THE CULTIVATOR. 
167 
formed in 15 minutes for twenty horses. It is said that they are not as 
substantial food as either oats or corn: true they are not; but when horses 
are idle during winter, less substantial food will answer. Good hay and 
carrots will not only keep them in good heart, but/af, if they be properly 
attended to, are carefully watered, curried, and warmly kept. Carrots 
will keep buried in the open air from November till May, during all which 
period they may be advantageously fed to horses. The benefit which 
would arise to the farmer from such a course of feeding, will, we are cer¬ 
tain, strike the most superficial observer, as it would enable him to sell 
more of his grain if he had a large surplus; and if the reverse, he would 
find his profit in the decreased demand upon his granary. It may, and 
doubtless will, be said that the culture of the carrot is a troublesome one; 
but on the other hand we affirm that they are no more so than com, if the 
latter be. well tended: they require thinning, so do corn, they require to 
be kept clean, so do corn, and we affirm without the fear of contradic¬ 
tion, that they do not require to be oftener worked, and as we have de¬ 
monstrated that they will go nearly six times as far, we recommend their 
culture to the consideration of our readers, and in so doing, discharge not 
only a duty, but one which we feel assured will be well received, because 
well intended .—Farmer and Gardener. 
SMUT IN WHEAT. 
That this prescription of brine and lime, or chamber lye and lime, will 
answer the end designed of preventing smut, we do not doubt; for the 
practice here recommended has obtained in Western New-York for more 
than twenty years, and we do not recollect a single instance in which it 
has failed where properly conducted. From whence the practice origi¬ 
nated we know not; but in this state it was first adopted on the eastern 
shore of the Cayuga lake, and that region had, for a long time, the repu¬ 
tation of producing the finest wheat in the state; and it was extensively 
purchased for seed in other but less favorable districts. For a number of 
years past, smut has hardly been heard of, and seemed eradicated; and 
in consequence of the preparation of seed wheat by liming has fallen into 
disuse. It must be again adopted, where seed perfectly pure cannot be 
obtained, and even in such cases its use is safe, as it can possibly do no 
harm. It was at one time supposed by many farmers, that gypsum would 
answer the purpose of lime, for drying the brined wheat, and preventing 
smut, and in some cases was substituted for it. The result in the most 
of these instances, was, the evil appeared aggravated in a ten-fold degree. 
We have seen an experiment of this kind tried, that to us, was perfectly 
conclusive. A field was sown with wheat all brined, and with the ex¬ 
ception of that required for a few lands, all thoroughly limed. The re¬ 
mainder was dried in plaster instead of lime, and sown the same day with 
that on which lime had been used. At the time of harvesting the line 
between the two kinds was distinctly marked, no smut being found on 
the part that was limed, while the plastered part was almost worthless. 
Spring wheat, it has been found by experience, is more apt to be smutty, 
than that sown in the fall, and hence the greater necessity of properly 
guarding against the disease. As many are intending to cultivate this 
grain to a considerable extent another year, the propriety of paying par¬ 
ticular attention to this subject is evident, that the character of the region 
for wheat and flour, may not suffer. Whether in autumn or spring, we 
advise our farmers to be very careful as to what wheat they sow, and if 
there is the least danger of infection to apply the brine and lime at once. 
—Genesee Farmer. 
DRAINING .—( Continued from page 151.) 
When the land to be drained lies flat, with rising ground on each side, 
and the breadth of valley is narrow, if the stratum containing the water 
which rises on its surface, forms part of the high ground on both sides, 
and is continuous below the soil of the valley, a drain carried through the 
lowest part, deep enough to reach the porous stratum, or, if the depth of 
the intervening strata is too great for a drain to be cut through, bore-holes 
or wells must be made in its bottom, which will have the same effect of 
drying the land without the necessity for cross and branch drains; this 
case, however, will not hold good if the valley is of any considerable 
width. Indeed, there are very few* situations of this kind in Scotland,* 
where the extent of the ground to be drained is more than fifteen or 
twenty yards wide, but will require a drain carried through the centre or 
lowest part, to receive the surface water, and any springs which may 
arise out of the porous soil; and also another, on both sides, between the 
wet and dry ground, deep enough to cut off the water oozing out of the 
high ground, as shown in plan 3. If the surface water that flows into the 
* In many parts of England, the stratification lies so regular that a drain 
carried through a hollow part of a field, deep enough to reach the porous stra¬ 
tum, (which, in many instances, is composed of gravel, porous limestone or 
chalk,) will dry a much larger extent of land than when the strata is so much 
broken as it is in Scotland; consequently, a person will have little chance of 
practising there to advantage without previously acquiring a knowledge of the 
variableness of the sub-strata, although he has had considerable experience 
and success in laying out drains in England. 
hollows is considerable, the drain in the middle should be open, but co¬ 
vered in all other cases. 
Fig. 43.—Plan 3. 
In many instances in draining the sides of hills or sloping ground, it is 
necessary, on account of keeping the level and to save making more out¬ 
lets than one, to carry the drain in some places below where the water 
fiist makes its appearance, or breaks out from the tail of rocks or other 
porous strata, and from it to make offsets the same depth as the drain, to 
the upper side of the wetness, (as shown in plan 4,) in order to dry the 
Fig. 44.—Plan 4. 
Outlet. 
1, Open drain. 2, Covered drain. 
Bore-hole. Bore-hole. 
3, Shoulder drain. 
small spaces on the upper side of the drain, on which, from its locality, it 
can have no effect Bore-holes would be useless in such a situation, 
where the sub-stratum is clay, and where there is no under water; and 
also if the drain was cut above or in a line with the upper springs, the 
depth of cutting would be too great to get hold of the water that injures 
the land below. These offsets are sometimes made in the form of the 
letter T, and sometimes they are carried all round the small wet spaces, 
but more frequently they are made as shewn in the plan. 
