3X6 
UNDER DRAINING . 
which the Creator adopted was not first to form 
seeds and fruits, and cause those seeds to propa¬ 
gate, all over the earth, grasses, herbs, and trees, 
after the manner in which man propagates them. 
The distribution of the innumerable kinds of seeds, 
from any one place on the earth, into all the islands 
and remote parts of the globe, could not have been 
accomplished without extraordinary and miraculous 
agency, continued for ages after the creation was 
completed. But the creation of the elements which 
are contained in the vegetable world, and the estab 
lishment of certain principles in the earth and its 
atmosphere, which were to remain uniform and per¬ 
petual in their operations all over the world, when¬ 
ever and wherever they were, by any circum¬ 
stances, brought into combination, was the more 
natural, appropriate, and expedient mode of creation, 
and one which is perfectly accordant with that 
given by Moses. For u God said, let the earth 
bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the 
fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is 
in itself upon the earth.” 
The order adopted was, first, to cause the earth , 
by the established qualities, and the chemical and 
philosophical principles on which itself and its atmo¬ 
sphere were formed, to produce, by spontaneous 
growth, without seed, or scion, grass, herbs, and 
trees, which yielded seed and fruit after their kind. 
The trees did not first grow from created seed ; for 
they were first made to grow out of the earth by 
the combination of certain elements, operated upon 
by certain established principles, and when grown, 
yielded seed, or fruit, after their kinds, in order that 
man might be able to propagate them when and 
where he pleased. The miraculous creation con¬ 
sisted, therefore, in the formation of certain elemen¬ 
tary substances, impressed with certain principles, 
perpetually producing uniform results, under certain 
combinations adapted to those results. The pre¬ 
sent growth of trees, or other vegetables, in con¬ 
formity to these original, established principles, is, 
therefore, though without seed, no new creation, 
but organizations under the continued operation of 
the same principles, by which the earth was “ first 
made to bring forth grass, herbs, and trees, yielding 
seed and fruit after their kind.” I am aware that 
oleaginous seeds may lie for years, perhaps for 
ages, in a dry state, or buried in the earth beyond 
the influence of the sun’s rays, without vegetating. 
But that clover, nuts, acorns, or other seeds, should 
lie many years in old, worn-out fields, without 
sprouting, so near the surface of the earth as to be 
subject to the influence of heat and moisture, which 
invariably cause seeds to vegetate, and so near as 
to be brought out by the application of a little plas¬ 
ter, without stirring the soil, is irreconcilable with 
all the established principles of vegetation. 
J . W. 
New Haven , Ct ., Feb., 1844. 
Asparagus may be covered with salt to the great 
advantage of its growth and perfection, and while 
ministering to the support of this plant, it will Kill 
all others infesting the bed. 
Salt is one of the most useful', and frequently 
the most economical, manures. It is beneficial to 
nearly every crop. 
UNDERDRAINING. 
Pursuant to promise, 1 will give you a disserta¬ 
tion of my mode of constructing underdrains. The 
method which I now practice, is, to plow with a 
common surface plow, two furrows in depth, 
shovelling out the mellowed earth at each plowing; 
then by placing a strong pair of oxen, or horses, tan- 
dum, in the drain, and attaching them to a one- 
handled sub-soil plow, I mellow the ground, and, 
by repeated plowings and shovellings, the work is 
completed. By this method, at least 50 per cent, 
of the labor is saved that was required by the old 
process of picking and shovelling. The usual di¬ 
mensions of the drains, which 1 have generally 
constructed by this process, is about three feet in 
depth, about two feet wide at the top, and about six¬ 
teen inches wide at the bottom. But I am guided 
as to size and depth entirely by circumstances, 
having, in some instances, sunk them to the depth 
of five or six feet, with economy and advantage. 
I have also saved about one third of the labor 
usually required in filling my underdrains with 
stone, and returning the earth. The former. I have 
facilitated by the use of my premium farm truck, on 
which the stones are drawn to fill the drains. (See 
p. 308, vol. vi., American Agriculturist). This is 
done by commencing at the upper end of the drain, 
the operator standing in the drain, facing the work 
completed. 
The truck is so low that the stones on it may be 
reached by the man who fills the drain. Thus, by 
means of this implement, the labor of one man, re¬ 
quired by the old process, is dispensed with, and the 
work progresses more rapidly than before, from the 
fact, that by the practice of tipping the stone from 
the carts upon the ground, two men were required 
to perform the work. It frequently occurs, with 
the most skilful distribution of the stones that can 
be made, that some considerable portion of these re¬ 
quire to be put into carts and moved again; but 
not so with the use of the truck; for only the 
quantity required is taken from it, the balance is 
drawn along to where they are wanted. 
For the last eight years, I have placed the stone 
in the following manner, and have underdrained 
more or less every year, with good success. Aa 
before mentioned, I begin at the upper end of the 
drain to put in the stone, and commence, by placing 
those of medium size (say of the length of a man’s 
hand, and approaching the egg shape as near as can 
conveniently be selected), entirely over the bottom s 
as close as they can be set without waste of time, 
setting them all upon the small end. By this means, 
the water is thrown into several meandering chan¬ 
nels, and the force of it is broken, and its tendency 
to wash the sides and bottom of the drain is effec¬ 
tually prevented; but there will be more or less 
sediment accumulated in the drains, by the water 
washing in the loose earth upon the sides, and what 
little may adhere to the stones, which is conveyed 
to the lowest and nearest level portion of the drain, 
and deposited, until ultimately all the space between 
the stones is filled, and the efficacy of the work de¬ 
stroyed, I have discovered a plan which I have 
practiced for several years, with the fullest success,, 
by which the accumulation of deposit is entirely 
prevented from obstructing the course of the water 
This is done by digging small portions of th# 
