all the tiles 
that their tenants will lay in underdrains. And 
even in Canada, agricultural papers are alloAved 
to go through the mails free of postage. 
But a truce to fault-finding. The man Avho has 
once commenced to underdrain, will stick to it, 
tax or no tax. I have been laying some brush 
drains this spring, in low, mucky land, where 
I thought tiles would fill up. Mr. Messenger, 
of Long Island, Avho drained a tAventy-acre 
SAvampten years agoAvith brush drains, informs 
me that the drains still Avork to perfection; and 
a correspondent of the Irish Farmers’ Gazette 
says he has some brush drains still effective on 
his farm that AA'ere laid forty three years ago. 
The Avay to lay them is to secure the outlet Avith 
stones, or in other Avords, to lay a foot or tAvo 
of the drain Avith stones, Avhere it discharges into 
the main ditch. Lay the brush on the stones 
Avith the but ends extended up the drain. Keep 
on in this way, extending the brush txvo or three 
inches each time, so that the thick stems Avill 
be on the bottom of the drain, and the bushy 
branches will rest on the top of the others. 
Trample them in firm until they are lower than 
the ploAV reaches, and then cover them Avith soil. 
Ditching on low, mucky land, is very pleas¬ 
ant Avork. There are, as the men expressed it, 
“ not stones enough to clean the spades,” and it 
is easy w'ork to dig a rod in an hour, 2k feet 
deep. One man dug seven rods in an afternoon, 
and finished it all ready for the brush. In my 
case, I am troubled to get a good fixll, and I 
make it a rule to have the drains cut so that the 
Avater Avill folloAV the ditches up into the land 
to be drained. Where brush is used, there may 
be tAvo or three inches of Avater in the bottom 
of the drains, AA’ithout damage. Being cut deep¬ 
er than is necessary, any loose soil that may 
Avork through the brush can settle on the bot¬ 
tom, and still leave fall for the AA'ater. In the 
spring and fall I expect the Avater Avill set back 
occasionally in the open ditches higher than the 
drains are laid, but as it passes off, I think the 
drams Avill work again. In fact, there are cases 
Where underdrains laid three feet deep discharge 
into a Avater course dammed up, so that the Ava¬ 
ter is tAvo feet above the tiles, and yet the land 
is effectively drained. Of course, in this case 
t le water-line ” Avould be only a foot beloAV 
the surface, but the Avater for tAvo feet beloAV 
that, until it reached the tiles, Avould be con¬ 
stantly changing, and tliis is said to be just as 
good as if all the Avater Avas removed. It is 
stagnant \vater that is injurious. In a dry sea¬ 
son, Avhen the surface soil absorbed the Avatcr 
from beloAV, the Avater from the main ditch 
Avould floAv up the tiles into the land, and in 
rainy weather, when the “Avater-line ” in the 
land became higher than the AA'ater in the ditch, 
the tiles Avould discharge. In either case, stag¬ 
nation Avould be avoided. Of course, it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary that the main ditch should be 
kept clean, down to the tiles. If stopped up 
AAith dirt, theyAA'ill be useless. There are thous¬ 
ands of acres of such land, uoav producing notii- 
ing but rushes and coarse grass, which, if lliey 
could be drained in this way, w'ould make the 
most productive meadoAvs. And it Avill pay. 
Take my OAvn case. There is a stream running 
through the south part of the farm, Avhich, at 
high water, is fifteen or tAventy feet Avide, and 
four or five feet deep. In the summer season it 
is not over a foot deep. Hoaa', even supposing 
the land to be not over a foot higher than the 
surface of the brook at higlx Avater, there is still 
a chance for drainage. Mark out the ditches in 
the spring or fall during higli Avater, when j’ou 
can see the lowest land, and the next summer 
cut a main ditch through the land, nearly or 
quite as deep as the natural stream. Cut it, in 
fact, so that the Avater Avill folloAV you, unless 
you find, as you probably Avill, that you have 
more fall than is needed. Let this ditch be six 
feet Avide at the top, and txvo feet or so at the 
bottom. SoAV grass seed at once, on the sides, to 
prevent the soil from Avashing in. Then cut 
3 mur brush drains at right angles to this main 
ditch, 2k feet to 3 feet deep, through the lowest 
parts of the laud, and I feel confident that the 
water will find its Avay into the brook, and the 
land, from being little else than a sAvamp, Avill 
become the most productiA’e meadoAv on tlie 
farm. It may be necessaiy, and probably will 
be, to scour out the main ditch every summer, 
so as to keep it free doAvn to the drains, but the 
expense Avill be little compared to the advan¬ 
tages. The water Avill set back Avhen Ave have 
a flood, as it does noAAq but instead of remain¬ 
ing on the land until the middle of summer, it 
Avill pass off rapidly, as the water in the brook 
declines, and even in the meantime there Avill 
be a constant change of Avater in the soil, and 
thus Ave shall get rid of the injurious effects of 
stagnation, and the exclusion of atmospheric aii-. 
The expense of draining forty or fifty acres 
of such land is little, as compared Avith the ex¬ 
pense of draining the like extent of rolling up¬ 
land, the knolls of which, in this section, are 
usually full of large stones. And then, Avhat a 
grand chance there is to irrigate ! Much of this 
loAV land can be irrigated at a very trifling cost. 
And those Avho have never Avitnessed its effects, 
Avill be astonished at the immense crops of grass 
that can bo produced by irrigation. But of 
coui'se, you must drain before j'ou can irrigate. 
In other Avords, you must get rid of stagnant 
water. You can not well have too much water 
early in the spring, provided it is constantly 
moving over the land. Irrigating may be done 
in a very simple manner. Dam up the Avater 
in the brook until it Avill overfloAV the banks. 
This Avill shoAV you the level. Then cut a shal- 
loAV ditch into the land, as high up as the Avater 
Avill follow you and overfloAA', if dammed up. 
It should, hoAvever, be deep enough to convey 
the water to a more distant part of the land, 
and sub-conduits should be cut to distribute the 
Avater on all parts of the field that are Ioav 
enough. A little experience Avill soon enable 
