THE CULTIVATOR. 
119 
quantity or the quality of the sand used, should also be 
well looked to. The experiments of Pasley and Treus- 
sart of Europe, and of Col. Totten of this country, prove 
clearly that the strongest mortar is made of pure ce¬ 
ment; that it is weakened in proportion to the sand 
used ; that when sand is used, the finer and sharper it 
is, the better for the mortar; that earth, or what is 
called loam, mixed with sand, will prevent the mortar 
from setting or hardening ; and that sand washed and 
reduced to a powder by pounding or grinding is supe¬ 
rior to any other for mortar or cement. In that great 
work, the Thames Tunnel, M. Brunei employs cement 
and sand in equal parts for the foundation; two parts 
of cement and one of sand for the walls and piers; 
and pure cement for the arch or roof, that being the 
part where the greatest strength is required. In this 
state the general rule we believe is, to use two or three 
parts of sand to one of cement, a proportion evidently 
far too great for ordinary cements. 
Within the last five years, thousands of cisteims have 
been built by farmers and others in our country ; and a 
very large proportion of them, from the use of defective 
materials, have proved worthless. Cement has also 
been much used for aqueducts, or as a substitute for 
lead or wooden pipe in conveying water from one part 
of a farm to another, or to the dwellings, for domestic 
or farm purposes, and would have been still more so, 
had not, from the causes before assigned, many that 
had been laid down failed of their object. 
Cements are yearly coming more extensively into 
use; the geological surveys have demonstrated its 
abundance, its superior quality, and its wide diffusion, 
in our state ; and they promise to become an important 
article of manufacture for exportation to districts or 
countries where they do not exist. It is of consequence, 
therefore, that every thing relating to its quality, use, 
manufacture, &c. should be carefully investigated and 
thoroughly understood. Experience has shown that 
ignorance or parsimony on this point, so far as public 
or private structures are concerned, is the worst kind 
of parsimony ; and that had the state employed a com¬ 
petent individual to superintend and inspect the cement 
used on the public works, hundreds of thousands of 
dollars would have been saved to the state in what has 
already been rebuilt, to say nothing of what remains to 
be done ; and to repeat errors, whether of the public or 
of individuals, is what should be sedulously guarded 
against. 
STAGNANT WATER. 
Of all the causes that contribute to render soils poor 
and worthless, we believe there is none more active 
than stagnant water, on the surface or immediately be¬ 
low. Such soils are invariably close and tenacious, 
and commonly quite unproductive. Where there is 
a retentive subsoil, the surface generally abounds in 
clay, is difficult to work, and gives a less rervard to 
labor than almost any other. This is owing to the 
stagnant water held by it, as none of the valuable plants 
can flourish in a soil so constituted. Land is liable to 
injury from this cause, on Avhich water during Avet 
weather rests on the surface for even a short period, 
for the roots of a plant cannot penetrate a soil freely, 
in Avhich the density is such that rain Avater does not 
freely sink through it to the natural drains in the sub¬ 
soil, beloAV the ordinary range of the roots of plants. 
Water is essential to the groAvth and perfection of 
plants, but Avater that does not circulate, or which 
exists in too great quantities, is fatal to them ; and the 
first thing to be done, is to free soils from this incum¬ 
brance, if we would give it productiveness, and render 
it easy of culture. 
It is from these Avell known effects of stagnant Ava¬ 
ter, when on the surface, or Avithin reach of the roots 
of plants, that the necessity of draining arises, and 
which system of operating, when fully carried out, com¬ 
pletely changes the character of lands submitted to such 
a course. Manures applied to soils abounding in stag¬ 
nant water, can produce little effect; the salts they contain 
are diluted, and cannot produce that action, or circula¬ 
tion of atoms, Avhich appears absolutely necessary to 
productiveness. In clay, or in stagnant Avater, Avhere 
substances are not exposed to heat and atmospheric 
agencies, decomposition is slow. Every farmer knows 
that manures produce much more effect on loam, gravel, 
or drained clay soils, than on those so retenth'e as to 
have Avater on or near the surface Draining them, and 
aeration, or the exposing the soil to atmospheric action, 
to the influence of the sun and air by deep ploughing, 
seems to be the only thing that can be relied on to cor¬ 
rect this serious evil. 
Instances indeed occur in Avhich the Avetness of land 
is produced by springs, Avhich rising from the earth, 
spread over it; but in far the greater number of cases, 
the stagnant Avater is orving to a retentive subsoil, that 
prevents the escape of such water as falls upon it. In 
either case, however, the remedy is the same; and in 
the language of Morton on Soils, complete and perfect 
draining is the foundation of all improvement in hus¬ 
bandry, and it should, therefore, be the first step Avhich 
We take in attempting to improve or ameliorate the soil. 
A very large proportion of the lands in this country, 
are of that class that suffer more or less from the accu¬ 
mulation of water. No person can traverse it in vari¬ 
ous directions, without being sensible of this fact ; and 
in consequence of such liability to suffer, the land in 
many districts is cold and poor, as land not freed from 
stagnant water always must be. The hard pan lands 
which cover so large a portion of the country, may be 
named as belonging to this class, though some of these 
contain more clay than others, and are therefore more 
shallow and difficult to Avcrk than others, Avhere the 
subsoil, although still too retentive, lies deeper, and is 
therefore not so injurious as the first kind is well known 
to be. 
Much of this hard pan, when freed from its stagnant 
water, drained and plowed, Avill become very fertile 
and productive ; indeed there is no case in which a soil 
cannot by sufficient labor and expense, be made precise¬ 
ly Avhat is desired. The native earths that go to consti¬ 
tute soils, the clay, sand, and lime, in themselves do not 
make a soil productive ; properly mixed and proportion¬ 
ed they constitute a base for the action of the vegetable 
and animal manures, and the various salts or stimula¬ 
ting agents, that excite the organs of plants to vigorous 
action, and enable them to make these secretions from 
the matter furnished them, to be appropriated to the 
growth of the plants. Man, then, has only to do Avhat 
nature in some cases has herself done ; that is, so pro¬ 
portion the several ingredients that go to make a pro¬ 
ductive soil, that the desired result shall be attained. 
Chemical analysis has here come to the aid of the agri¬ 
culturist, and shown him precisely the proportion of the 
earths, and the nature of the ingredients that are neces¬ 
sary to make a soil fertile, and the causes that tend to 
advance or retard such a consummation. Where Avater 
is too abundant,it must be removed by draining; Avhere 
the soil is too compact, it must be loosened by deep or 
subsoil ploughing; Avhere the proportion of clay is too 
great, sand must be added until it is sufficiently friable; 
if lime is absent, it must be added ; if animal or vegeta¬ 
ble matter be wanting, it must be supplied ; and if the 
soil is too light and porous, clay will be found a remedy 
most effectual. 
Whatever difference of opinion, therefore, may be en¬ 
tertained of the best methods of freeing land from stag¬ 
nant Avater, there can be no reasonable doubt of its pro¬ 
priety or necessity. To the farmer who has lands Avet, 
cold, and difficult to culthmte, avc would say, free your 
soil from all stagnant Avaters to the depth of eighteen or 
tAventy-four inches; loosen it to that depth, either at 
once or gradually, and there will be no difficulty, under 
a judicious course of cultivation, of producing on lands 
noAv of little value, all the most important products of 
agriculture. 
STATISTICS OF PAUPERISM. 
One of the greatest draAvbacks to the prosperity of Great 
Britain, the load that hangs with more than millstone 
weight on the necks of her producing classes, is her pauper 
system; originating in some of the best feelings of the 
heart, but wrongly directed, and so frightfully abused, as 
to have become an almost unmitigated curse, instead of a 
blessing to the community. The true end of all legislation 
on subsistence, as connected with poverty, should be based 
on the fact that every one able to labor, is bound by the 
original laAv of God, and of society, to support themselves, 
and that every measure that tends to infringe this rule, 
whether by encouraging idleness, or by appropriating the 
labors of the industrious, must, in the end, result in unmix¬ 
ed evil to all concerned. Ill directed aid to the poor, tends 
to encourage them in their habits of improvidence, and 
perhaps profligacy ; and depresses and discourages the ef¬ 
forts of the honest and industrious. It Avas Burke, we be¬ 
lieve, that said, “ every man was as idle or lazy as he could 
be,” or, in other Avords, that nothing but the dread of Avant 
prompted men to exertion. Now, Avithout stopping to in¬ 
quire as to the extent in which this is true, it is very evi¬ 
dent that men very readily acquire the habit of living on 
the labors of others ; that this is soon done without any ap¬ 
parent feelings of reluctance or shame ; and that nothing 
has a more direct tendency to destroy all honorable inde¬ 
pendence of feeling and conduct in the mass of a people, 
than to know the idle and improvident arc sure of support, 
without care or labor on their part. This, experience in 
England, if not in this country, has abundantly proved. 
We believe that Avith many, the influence and example 
of the foreign vagabonds who, educated and instructed as 
beggars at home, prowl around our streets, subsisting on 
charity, and imposing on the credulous, is most destructive 
and contagious. While avc Avelcome to our shores the 
poverty-depressed, but honest laborer of Europe, we cannot 
avoid deeming the multitudes of paupers and profligates 
poured in upon us, as one of the most serious evils of the 
day. They not only subsist themselves on the earnings 
of the frugal and industrious, but by their example, they 
deprave the morals, and unsettle the habits of many, that 
had before, by the fear of public opinion, or some remain¬ 
ing sense of shame, been capable, or compelled, to support 
themselves. 
Strange as it may seem to the honest, industrious labor¬ 
er, whether farmer or mechanic, that the man Avho is able 
to dig, should not be ashamed to beg ; it is certainly true, 
that the numbers of those who subsist on the public bounty 
in this country, has been rapidly increasing, and the tax 
paid by the man who works, to support the idler and the 
pauper, has increased in a corresponding ratio. Society is 
bound to take care of those unable to take care of them¬ 
selves ; those, who by an act of God have been rendered 
incapable of providing for their own wants; but neither 
justice or policy, requires any thing more than this. The 
clearest dictates of human nature, the soundest principles 
of philosophy and economy, no less than the voice of inspi¬ 
ration, proclaim that labor and bread are to go together; 
that if a man will not work, neither shall he eat. If you 
wish to make a man worthless and depraved; if you wish 
to destroy him in his own estimation and that of others; 
if you wish to root out the last spark of independence and 
manly feeling from his bosom, make him a voluntary pau¬ 
per, and teach him to accept of charity without a blush, 
and the work is done. 
We have been led to these remarks, by an examination 
of the “ Report of the Secretary of State, transmitting ab¬ 
stracts of the returns of the Superintendents of the poor in 
.the several counties of this State, for the year 1839.” It 
is an interesting document, to be read and reflected upon 
by every friend to his country. England has found her 
poor rates increased to the fearful sum of forty millions of 
dollars, annually; and although the past year shows a 
slight falling oft’ from former years, in the expenses, yet 
the rapid annual increase, shown in the tables given, proves 
that the same causes are at work here, as there ; and if not 
timely checked by an improved system of general educa¬ 
tion, and the inculcation of a spirit of self-reliance and in¬ 
dependence, will eventually produce the same bitter fruits. 
We may add that the examination of the poor-house and 
pauper returns, as well as those of the prisons of the State, 
demonstrates that nine-tenths of the pauperism, degrada¬ 
tion, and crime of the country, is owing to intemperance, 
to the unrestricted use of ardent spirits. 
We add a few of the general results, as shoAvn in the 
report. 
“The whole number of paupers relieved and supported du¬ 
ring the year ending 1st December, 1839, Avas 48,713. Of 
these, the county paupers Avere 45,899; and the town paupers, 
2,814.” 
Of these, the number supported in the city of New-York 
was 22,778. 
Of the persons Avho received relief in 1839, there were, 
Foreigners,.7,607 
Lunatics, .. 880 
Idiots,. 265 
Mutes,. 48 
The number of lunatics reported in 1839, was 586, thus 
showing an increase of nearly 300. To what shall this be 
attributed ? In France, the first year of the revolution 
nearly doubled the numbers in the insane hospitals of Pa¬ 
ris ; and cannot part of this addition here be a natural re¬ 
sult of the “ state of the times.” 
The following table, prepared from two given in the re. 
port, will show the aA r erage annual expense of supporting 
each pauper; and also the whole expense for each of the 
years named. 
1830.. 
..-.-$37 
03, 
in 44 counties, 
$216,535 
00 
1831.. 
.... 33 
28, 
“ 54 “ 
245,233 
21 
1832.. 
41, 
« 51 •> 
267,767 
80 
1833.. 
.... 32 
21, 
“ all the counties, 295,239 
13 
1834.. 
.... 30 
78,. 
21 
1835.. 
.... 32 
72,. 
12 
1836.. 
.... 32 
53,. 
05 
1837.. 
.... 37 
06,. 
71 
1838.. 
.... 34 
03,. 
83 
1839.. 
73,. 
566,484 
83 
We invite attention to the annual increase of the whole 
state expenses for supporting paupers, and ask, how long 
it would take at this rate to bring up’ our poor rates for our 
population, as high as those of Great Britain for hers ? 
We give entire the last paragraph of the report, as de¬ 
serving the attentive consideration of all. The subject 
comes home to the bosoms and business of all: 
“ The amount of taxes raised in all the counties of the state 
for the support of schools, is $275,000, and by districts volun¬ 
tarily, $5,875, making a total of $280,875, less than one-half 
the amount raised for the support of the poor. While there is 
no disposition to diminish in the least the force of that sympa¬ 
thy which would provide for the destitute and afflicted ; yet 
such a fact as the one stated, is calculated to induce a desire 
for unceasing vigilance OA-er this branch of expenditure, for 
the purpose of ensuring economy and fidelity in its adminis¬ 
tration.” 
The Subsoil Flow in the United States. 
The enterprising proprietors of one of the Boston 
agricultural implement and seed stores, Messrs. Ellis 
8c Bosson, ha\ r e, at an expense of some 70 or 80 dollars, 
introduced one of Smith’s subsoil plotvs ; and an ex¬ 
periment to lest its use in our soils, was made a few 
weeks since at Chelsea. The Avhole length of the ploty, 
including beam and handles, is 15 feet; depth from bot¬ 
tom of beam, 19 inches; so that the depth of furrow 
can be from 16 to IS inches. As it is only intended for 
loosening the soil, it has no mold board ; Avhile the small 
stones are lifted to the surface and thrown out by the 
action of the ploAv. In the spot selected for the ex¬ 
periment, the ground was not of the most favorable kind, 
being very stony; yet the ploAv Avorked well, going to 
the beam Avhere the stones permitted ; and some stones 
Aveighing several hundred pounds, that Avere completely 
buried in the earth, were raised to the surface. The 
poAver of the team AA r e have not seen stated ; but in 
England, from 4 to 8 horses are required ; the number 
depending on the nature of the soil. We hail the intro¬ 
duction of the subsoil plow, as a means of improving 
our heavy, wet soils, second only to draining, and a 
most useful auxiliary in such operations. No one who 
has paid attention to the roots of plants, doubts that 
they would run much deeper than they usually do, 
were the nature of the soil such as to admit it, and it is 
also clear that the vigor and productiveness of plants is 
in a great degree depending on the extent of their pas¬ 
turage, or soil from which their nourishment is drawn. 
We trust the effects in this case -will be such as to justi¬ 
fy their adoption in all cases Avhere the texture of the 
soil requires their use. 
