THE CULTIVATOR. 
9 
a misapprehension with many of the principles of draining. Irriga¬ 
tion is employed to furnish water to soils, generally slopes, where it 
is deficient, and from whence it, speedily passes off) or to cover grounds 
in winter to exclude severe frosts. The water thus employed is near¬ 
ly of the warmth of the atmosphere, and is generally charged with fer¬ 
tilizing properties. Draining is employed upon flat surfaces, or upon 
slopes abounding in springs, where there is an excess of water, and ol 
a temperature which materially chills and deadens the soil. Irriga¬ 
tion supplies water where there is a deficiency—draining carries it 
off where there is an excess. Both are intended, by opposite modes, 
to produce ihe same result—a suitable degree of moisture for the 
wants of the crop. 
We have illusi rations in abundance of the advantages of draining; 
and so apparent have been its benefits, in districts where it had a 
fair trial, that a knowledge of the science, for a science it may be 
called, is considered an important branch of agricultural knowledge. 
Upon one estate in Scotland, where the farmers are generally te¬ 
nants, sixty-five miles of under drains have been made within a few 
years, at the joint expense of the landlord and tenant. The bene¬ 
fits of this expenditure have been—to the landlord, an additional 5s. 
per acre upon his annual rental—and to the tenants, a more than 
corresponding advantage in the increase of their crops. A gentle¬ 
man who deservedly ranks high in this society,* and who has been 
a pioneer in this branch of improvement, has assured me, in answer 
to my inquiries, that he has applied under draining to twenty differ¬ 
ent fields, to the extent of more than two thousands rods, at the ave¬ 
rage cost of fifty cents per rod ; and that he has been fully remune¬ 
rated for the outlay in every instance, in the increased products of 
three years. In some cases, he adds, where the lands produced 
coarse grass of little value, and where tillage was out of the ques¬ 
tion, he has expended twenty dollars per acre in under draining, and 
now grows upon these lands Indian corn, oats, wheat and clover, 
luxuriantly. The value of this land has been increased from 20 to 
100 dollars per acre, or 500 per cent, by the operation of draining. I 
have had some personal experience in this sort of improvement, and 
have made it the subject of calculation, and am induced to believe 
that where stone is convenient, efficient and permanent under drains 
may be made as low, if not lower, than what they cost my friend. A 
laborer accustomed to the work averaged ten rods per day upon my 
farm, for thirty days. The ground was sandy and soft. Other ma¬ 
terials were substituted for stone, which would, had they been em¬ 
ployed, have required more labor, though they had been prepared to 
his hands. 
The benefits of under drains are not limited to lands which show 
water upon the surface. We may often notice at midsummer, that 
some flat lands have a sterile and compact appearance, whose gene¬ 
ral aspeet would indicate fertility. Tins is readily accmnted for by 
supposing wiiat is often known to be the fact, that the soil reposes up¬ 
on a compact strata which prevents the descent of water, and which 
has not sufficient inclination to pass it off. This water chiils the ground, 
retards the decomposition of vegetable food, and causes comparative 
infertility. This may be effectually remedied by parallel under drains, 
the space between them to depend upon the compactness of the soil, 
a drain being supposed to collect the water nine or ten feet on each 
side in the most tenacious ground. It is usual, where fields are thus 
drained, to make a cross dram along the upper side, and also one 
along the lower side, to receive and carry off the water which the 
parallel drains collect from the soil. 
Barley and Hops are becoming important staples of our state, par¬ 
ticularly of the northern and western portions. Few persons, I 
presume, have a just conception of the quantity which we annually 
produce, or the immense loss we sustain for want of better know¬ 
ledge, and more care in cultivating and preparing these crops for 
market. Our soil and climate are found to be well adapted to their 
growth, and we have produced as fine samples of both as are grown 
in any part of the world. Independent of an increasing home con¬ 
sumption, the hop in particular is always in demand for exportation. 
If in good condition, it is one of the most profitable crops to the 
grower that can be raised. If in bad condition, it is often a losing 
concern, not even affording a return for the labor bestowed in its 
culture. 
Deeming the subject one of deep interest to the community, and 
as coming particularly within the province of this society, I have 
been at some pains to collect data from the best sources in relation 
to the barley and hop trade, with a view of submitting an abstract 
of the facts to your consideration. 
Two-thirds of all the barley grown in the United states is believ¬ 
ed to be marketed at Albany and the neighboring towns upon the 
Hudson. The amount brought to our market last year, is estimated 
at 450,000 bushels. It is of two kinds—two rowed and six rowed, 
one possessing a thin and the other a thick skin, and larger beiry, 
ill adapted to be malted together, as one kind malts quicker than the 
other, and becomes sensibly deteriorated before the saccharine mat¬ 
ter of the other kind is fully developed. The two varieties are often 
mixed by the grower ; but that which passes through second hands, 
as the merchant, boatman, &c. is almost universally so, and is be¬ 
sides frequently adulterated with oats and other foreign matters, 
which seriously depreciate its value. It is stated that the deteriora¬ 
tion and loss consequent upon the bad condition of the barley brought 
to market the last season, was equal to ten per cent, or 45,01)0 bush¬ 
els—which, expressed in money, at 75 cents the bushel, amounts to 
$33,750. 
Serious as our loss seems to be from the bad management of our 
barley, it will be found to be no less so upon our hop crop. About 
2,300 bales, or 50,000 pounds, is the estimated quantity brought to 
market the last year. Of this quantity, I am assured by the best 
judges of the article, there were not 200 bales which ought to have 
been denominated first sorts. Many of the hops were imperfectly 
dried, and in consequence of the moisture in them when bagged, a 
fermentation was induced highly detrimental to their quality. The 
criterion by which hops are determined to be well dried is, when the 
stocks become perfectly shrivelled and dry. This is not found to be the 
case with those sent to this market, and the effect is, that deteriora¬ 
tion goes on till the hops are used; whereas well dried hops lose very 
little of their goodness by being kept over. Again—too much heat, 
particularly in the outset, is prejudicial, as it drives off with the mois¬ 
ture the aroma or essential oil which gives value to the hop. A great 
portion of our hops are picked too early, before they are sufficiently 
matured, while other parcels are scorched or otherwise injured in 
the process of curing; and although they might bear a superficial 
appearance of being prime, most of them, on critical examination, 
were found to be extremely deficient in the principle which gives 
them value. While the average price may be stated at 18 cents, 
many of these hops are declared not to have been worth two cents 
the pound. 
Here then—if the data which I have given are correct—are two 
of the staple productions of our soil, on which we have lost, or what 
amounts to the same thing, have failed to realize, from 50 to 100,000 
dollars in a single year, from carelessness, or a want of knowledge 
in their culture and preparation for market. To what extent might 
thisjsum be swelled, were we to embrace in this inquiry, the other 
products and labors of husbandry! A like disparity, I apprehend, 
between good and bad management would be found to exist in al¬ 
most every department of our agriculture. 
Division of Labor, although not so well adapted to farm labor as 
it is to the mechanic and manufacturing arts, is nevertheless suscep¬ 
tible of being advantageously studied and applied by the husband¬ 
man. The process of pin making is subdivided into seven branch¬ 
es, to each of which is assigned a distinct set of hands. The ad¬ 
vantages which result from this arrangement may be appreciated 
when I state, that where the workmen who whiten the pins to per¬ 
form all the different processes, they would cost in making “ three 
times and three-quarters as much as they now do by the application 
of the division of labor.”* This principle is extensively adopted in 
manufactures, and is no inconsiderable cause of the reduction of 
price of their fabrics. It has been advantageously introduced in the 
farming of Great Britain. Men are kept as much as possible to the 
same branch of labor, because by becoming familiar with it, they 
perform more and do it better, as a great individual responsibility 
rests upon them. All light work is performed by women and child¬ 
ren. A man who can earn six shillings should not be employed on 
what a boy can do equally well, who is paid two shillings per day. 
Say a farm affords one hundred days of this kind of labor in a year 
—the gain to the cultivator, by employing the boy instead of the man 
will amount to fifty dollars. 
New articles of Culture. —Forty years ago cotton was hardly re¬ 
cognized as an article of culture in the United States. In 1832, it 
constituted by far our greatest material of export, the quantity ex- 
* Babbage on the Economy of Machinery. 
VOL. I. 
The late H. W. Delavan, Esq. 
B 
