TO IMPEOVE THE BOIL AND THE MIND. 
New Series. ALBANY, NOYEMBEB, 1852. Vol. IX.—No. 11. 
Draining on Heavy and Light Soils. 
Two of the best papers which have lately appeared on 
the subject of draining, are the statements of Jonh John¬ 
ston, of Seneca county, and Theron G. Yeomans, of 
Wayne county, published in the last volume of the Tran¬ 
sactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society, 
and to both of whom prizes were awarded for their suc¬ 
cessful experiments. In one case the land w r as a heavy 
or clayey, and in the other a light or gravelly loam • the 
former being distinguished by its adhesiveness when wet, 
and by its cracking when dry, and the latter by the ab¬ 
sence of these properties. Any person who has practi¬ 
ced draining on soils possessing these opposite characters, 
must have observed the great difference in treatment re¬ 
quired in some parts of the operation. On a heavy soil, 
care is particularly required to facilitate the escape of 
water from the soil to the drain; on a light one, to pre¬ 
vent the washing of the soil with the water into the chan¬ 
nel, and causing its obstruction. After having construct¬ 
ed many drains on a heavy soil, by simply filling the 
lower half with stones, and covering them with straw, 
and then with earth, without meeting with any subse¬ 
quent difficulty, we found the same process wholly una- 
dapted to unadhesive soils, not a single season passing with¬ 
out the occurrence of numerous obstructions by the set¬ 
tling and washing of the earth among the stones. To pre¬ 
vent such disasters, we found it needful to cover the up¬ 
per surface of the stones with very small or flat pieces, 
and then the whole as closely as possible with slabs from 
the saw-mill, of white oak, red beech, or some other du¬ 
rable wood, before applying the turf or straw, for the re¬ 
ception of the earth. We observe evidences of a similar 
difference, in the papers before us. J. Johnston, whose 
soil is heavy, fills his ditch at intervals with stones, which 
rise above the surface, wherever it is desirable to admit 
large quantities of surface water, and through which it 
passes freely down into the tiles below. On light soils 
as they usually occur, these structures would he chok¬ 
ed in a single season. On the other hand, T. G. Yeo¬ 
mans, who occupies a light soil, found, as others have 
done, that ordinary stone underdrains were liable to 
become stopped, both from the washing of the earth, 
and the digging of rats, mice, and meadow molesj he 
also found even the horse-shoe tiles objectionable, from 
their liability to become filled by the washing of the 
earth beneath them, and tubular tiles the only kind 
that proved to be secure from these accidents. 
J. Johnston gives gives some striking examples of the 
success of his experiments, which has led him to con¬ 
struct at different times, sixteen miles of underdrain, or 
as we have learned since his paper was written, twenty 
miles up to the present time. Six acres, (in a twenty 
acre field .) so wet as seldom to give a remunerating crop, 
even of grass, were drained, and the whole field plowed 
and planted with corn. The drained portion soon show¬ 
ed a marked superiority in the crop, the whole field yield¬ 
ing at the rate of eighty-three bushels per acre-one of the 
largest crops, if not the most so, ever known in the coun¬ 
ty. The field attracted much attention, and parties in 
examination walked easily over the six acres, while all 
undrained land was muddy. Subsequent crops show¬ 
ed so decidedly the profits of draining on this field, that 
the whole was subsequently subjected to the operation; 
and of the very large growth of clover resulting from it. 
“ not one square foot froze out,” and good crops of any 
thing sown or planted, can now be relied on. Another 
field of partly lowland, “saturated with water,” was drain¬ 
ed, and the first crop in an unfavorable season, was 40 bush¬ 
els of shelled corn per acre, on land where nothing but 
coarse grass had grown for twenty years before. A crop 
of wheat, “ a heavier” says he, “ I never saw stand up,” 
was reaped from this gronnd, hut it had not been mea¬ 
sured when the paper was written. He draws his tile 
three miles from the factory, and finds underdraining to 
cost him about 30 cents a rod, and at about two rods dis¬ 
tance asunder, $22 to $24 per acre, which is usually re¬ 
paid in two crops, and in some instances more than re¬ 
paid by a single crop.* 
T. G. Yeomans, who has constructed nine miles of tile 
drain, finds nearly an equal advantage on his light loam, 
—land generally “ thought to be quite dry enough.” The 
large amount of water discharged, in one instance, at the 
roadside, from his tiles laid in this reputedly dry soil, 
furnished a practical illustration of the need of draining, 
to those who observed it, stronger u than all hooks ever 
written on the subject , valuable as they may be.” On this 
land the ground becomes dry two or three days after the 
frost passes out, or after a heavy rain, permitting it to be 
worked at almost any time—drying uniformly, so that all 
works alike. A young orchard was nearly destroyed by 
winter on undrained land; hut after draining, the trees 
were replaced and succeeded perfectly. He brings his 
tile from Waterloo and Albany, the nearest 30 miles: 
and finds the drains to cost - him, when completed, 40 
cents per rod, and at about three rods apart, $25 per acre. 
* A long whipple-tree, permitting a horse to walk on each side of 
the ditch, enables him to fill it rapidly by plowing in the earth. 
