Drained land is lighter to work. It is often difficult to find a day in the year, when a wet piece of land is in suitable condition to plow. Usually, such tracts are unequal, some parts being much wetter than others, because the water settles into the low places. In such fields, we now drive our team knee deep into soft mud, and find a stream of water following us in the furrow, and now we rise upon a knoll, baked hard, and sun-cracked; and one half the surface when finished is shining with the plastered mud, ready to dry into the consistency of bricks, while the other is already in hard dry lumps, like paving stones, and about as easily pulverized.

This is hard work for the team and men, hard in the plowing, and hard through the whole rotation. The same field, well drained, is friable and porous, and uniform in texture. It may be well plowed and readily pulverized, if taken in hand at any reasonable season.

Land which has been puddled by the tread of cattle, or by wheels, acquires a peculiar consistency, and a singular capacity to hold water. Certain clays are wet and beaten up into this consistency, to form the bottoms of ponds, and to tighten dams and reservoirs. A soil thus puddled, requires careful treatment to again render it permeable to water, and fit for cultivation. This puddling process is constantly going on, under the feet of cattle, under the plow and the cart-wheels, wherever land containing clay is worked upon in a wet state. Thus, by performing a day's work on wet land, we often render necessary as much additional labor as we perform, to cure the evil we have done.

We may haul loads without injury on drained land. On many farms, it is difficult to select a season for hauling out manure, or carting stones from place to place, when great injury is not done to some part of the land by the operation. Many farmers haul out their manure in Winter, to avoid cutting up their farms; admitting that the manure is wasted somewhat by the exposure, but, on the whole, choosing this loss as the lesser evil. In spreading manure in Spring, we are often obliged to carry half loads, because the land is soft, not only to spare our beasts, but also to spare our land the injury by treading it. Drained land is comparatively solid, especially in Spring, and will bear up heavy loads with little injury.

Drained land is least injured by cattle in feeding. Whether it is good husbandry to feed our mowing fields at any time, is a question upon which farmers have a right to differ. Without discussing the question, it is enough for our purpose, that most farmers feed their fields late in the Autumn. Whether we approve it, or not, when the pastures are bare and burnt up, and the second crop in the home-field is so rich and tempting, and the women are complaining that the cows give no milk, we usually bow to the necessity of the time, and "turn in" the cows. The great injury of "Fall-feeding" is not usually so much the loss of the grass-covering from the field, as the poaching of the soil and destruction of the roots by treading. A hard upland field is much less injured by feeding, than a low meadow, and the latter less in a dry than a wet season. By drainage, the surplus water is taken from the field. None can stand upon its surface for a day after the rain ceases. The soil is compact, and the hoofs of cattle make little impression upon it, and the second or third crop may be fed off, with comparatively little damage.

Weeds are easily destroyed on drained land. If a weed be dug or pulled up from land that is wet and sticky, it is likely to strike root and grow again, because earth adheres to its roots; whereas, a stroke of the hoe entirely separates the weeds in friable soil from the earth, and they die at once. Every farmer knows the different effect of hoeing, or of cultivating with the horse-hoe or harrow, in a rain storm and in dry weather. In one case, the weeds are rather refreshed by the stirring, and, in the other, they are destroyed. The difference between the surface of drained land and water-soaked land is much the same as that between land in dry weather under good cultivation, and land just saturated by rain.

Again, there are many noxious weeds, such as wild grasses, which thrive only on wet land, and which are difficult to exterminate, and which give us no trouble after the land is lightened and sweetened by drainage. Among the effects of drainage, mainly of a chemical nature, on the soil, are the following:

Drainage promotes absorption of fertilizing substances from the air. The atmosphere bears upon its bosom, not only the oxygen essential to the vitality of plants, not only water in the form of vapor, to quench their thirst in Summer droughts, but also various substances, which rise in exhalations from the sea, from decomposing animals and vegetables, from the breathing of all living creatures, from combustion, and a thousand other causes. These would be sufficient to corrupt the very air, and render it unfit for respiration, did not Nature, with her wondrous laws of compensation, provide for its purification. It has already been stated, how the atmosphere returns to the hills, in clouds and vapor, condensed at last to rain, all the water which the rivers carry to the sea; and how the well-drained soil derives moisture, in severest time of need, from its contact with the vapor-loaded air. But the rain and dew return not their waters to the earth without treasures of fertility. Ammonia, which is one of the most valuable substances found in farm-yard manures, and which is a constant result of decomposition, is absorbed in almost incredible quantities by water. About 780 times its own bulk of ammonia is readily absorbed by water at the common temperature and pressure of the atmosphere; and, freighted thus with treasures for the fields, the moisture of the atmosphere descends upon the earth. The rain cleanses the air of its impurities, and conveys them to the plants. The vapors of the marshes, and of the exposed manure heaps of the thriftless farmer, are gently wafted to the well-drained fields of his neighbor, and there, amidst the roots of the well-tilled crops, deposit, at the same time, their moisture and fertilizing wealth.

Of the wonderful power of the soil to absorb moisture, both from the heavens above and the earth beneath—by the deposition of dew, as well as by attraction—we shall treat more fully in another chapter. It will be found to be intimately connected with the present topic.

Thorough drainage supplies air to the roots. Plants, if they do not breathe like animals, require for their life almost the same constant supply of air. "All plants," says Liebig, "die in soils and water destitute of oxygen; absence of air acts exactly in the same manner as an excess of carbonic acid. Stagnant water on a marshy soil excludes air, but a renewal of water has the same effect as a renewal of air, because water contains it in solution. When the water is withdrawn from a marsh, free access is given to the air, and the marsh is changed into a fruitful meadow." Animal and vegetable matter do not decay, or decompose, so as to furnish food for plants, unless freely supplied with oxygen, which they must obtain from air. A slight quantity of air, however, is sufficient for putrefaction, which is a powerful deoxydizing process that extracts oxygen even from the roots of plants.

We are accustomed to think of the earth as a compact body of matter, vast and inert; subject, indeed, to be upheaved and rent by volcanoes and earthquakes, but as quite insensible to slight influences which operate upon living beings and upon vegetation. This, however, is a great mistake; and it may be interesting to refer to one or two facts, which illustrate the wonderful effect of changes of the atmosphere upon the soil, and upon the subterranean currents of the earth. The following is from remarks by Mr. Denton, in a public address:

"But, as a proof of the sensibility of a soil drained four feet deep, to atmospheric changes, I may mention, that my attention has been, on more than one occasion, called to the circumstance that drains have been observed to run, after a discontinuance of that duty, without any fall of rain on the surface of the drained land; and, upon reference to the barometer, it has been found that the quicksilver has fallen whenever this has occurred. Mr. George Beaumont, jun., who first afforded tangible evidence of this extraordinary circumstance, has permitted me to read the following extracts of his letter:

"'I can verify the case of the drains running without rain, during a falling barometer, beyond all doubt.

"'The case I named to you last year of the barometer falling four days consecutively, and with rapidity, was a peculiarly favorable time for noticing it, as it occurred in a dry time, and the drains could be seen distinctly. My man, on being questioned and cautioned by me not to exaggerate, has declared the actual stream of water issuing from one particular drain to be as thick as a three-eighth-inch wire. All the drains ran—they did more than drop—and ditches, which were previously dry, became quite wet, with a perceptible stream of water; this gradually ceased with the change in the density of the atmosphere, as shown by the barometer.

"'During last harvest, 1855, the men were cutting wheat, and on getting near to a drain outlet, the ditch from the outlet downwards was observed to be wet, and the drain was dripping. No rain fell in sufficient quantity to enter the ground. The men drank of the water while they were cutting the wheat. A few days after, it was dry again. I have seen and noticed this phenomenon myself.'

"A correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette has stated, that Professor Brocklesby, of Hartford, in America, had observed the same phenomena, in the case of two springs in that country; and explained, that the cause was 'the diminished atmospheric pressure which exists before a rain.'"

Dr. Lardner states many facts which support the ideas above suggested. In his lectures on science, he says: "When storms are breaking in the heavens, and sometimes long before their commencement, and when their approach has not yet been manifested by any appearances in the firmament, phenomena are observed, apparently sympathetic, proceeding from the deep recesses of the earth, and exhibited under very various forms at its surface." Dr. Lardner cites many instances of fountains which, when a storm is approaching, burst forth with a violent flow of water, before any rain has fallen.

The cases named by Prof. Brocklesby, referred to by Mr. Denton, are those of a spring in Rutland, Vermont, and a brook in Concord, Massachusetts. Prof. Brocklesby states, as the result of his personal observation, that the spring referred to, supplies an aqueduct; that, in several instances, when the spring had become so low, in a time of drought, that no water ran in the aqueduct, it suddenly rose so as to fill the pipes, and furnish a supply of water, before any rain had fallen in the neighborhood. This occurrence, he says, was familiar to the occupants of the premises, and they expected rain in a few days after this mysterious flow of water; which expectations were usually, if not always, realized.

The other instance is that of a brook in Concord, Mass., called Dodge's brook, which Prof. B. says, he was informed, commenced frequently to rise very perceptibly before a drop of rain had fallen.

We have inquired of our friends in Concord about this matter, and find that this opinion is entertained by many of the people who live near this brook, and it is probably well founded, though we cannot ascertain that accurate observations have been made, so as to afford any definite results.

Thorough drainage warms the soil. It has been stated, on high authority, that drainage raises the temperature of the soil, often as much as 15 deg. F. Indian corn vegetates at about 55 deg.. At 45 deg., the seed would rot in the ground, without vegetating. The writer, however, has seen rye sprouted upon ice in an ice-house, with roots two inches long, so grown to the ice that they could only be separated by thawing. Winter rye, no doubt, makes considerable growth under snow. Cultivated plants, in general, however, do not grow at all, unless the soil be raised above 45 deg.. The sun has great power to warm dry soils, and, it is said, will often raise their temperature to 90 deg. or 100 deg., when the air in the shade is only 60 deg. or 70 deg.. But the sun has no such power to warm a wet soil, and for several reasons, which are as follows:

1. The soil is rendered cold by evaporation. If water cannot pass through the land by drainage, either natural or artificial, it must escape, if at all, at the surface, by evaporation. Now, it is a fact well known, that the heat disappears, or becomes latent, by the conversion of water into vapor. Every child knows this, practically, at least, who, in Winter, has washed his hands and gone out without drying them. The same evaporation which thus affects the hands, renders the land cold, when filled with water, every gallon of which thus carried off requires, and actually carries off, as much heat as would raise five and a half gallons of water from the freezing to the boiling point.

Morton, in his "Encyclopaedia of Agriculture," estimates that it would require an expenditure of nearly 1,200 pounds of coal per day, to evaporate artificially one half the rain which falls on an acre during the year. In other words, about 219 tons of coals annually, would be required for every acre of undrained land, so as to allow the free use of the sun's rays for the legitimate purpose of growing and maturing the crops cultivated upon it. It will not then be surprising that undrained soils are, in the language of the farmer, "cold."

2. Heat will not pass downward in water. If, therefore, your soil be saturated with water, the heat of the sun, in Spring, cannot warm it, and your plowing and planting must be late, and your crop a failure. Count Rumford tried many experiments to illustrate the mode of the propagation of heat in fluids, and his conclusion, it is presumed, is now held to be the true theory, that heat is transmitted in water only by the motion of the particles of water; so that, if you could stop the heated particles from rising, water could not be warmed except where it touches the vessel containing it. Heat applied to the bottom of a vessel of water warms the particles in contact with the vessel, and colder particles descend, and so the whole is warmed.

Heat, applied to the surface of the water, can never warm it, except so far as it is conducted downward by some other medium than the water itself. Count Rumford confined cakes of ice in the bottom of glass jars, and, covering it with one thickness of paper, poured boiling-hot water on the top of it, and there it remained for hours without melting the ice. The paper was placed over the ice, so that the hot water could not be poured on it, which would have thawed it at once. Every man who has poured hot water into a frozen pump, hoping to thaw out the ice by this means, has arrived at the fact, if not at the theory, that ice will not melt by hot water on the top of it. If, however, a piece of lead pipe be placed in the pump, resting on the ice, and hot water be poured through it, the ice will melt at once. In the first instance, the hot water in contact with the ice becomes cold; and there it remains, because cold water is heavier than warm, and there it will remain, though the top be boiling. But when hot water is poured through the pipe, the downward current drives away the cold water, and brings heated particles in succession to the ice.

Heat is propagated in water, then, only by circulation; that is, by the upward movement of the heated particles, and the downward movement of the colder ones to take their place. Anything which obstructs circulation, prevents the passage of heat. Chocolate retains heat longer than tea, because it is thicker, and the hot particles cannot so readily rise to be cooled at the surface. Count Rumford illustrated this fact satisfactorily, by putting eider-down into water, which was found to obstruct the circulation, and to prevent the rapid heating and cooling of it. The same is true of all viscous substances, as starch and glue; and so of oil. They retain heat much longer than water or spirits.

In a soil saturated with water, or even in water thickened with mud, there could then be but little circulation of the particles, even were the heat applied at the bottom instead of the top. Probably the soil, though saturated with water, does, to some extent, transmit heat from one particle of earth to another, but it must be but very slowly.

In the chapter upon Temperature as affected by Drainage, farther illustrations of this point may be found.

AERATION BY DRAINS.

Among the advantages of thorough-drainage, is reckoned by all, the circulation of air through the soil. No drop of water can run from the soil into a drain without its place being supplied by air, unless there is more water to supply it; so that drainage, in this way, manifestly promotes the permeation of air through the soil.

But it is claimed that drains may be made to promote circulation of air in another way, and in dry times, when no water is flowing through them, by connecting them together by means of a header at the upper ends, and leaving an opening so that the air may pass freely through the whole system. Our friend, Prof. Mapes, is an advocate for this practice, and certainly the theory seems well supported. It is said that in dry, hot weather, when the air is most highly charged with moisture, currents thus passing constantly through the earth, must, by contact with the cooler subsoil, part with large quantities of moisture, and tend to moisten the soil from the drains to the surface, giving off also with the moisture whatever of fertilizing elements the air may bear with it.

This point has not escaped the notice of English drainers. Mr. J. H. Charnock, an assistant commissioner under the Drainage act, in 1843, read a paper in favor of this practice, but in 1849 he published a second article in which he suggests doubts of the advantages of such arrangements, and says he has discontinued their application. He says they add to the cost of the work, and tend to the decay of the pipes, and to promote the growth into the pipes, of any roots that may approach them.

Mr. Parkes, in a published article in 1846, speaks of this idea, but passes it by as of very little importance. Mr. Denton quotes the authority of some of his correspondents strongly in favor of this theory. After trying some experiments himself upon clay soil, he admits the advantages of such an arrangement for such soil, in the following not very enthusiastic terms:

"It will be readily understood that as clay will always contract rapidly under the influence of a draught of air, in consequence of the rapid evaporation of moisture from its surface, one of the benefits of draining is thus very cheaply acquired; and for the denser clays it may possibly be a desirable thing to do, but in the porous soils it would appear that no advantage is gained by it."

Yet, notwithstanding this summary disposition of the question in England, it is by no means clear, that in the tropical heat of American summers, when the difference between the temperature of the air and the subsoil is so much greater than it can ever be in England, and when we suffer from severer droughts than are common there, we may not find substantial practical advantage from the passage of these air currents through the soil.

We are not aware of experiments in America, accurate enough to be quoted as authority on the subject.



CHAPTER XIV.

DRAINAGE ADAPTS THE SOIL TO GERMINATION AND VEGETATION.

Process of Germination.—Two Classes of Pores in Soils, illustrated by Cuts.—Too much Water excludes Air, reduces Temperature.—How much Air the Soil Contains.—Drainage Improves the Quality of Crops.—Drainage prevents Drought.—Drained Soils hold most Water.—Allow Roots to go Deep.—Various Facts.

No apology will be necessary for the long extract which we are about to give, to any person who will read it with attention. It is from a lecture on Agricultural Science, by Dr. Madden, and we confess ourselves incompetent to condense or improve the language of the learned author.

We think we are safe in saying that it has never been before published in America:

"The first thing which occurs after the sowing of the seed is, of course, germination; and before we examine how this process may be influenced by the condition of the soil, we must necessarily obtain some correct idea of the process itself. The most careful examination has proved that the process of germination consists essentially of various chemical changes, which require for their development the presence of air, moisture, and a certain degree of warmth. Now it is obviously unnecessary for our present purpose that we should have the least idea of the nature of these processes: all we require to do, is to ascertain the conditions under which they take place; having detected these, we know at once what is required to make a seed grow. These, we have seen, are air, moisture, and a certain degree of warmth; and it consequently results, that wherever a seed is placed in these circumstances, germination will take place. Viewing matters in this light, it appears that soil does not act chemically in the process of germination; that its sole action is confined to its being the vehicle, by means of which a supply of air and moisture and warmth can be continually kept up. With this simple statement in view, we are quite prepared to consider the various conditions of soil, for the purpose of determining how far these will influence the future prospects of the crop, and we shall accordingly at once proceed to examine carefully into the mechanical relations of the soil. This we propose doing by the aid of figures. Soil examined mechanically, is found to consist entirely of particles of all shapes and sizes, from stones and pebbles, down to the finest powder; and, on account of their extreme irregularity of shape, they cannot lie so close to one another as to prevent there being passages between them, owing to which circumstance soil in the mass is always more or less porous. If, however, we proceed to examine one of the smallest particles of which soil is made up, we shall find that even this is not always solid, but is much more frequently porous, like soil in the mass. A considerable proportion of this finely-divided part of soil, the impalpable matter as it is generally called, is found, by the aid of the microscope, to consist of broken-down vegetable tissue, so that when a small portion of the finest dust from a garden or field is placed under the microscope, we have exhibited to us particles of every variety of shape and structure, of which a certain part is evidently of vegetable origin. In these figures I have given a very rude representation of these particles; and I must beg you particularly to remember that they are not meant to represent by any means accurately what the microscope exhibits, but are only designed to serve as a plan by which to illustrate the mechanical properties of the soil. On referring to Fig. 91, we perceive that there are two distinct classes of pores; first, the large ones, which exist between the particles of soil, and second, the very minute ones, which occur in the particles themselves; and you will at the same time notice, that whereas all the larger pores—those between the particles of soil—communicate most freely with each other, so that they form canals, the small pores, however freely they may communicate with one another in the interior of the particle in which they occur, have no direct connection with the pores of the surrounding particles. Let us now, therefore, trace the effect of this arrangement. In Fig. 91, we perceive that these canals and pores are all empty, the soil being perfectly dry; and the canals communicating freely at the surface with the surrounding atmosphere, the whole will of course be filled with air. If in this condition, a seed be placed in the soil, as at a, you at once perceive that it is freely supplied with air, but there is no moisture; therefore, when soil is perfectly dry, a seed cannot grow.





"Let us turn our attention now to Fig. 92. Here we perceive that both the pores and canals are no longer represented white, but black, this color being used to indicate water; in this instance, therefore, water has taken the place of air, or, in other words, the soil is very wet. If we observe our seed a now, we find it abundantly supplied with water, but no air. Here again, therefore, germination cannot take place. It may be well to state here, that this can never occur exactly in nature, because water having the power of dissolving air to a certain extent, the seed a in Fig. 92 is, in fact, supplied with a certain amount of this necessary substance; and, owing to this, germination does take place, although by no means under such advantageous circumstances as it would were the soil in a better condition.





"We pass on now to Fig. 93. Here we find a different state of matters. The canals are open and freely supplied with air, while the pores are filled with water; and consequently you perceive that, while the seed a has quite enough of air from the canals, it can never be without moisture, as every particle of soil which touches it, is well supplied with this necessary ingredient. This, then, is the proper condition of soil for germination, and in fact for every period of the plant's development; and this condition occurs when soil is moist but not wet—that is to say, when it has the color and appearance of being well watered, but when it is still capable of being crumbled to pieces by the hands, without any of its particles adhering together in the familiar form of mud.

"Turning our eyes to Fig. 94, we observe still another condition of soil. In this instance, as far as water is concerned, the soil is in its healthy condition—it is moist, but not wet, the pores alone being filled with water. But where are the canals? We see them in a few places, but in by far the greater part of the soil none are to be perceived; this is owing to the particles of soil having adhered together, and thus so far obliterated the interstitial canals, that they appear only like pores. This is the state of matters in every clod of earth, b; and you will at once perceive, on comparing it with c, which represents a stone, that these two differ only in possessing a few pores, which latter, while they may form a reservoir for moisture, can never act as vehicles for the food of plants, as the roots are not capable of extending their fibres into the interior of a clod, but are at all times confined to the interstitial canals.

"With these four conditions before us, let us endeavor to apply them practically to ascertain when they occur in our fields, and how those which are injurious may be obviated.

"The first of them, we perceive, is a state of too great dryness, a very rare condition, in this climate at least; in fact, the only case in which it is likely to occur is in very coarse sands, where the soil, being chiefly made up of pure sand and particles of flinty matter, contains comparatively much fewer pores; and, from the large size of the individual particles, assisted by their irregularity, the canals are wider, the circulation of air freer, and, consequently, the whole is much more easily dried. When this state of matters exists, the best treatment is to leave all the stones which occur on the surface of the field, as they cast shades, and thereby prevent or retard the evaporation of water.

"We will not, however, make any further observations on this very rare case, but will rather proceed to Fig. 92, a much more frequent, and, in every respect, more important condition of soil: I refer to an excess of water.

"When water is added to perfectly dry soil, it, of course, in the first instance, fills the interstitial canals, and from these enters the pores of each particle; and if the supply of water be not too great, the canals speedily become empty, so that the whole of the fluid is taken up by the pores: this, we have already seen, is the healthy condition of the soil. If, however, the supply of water be too great, as is the case when a spring gains admission into the soil, or when the sinking of the fluid through the canals to a sufficient depth below the surface is prevented, it is clear that these also must get filled with water so soon as the pores have become saturated. This, then, is the condition of undrained soil.

"Not only are the pores filled, but the interstitial canals are likewise full; and the consequence is, that the whole process of the germination and growth of vegetables is materially interfered with. We shall here, therefore briefly state the injurious effects of an excess of water, for the purpose of impressing more strongly on your minds the necessity of thorough-draining, as the first and most essential step towards the improvement of your soil.

"The first great effect of an excess of water is, that it produces a corresponding diminution of the amount of air beneath the surface, which air is of the greatest possible consequence in the nutrition of plants; in fact, if entirely excluded, germination could not take place, and the seed sown would, of course, either decay or lie dormant.

"Secondly, an excess of water is most hurtful, by reducing considerably the temperature of the soil: this I find, by careful experiment, to be to the extent of six and a-half degrees Fahrenheit in Summer, which amount is equivalent to an elevation above the level of the sea of 1,950 feet.

"These are the two chief injuries of an excess of water in soil which affect the soil itself. There are very many others affecting the climate, &c.; but these not so connected with the subject in hand as to call for an explanation here.

"Of course, all these injurious effects are at once overcome by thorough-draining, the result of which is, to establish a direct communication between the interstitial canals and the drains, by which means it follows, that no water can remain any length of time in these canals without, by its gravitation, finding its way into the drains.

"The 4th Fig. indicates badly-cultivated soil, or soil in which large unbroken clods exist; which clods, as we have already seen, are very little better than stones, on account of their impermeability to air and the roots of plants.

"Too much cannot be said in favor of pulverizing the soil; even thorough-draining itself will not supersede the necessity of performing this most necessary operation. The whole valuable effects of plowing, harrowing, grubbing, &c., may be reduced to this: and almost the whole superiority of garden over field produce is referable to the greater perfection to which this pulverizing of the soil can be carried.

"The whole success of the drill husbandry is owing, in a great measure, to its enabling you to stir up the soil well during the progress of your crop; which stirring up is of no value beyond its effects in more minutely pulverizing the soil, increasing, as far as possible, the size and number of the interstitial canals.

"Lest any one should suppose that the contents of these interstitial canals must be so minute that their whole amount can be of but little consequence, I may here notice the fact, that, in moderately well pulverized soil, they amount to no less than one-fourth of the whole bulk of the soil itself; for example, 100 cubic inches of moist soil (that is, of soil in which the pores are filled with water while the canals are filled with air), contain no less than 25 cubic inches of air. According to this calculation, in a field pulverized to the depth of eight inches, a depth perfectly attainable on most soils by careful tillage, every imperial acre will retain beneath its surface no less than 12,545,280 cubic inches of air. And, to take one more element into the calculation, supposing the soil were not properly drained, the sufficient pulverizing of an additional inch in depth would increase the escape of water from the surface by upwards of one hundred gallons a day."

Drainage improves the quality of crops. In a dry season, we frequently hear the farmer boast of the quality of his products. His hay-crop, he says, is light, but will "spend" much better than the crop of a wet season; his potatoes are not large, but they are sound and mealy. Indeed, this topic need not be enlarged upon. Every farmer knows that his wheat and corn are heavier and more sound when grown upon land sufficiently drained.

Drainage prevents drought. This proposition is somewhat startling at first view. How can draining land make it more moist? One would as soon think of watering land to make it dry. A drought is the enemy we all dread. Professor Espy has a plan for producing rain, by lighting extensive artificial fires. A great objection to his theory is, that he cannot limit his showers to his own land, and all the public would never be ready for a shower on the same day. If we can really protect our land from drought, by under-draining it, everybody may at once engage in the work without offence to his neighbor.

If we take up a handfull of rich soil of almost any kind, after a heavy rain, we can squeeze it hard enough with the hand to press out drops of water. If we should take of the same soil a large quantity, after it was so dry that not a drop of water could be pressed out by hand, and subject it to the pressure of machinery, we should force from it more water. Any boy, who has watched the process of making cider with the old-fashioned press, has seen the pomace, after it had been once pressed apparently dry and cut down, and the screw applied anew to the "cheese," give out quantities of juice. These facts illustrate, first, how much water may be held in the soil by attraction. They show, again, that more water is held by a pulverized and open soil, than by a compact and close one. Water is held in the soil between the minute particles of earth. If these particles be pressed together compactly, there is no space left between them for water. The same is true of soil naturally compact. This compactness exists more or less in most subsoils, certainly in all through which water does not readily pass. Hence, all these subsoils are rendered more permeable to water by being broken up and divided; and more retentive by having the particles of which they are composed separated, one from another—in a word, by pulverization. This increased capacity to contain moisture by attraction, is the greatest security against drought. The plants, in a dry time send their rootlets throughout the soil, and flourish in the moisture thus stored up for their time of need. The pulverization of drained land may be produced, partly by deep, or subsoil plowing, which is always necessary to perfect the object of thorough-draining; but it is much aided, in stiff clays, also, by the shrinkage of the soil by drying.

Drainage resists drought, again, by the very deepening of the soil of which we have already spoken. The roots of plants, we have seen, will not extend into stagnant water. If, then, as is frequently the case, even on sandy plains, the water-line be, in early Spring, very near the surface, the seed may be planted, may vegetate, and throw up a goodly show of leaves and stalks, which may flourish as long as the early rains continue; but, suddenly, the rains cease; the sun comes out in his June brightness; the water-line lowers at once in the soil; the roots have no depth to draw moisture from below, and the whole field of clover, or of corn, in a single week, is past recovery. Now, if this light, sandy soil be drained, so that, at the first start of the crop, there is a deep seed-bed free from water, the roots strike downward, at once, and thus prepare for a drought. The writer has seen upon deep-trenched land in his own garden, parsnips, which, before midsummer, had extended downward three feet, before they were as large as a common whiplash; and yet, through the Summer drought, continued to thrive till they attained in Autumn a length, including tops, of about seven feet, and an extraordinary size. A moment's reflection will satisfy any one that, the dryer the soil in Spring, the deeper will the roots strike, and the better able will be the plant to endure the Summer's drought.

Again, drainage and consequent pulverization and deepening of the soils increase their capacity to absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and thus afford protection against drought. Watery vapor is constantly, in all dry weather, rising from the surface of the earth; and plants, in the day-time, are also, from their leaves and bark, giving off moisture which they draw from the soil. But Nature has provided a wonderful law of compensation for this waste, which would, without such provision, parch the earth to barrenness in a single rainless month.

The capacity of the atmosphere to take up and convey water, furnishes one of the grandest illustrations of the perfect work of the Author of the Universe. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full;" and the sea is not full, because the numerous great rivers and their millions of tributaries, ever flowing from age to age, convey to the ocean only as much water as the atmosphere carries back in vapor, and discharges upon the hills. The warmer the atmosphere, the greater its capacity to hold moisture. The heated, thirsty air of the tropics drinks up the water of the ocean, and bears it away to the colder regions, where, through condensation by cold, it becomes visible as a cloud; and as a huge sponge pressed by an invisible hand, the cloud, condensed still further by cold, sends down its water to the earth in rain.

The heated air over our fields and streams, in Summer, is loaded with moisture as the sun declines. The earth has been cooled by radiation of its heat, and by constant evaporation through the day. By contact with the cooler soil, the air, borne by its thousand currents gently along its surface, is condensed, and yields its moisture to the thirsty earth again, in the form of dew.

At a Legislative Agricultural Meeting, held in Albany, New York, January 25th, 1855, "the great drought of 1854" being the subject, the secretary stated that "the experience of the past season has abundantly proved that thorough-drainage upon soils requiring it, has proved a very great relief to the farmer;" that "the crops upon such lands have been far better, generally, than those upon undrained lands, in the same locality;" and that, "in many instances, the increased crop has been sufficient to defray the expenses of the improvement in a single year."

Mr. Joseph Harris, at the same meeting, said: "An underdrained soil will be found damper in dry weather, than an undrained one, and the thermometer shows a drained soil warmer in cold weather, and cooler in hot weather, than one which is undrained."

The secretary of the New York State Agricultural Society, in his Report for 1855, says: "The testimony of farmers, in different sections of the State, is almost unanimous, that drained lands have suffered far less from drought than undrained." Alleghany county reports that "drained lands have been less affected by the drought than undrained;" Chatauque county, that "the drained lands have stood the drought better than the undrained." The report from Clinton county says: "Drained lands have been less affected by the drought than undrained." Montgomery county reports: "We find that drained lands have a better crop in either wet or dry seasons than undrained."

B. F. Nourse, of Orrington, Maine, states that, on his drained land, in that State, "during the drought of 1854, there was at all times sufficient dampness apparent on scraping the surface of the ground with his foot in passing, and a crop of beans was planted, grown and gathered therefrom, without as much rain as will usually fall in a shower of fifteen minutes' duration, while vegetation on the next field was parching for lack of moisture."

A committee of the New York Farmers' Club, which visited the farm of Prof. Mapes, in New Jersey, in the time of a severe drought, in 1855, reported that the Professor's fences were the boundaries of the drought, all the lands outside being affected by it, while his remained free from injury. This was attributed, both by the committee and by Prof. Mapes himself, to thorough-drainage and deep tillage with the subsoil plow.

Mr. Shedd, in the N. E. Farmer, says:

"A simple illustration will show the effect which stagnant water, within a foot or two of the surface, has on the roots of plants.

"Perhaps it will aid the reader, who doubts the benefit of thorough-draining in case of drought, to see why it is beneficial.





"In the first figure, 1 represents the surface soil, through which evaporation takes place, using up the heat which might otherwise go to the roots of plants; 2, represents the water table, or surface of stagnant water below which roots seldom go; 3, water of evaporation; 4, water of capillary attraction; 5, water of drainage, or stagnant water.

"In the second figure, 1 represents the surface-soil warmed by the sun and Summer rains; 2, the water-table nearly four feet below the surface—roots of the wheat plant have been traced to a depth of more than four feet in a free mold; 3, water of capillary attraction; 4, water of drainage, or stagnant water."



CHAPTER XV.

TEMPERATURE AS AFFECTED BY DRAINAGE.

Drainage Warms the Soil in Spring.—Heat cannot go down in Wet Land.—Drainage causes greater Deposit of Dew in Summer.—Dew warms Plants in Night, Cools them in the Morning Sun.—Drainage varies Temperature by Lessening Evaporation.—What is Evaporation.—How it produces Cold.—Drained Land Freezes Deepest, but Thaws Soonest, and the Reasons.

Drainage raises the temperature of the soil, by allowing the rain to pass downwards. In the growing season, especially in the Spring, the rain is considerably warmer than the soil. If the soil be saturated with the cold snow-water, the water which falls must, of course, run away upon the surface. If the soil be drained, the rain-water finds ready admission into it, carrying and imparting to it a portion of its heat. The experiments of Count Rumford, showing that heat is not propagated downward in fluids, may be found at page 273. This is a principle too important to be overlooked, especially in New England, where we need every aid from Nature and Art, to contend successfully against the brevity of the planting season. Soil saturated with cold water, cannot be warmed by any amount of heat applied to the surface. Warm water is lighter than cold water, and stays at the surface. In boiling water in a kettle, we apply fire at the bottom, and no amount of heat at the surface of the vessel would produce the desired effect. So rapid is the passage of heat upward in water, that the hand may without injury be held upon the bottom of a kettle of boiling water one minute after it has been removed from the fire.

The following experiments and illustrations, from the Horticulturist of Nov. 1856, beautifully illustrate this point:

"RATIONALE OF DRAINING LAND EXPLAINED.

"The reason why drained land gains heat, and water-logged land is always cold, consists in the well-known fact that heat cannot be transmitted downwards through water. This may readily be seen by the following experiments:



"Experiment No. 1.—A square box was made, of the form represented by the annexed diagram, eighteen inches deep, eleven inches wide at top, and six inches wide at bottom. It was filled with peat, saturated with water to c, forming to that depth (twelve and a half inches) a sort of artificial bog. The box was then filled with water to d. A thermometer a, was plunged, so that its bulb was within one inch and a half of the bottom. The temperature of the whole mass of peat and water was found to be 39-1/2 deg. Fahr. A gallon of boiling water was then added; it raised the surface of the water to e. In five minutes, the thermometer, a, rose to 44 deg., owing to the conduction of heat by the thermometer and its guard tube; at ten minutes from the introduction of the hot water, the thermometer, a, rose to 46 deg., and it subsequently rose no higher. Another thermometer, b, dipping under the surface of the water at e, was then introduced, and the following are the indications of the two thermometers at the respective intervals, reckoning from the time the hot water was supplied:

Thermometer b. Thermometer a. 20 minutes 150 deg. 46 deg. 1 hour 30 " 101 deg. 45 deg. 2 hours 30 " 80-1/2 deg. 42 deg. 12 " 40 " 45 deg. 40 deg.

"The mean temperature of the external air to which the box was exposed during the above period, was 42 deg., the maximum being 47 deg., and the minimum 37 deg..

"Experiment No. 2.—With the same arrangement as in the preceding case, a gallon of boiling water was introduced above the peat and water, when the thermometer a, was at 36 deg.; in ten minutes it rose to 40 deg.. The cock was then turned for the purpose of drainage, which was but slowly effected; and, at the end of twenty minutes, the thermometer a, indicated 40 deg.; at twenty-five minutes, 42 deg., whilst the thermometer b, was 142 deg.. At thirty minutes, the cock was withdrawn from the box, and more free egress of water being thus afforded, at thirty-five minutes the flow was no longer continuous, and the thermometer b, indicated 48 deg.. The mass was drained, and permeable to a fresh supply of water. Accordingly, another gallon of boiling water was poured over it; and, in

3 minutes, the thermometer a, rose to 77 deg.. 5 " " fell to 76-1/2 deg.. 15 " " " 70-1/2 deg.. 20 " " remained at 71 deg.. 1 hour 50 " " " " 70-1/2 deg..

"In these two experiments, the thermometer at the bottom of the box suddenly rose a few degrees immediately after the hot water was added; and it might be inferred that the heat was carried downwards by the water. But, in reality, the rise was owing to the action of the hot water on the thermometer, and not to its action upon the cold water. To prove this, the perpendicular thermometers were removed. The box was filled with peat and water to within three inches of the top, a horizontal thermometer, a f, having been previously secured through a hole made in the side of the box, by means of a tight-fitting cork, in which the naked stem of the thermometer was grooved. A gallon of boiling water was then added. The thermometer, a very delicate one, was not in the least affected by the boiling water in the top of the box.

"In this experiment, the wooden box may be supposed to be a field; the peat and cold water represent the water-logged portion; rain falls on the surface, and becomes warmed by contact with the soil, and, thus heated, descends. But it is stopped by the cold water, and the heat will go no further. But, if the soil is drained, and not water-logged, the warm rain trickles through the crevices of the earth, carrying to the drain-level the high temperature it had gained on the surface, parts with it to the soil as it passes down, and thus produces that bottom heat which is so essential to plants, although so few suspect its existence."

Water, although it will not conduct heat downwards, is a ready vehicle of cold from the surface towards the bottom. Water becomes heavier by cooling till it is reduced to about 39 deg., at which point it attains its greatest density, and has a tendency to go to the bottom until the whole mass is reduced to this low temperature. Thus, the circulation of water in the saturated soil, in some conditions of the temperature of the surface and subsoil, may have a chilling effect which could not be produced on drained soil.

After water is reduced to about 39 deg., instead of obeying the common law of becoming heavier by cooling, it forms a remarkable exception to it, and becomes lighter until it freezes. Were it not for this admirable provision of Nature, all our ponds and rivers would, in the Winter, become solid ice from the surface to the bottom. Now as the surface water is chilled it goes to the bottom, and is replaced by warmer water, which rises, until the whole is reduced to the point of greatest density. Then the circulation ceases, and the water colder than 39 deg. remains at the surface, is converted into ice which becomes still lighter, by crystallization, and floats upon the surface.

No experiments, showing the temperature of undrained soils at various depths, in the United States, have come to our knowledge. Mr. Gisborne says: "Many experiments have shown that, in retentive soils, the temperature, at two or three feet below the surface of the water-table, is, at no period of the year, higher than from 46 deg. to 48 deg. in agricultural Britain." Prof. Henry states in the Patent Office Report for 1857, that in the cellars of the observatory, at Paris, at the depth of sixty-seven and a half feet, in fifty years, the temperature has never varied a tenth of a degree from 53 deg. 28', in all that period, Summer or Winter.

Mr. Parkes gives the results of a valuable series of experiments, in which he compared the temperature of drained and undrained portions of a bog. He found the temperature of the undrained portion to remain steadily at 46 deg., at all depths, from one to thirty feet; and at seven inches from the surface, the temperature remained at 47 deg. during the experiments. During the same period, the temperature of the drained portion was 48-1/4 deg. at two feet seven inches below the surface, and at seven inches, reached as high as 66 deg. during a thunder-storm; while, on a mean of thirty-five observations, the temperature at the latter depth was 10 deg. higher than at the same depth in the undrained portion of the bog.

We find in the "Agriculture of New York," the results of observations made at Albany and at Scott, in that State, in the year 1848, upon temperature at different depths. The condition of the soil is not described, but it is presumed that it was soil naturally drained in both cases. A few of the results may give the reader some idea of the range of underground temperature, as compared with that of the air.

Temperature at Albany at two feet depth. " " " highest August 17 and 18, 70 deg. " " " lowest February 28, 32-3/4 deg. —— " " " Range, 37-1/4 deg. —— " " " at four feet depth. " " " highest July 29, 64-1/2 deg. " " " lowest February 25, 35-1/2 deg. —— " " " Range, 29 deg. —— " " " of the air, February 12, -3 deg. " " " " " August, 3, P. M., 90 deg. —— " " " Range, 93 deg.

Temperature at Scott at two feet depth. " " " highest, August 17 and 18, 64 deg. " " " at four ft. depth, 17 days in Aug. 60 deg. " " " of the air, at 3, P. M., highest 90 deg.

The temperature of falling rain, however, in the hot season, is many degrees cooler than the lower stratum of the atmosphere, and the surface of the earth upon which it falls. The effects of rain on drained soil, in the heat of Summer, are, then, two-fold; to cool the burning surface, which is, as we have seen, much warmer than the rain, and, at the same time, to warm the subsoil which is cooler than the rain itself, as it falls, and very much cooler than the rain-water, as it is warmed by its passage through the hot surface soil. These are beautiful provisions of Nature, by which the excesses of heat and cold are mitigated, and the temperature of the soil rendered more uniform, upon land adapted, by drainage, to her genial influences.

Upon the saturated and water-logged bog, as we have seen, the effect of the greatest heat is insufficient to raise the temperature of the subsoil a single degree, while the surface may be burned up and "shrivelled like a parched scroll."

Drainage also raises the temperature of the soil by the admission of warm air. This proposition is closely connected with that just discussed. When the air is warmer than the soil, as it always is in the Spring-time, the water from the melting snow, or from rain, upon drained land, passes downward, and runs off by its gravitation. As "Nature abhors a vacuum," the little spaces in the soil, from which the water passes, must be filled with air, and this air can only be supplied from the surface, and, being warmer than the ground, tends to raise its temperature. No such effect can be produced in land not drained, because no water runs out of it, and there are, consequently, no such spaces opened for the warm air to enter.

Drainage equalizes the temperature of the soil in Summer by increasing the deposit of dew. Of this we shall speak further, in a future chapter.

Drainage raises the temperature in Spring by diminishing evaporation. Evaporation may be defined to be the conversion of liquid and solid bodies into elastic fluids, by the influence of caloric.

By heating water over a fire, bubbles rise from the bottom of the vessel, adhere awhile to the sides of it, and then ascend to the surface, and burst and go off in visible vapor, or, in other words, by evaporation. Water is evaporated by the heat of the sun merely, and even without this heat, in the open air. It is evaporated at very low temperatures, when fully exposed to the air. Even ice evaporates in the open air. We often observe in Winter, that a thin covering of ice or snow disappears from our roads, although there has been no thawing weather.

In another chapter, we have considered the subject of "Evaporation and Filtration," and endeavored to give some general idea of the proportion of the rain which escapes by evaporation. We have seen, that evaporation proceeds much more rapidly from a surface of water, as a pond or river, than from a land surface, unless it be fully saturated, and that evaporation from the water exceeds the whole amount of rain, about as much as evaporation from the land falls short of the amount of rain. Thus, by this simple agency of evaporation, the vast quantities of water that are constantly flowing, in all the rivers of the earth, into the sea, are brought back again to the land, and so the great system of circulation is maintained throughout the ages.

As evaporation is greatest from a water-surface, so it is greater, other things being equal, according to the wetness of the surface of any given field. If the field be covered with water, it becomes a water-surface for the time, and the evaporation is like that from a pond. If, as is often the case, the water stands on it in spots, over half its surface, and the rest is saturated, the evaporation is scarcely less, and has been said to be even more; while, if the surface be comparatively dry, the evaporation is very little.

But what harm does evaporation do? and what has all this scientific talk to do with drainage? These, my friend, are very practical questions, and just the ones which it is proposed to answer; but we must bear in mind that, as Nature conducts her grand affairs by systematic laws, the small portion of her domain which for a brief space of time we occupy, is not exempted from their operation. Some of these laws we may comprehend, and turn our knowledge of them to practical account. Of others, we may note the results, without apprehending the reasons of them; for it is true—

"There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Discussions of this kind may seem dry, though the subject itself be moisture. They belong, certainly, to the topic under consideration.

Evaporation does harm in the Spring-time, because it produces cold, just when we most want heat. How it produces cold, is not so readily explained. The fact may be made as evident as the existence of sin in the world, and, possibly, the reason of it may be as unsatisfactory.

The books say, that heat always disappears when a solid body becomes a liquid; and so it is, that the air always remains cool while the snow and ice are melting in Spring. Again, it is said that heat always disappears, when a fluid becomes vapor. These are said to be laws or principles of nature, and are said to explain other phenomena. To a practical mind, it is perhaps just as satisfactory to say that evaporation produces cold, as to state the principle or law in the language of science.

That the fact is so, may be proved by many illustrations. Stockhardt gives the following experiment, which is strikingly appropriate:

"Fill a tube half full of water, and fasten securely round the bulb of it, a piece of cloth. Saturate the cloth with cold water, and then twirl the tube rapidly between the hands; presently the water in the tube will become sensibly colder, and the degree of cold may be accurately determined by the thermometer. Moisten the cloth with ether, a very volatile liquid, and twirl it again in the same manner as before; by which means, its contents, even in Summer, may be converted into ice."

It is very fortunate for us, that our Spring showers are not of ether; for then, instead of thawing, our land would freeze the harder! The heat of the blood is about 98 deg.; yet man can endure a heat of many degrees more, and even labor under a Summer sun, which would raise the thermometer to 130 deg., without the temperature of his blood being materially affected, and it is because of perspiration, which absorbs the surplus heat, or, in other words, creates cold. It is said, too, that on the same principle, if two saucers, one filled with water warm enough to give off visible vapor, the other filled with water just from the well, are exposed in a sharp frosty morning, that filled with the warm water will exhibit ice soonest. Wine is cooled by evaporation, by wrapping the bottle in wet flannel, and exposing it to the air.

If, after all this, any one doubts the fact that evaporation tends to produce cold, let him countenance his skepticism, by wetting his face with warm water, and going into the air in a Winter's day, and his faith will be greatly strengthened.

We have, in the northern part of America, most water in the soil in the Spring of the year, just at the time when we most need a genial warmth to promote germination. If land is well drained, this water sinks downward, and runs away in the drains, instead of passing upward by evaporation.

Drainage, therefore, diminishes evaporation simply by removing the surplus snow and rain-water by filtration. It thus raises the temperature of the soil in that part of the season, when water is flowing from the drains; but, in the heat of Summer, the influence of the showers which refresh without saturating the soil, and are retained in it by attraction, is not lessened. As a good soil retains by attraction about one-half its weight of water that cannot be drained out, there can be no reasonable apprehension that the "gentle Summer showers" will be wasted by filtration, even upon thorough-drained land, while an avenue is open, by the drains, for the escape of drowning floods.

To show the general effect of drainage, in raising the temperature of wet lands in Summer, the following statement of Mr. Parkes is valuable. An elevation of the temperature of the subsoil ten degrees, will be seen to be very material, when we consider that Indian corn will not vegetate at all at 53 deg., but will start at once at 63 deg., 55 deg. being its lowest point of germination:

"As regards the temperature of the water derived from drainage at different seasons of the year, I am unacquainted with any published facts. This is a subject of the highest import, as thermometric observations may be rendered demonstrative, in the truest manner, of the effect of drainage on the climate of the soil. At present, I must limit myself to saying, that I have never known the water of drainage issue from land drained at Midsummer, to depths of four and five feet, at a higher temperature than 52 deg. or 53 deg. Fahrenheit: whereas, in the following year and subsequent years, the water discharged from the same drains, at the same period, will issue at a temperature of 60 deg., and even so high as 63 deg., thus exhibiting the increase of heat conferred during the Summer months on the terrestrial climate by drainage. This is the all-important fact connected with the art and science of land-drainage."

Besides affecting favorably the temperature of the particular field which is drained, the general effect of the drainage of wet lands upon the climate of the neighborhood has often been noticed. In the paper already cited, emanating from the Board of Health, we find the following remarks, which are in accordance with all observation in districts where under-drainage has been generally practiced:

"Every one must have remarked, on passing from a district with a retentive soil to one of an open porous nature—respectively characterized as cold and warm soils—that, often, whilst the air on the retentive soil is cold and raw, that on the drier soil is comparatively warm and genial. The same effect which is here caused naturally, may be produced artificially, by providing for the perfect escape of superfluous water by drainage, so as to leave less to cool down the air by evaporation. The reason of this difference is two-fold. In the first place, much heat is saved, as much heat being required for the vaporization of water, as would elevate the temperature of more than three million times its bulk of air one degree. It follows, therefore, that for every inch in depth of water carried off by drains, which must otherwise evaporate, as much heat is saved per acre as would elevate eleven thousand million cubic feet of air one degree in temperature. But that is not all. Not only is the temperature of the air reduced, but its dew point is raised, by water being evaporated which might be drained off; consequently, the want of drainage renders the air both colder and more liable to the formation of dew and mists, and its dampness affects comfort even more than its temperature. It is easy, then, to understand how local climate is so much affected by surplus moisture, and so remarkably improved by drainage. A farmer being asked the effect on temperature of some new drainage works; replied, that all he knew was, that before the drainage he could never go out at night without a great coat, and that now he could, so that he considered it made the difference of a great coat to him."

Drainage increases the coldness of the subsoil in Winter. Whether this is a gain or loss to the agriculturist, is not for us to determine. The object of our labor is, to lay the whole subject fairly before the reader, and not to extol drainage as the grand panacea of bad husbandry.

Although water will not conduct heat downwards, yet it doubtless prevents the deep freezing of the ground. It has already been seen, that the temperature of the earth, a few feet below the surface, is above the freezing point, at all times. The fact that the ground does not freeze, usually, even in New England, where every Winter brings weather below Zero, more than four or five feet deep, in the most exposed situations, shows conclusively the comparatively even temperature of the subsoil. The water which flows underground is of this subsoil temperature, and, in Winter, warms the ground through which it flows. In land thoroughly drained, this warm water cannot rise above the drains, and so cannot defend the soil from frost.

Drained land will, undoubtedly, freeze deeper than undrained land, and this is a fact to be impressed upon all who lay tiles in a cold climate. It is a strong argument for deep drainage. "Drain deep, or drain not," is a convenient paraphrase of a familiar quotation. How often do we hear it said, "My meadow never freezes more than a foot deep; there will never be any trouble from frost in that place, if the tiles are no more than two feet deep." Be assured, brother farmer, that the frost will follow the water-table downward, and, unless the warm water move in sufficient quantity through your pipes to protect them in Winter, your work may be ruined by frost. So long as much water is flowing in pipes, especially if it be from deep springs, they will be safe from frost, even at a slight depth.

Dr. Madden says, that it has been proved that one great source of health and vigor in vegetation, is the great difference which exists between the temperature of Summer and Winter, which, he says, in dry soils, often amounts to between 30 deg. and 40 deg.; while, in very wet soils, it seldom exceeds 10 deg.. This idea may have value in a mild climate; but, probably, in New England, we get cold enough for our good, without artificial aids. In another view, drainage is known to be essential, even in Winter.

Fruit trees are almost as surely destroyed by standing with their feet in cold water all Winter, as any of us "unfeathered bipeds" would be; while the solid freezing of the earth around their roots does not harm them. Perhaps the same is true of most other vegetation.

The deep freezing of the ground is often mentioned as a mode of pulverization—as a sort of natural subsoiling thrown in by a kind Providence, by way of compensation for some of the evils of a cold climate. Most of those, however, who have wielded the pick-axe in laying four-foot drains, in clay or hard-pan, will have doubts whether Jack Frost, though he can pull up our fence-posts, and throw out our Winter grain, has much softened the earth two feet below its surface.

That the frost comes out of drained land earlier than undrained, in Spring, we are satisfied, both by personal observation, and by the statements of the few individuals who have practiced thorough-drainage in our cold climate.

B. F. Nourse, Esq., whose valuable statement will be found in a later chapter, says, that, in 1858, the frost came out a week, at least, earlier from his drained land, in Maine, than from contiguous undrained land; and that, usually, the drained land is in condition to be worked as soon as the frost is out, quite two weeks earlier than any other land in the vicinity. Our observations on our own land, fully corroborate the opinion of Mr. Nourse.

The reasons why the frost should come out of drained land soonest, are, that land that is dry does not freeze so solid as land that is wet, and so spaces are left for the permeation of warm air. Again, ice, like water, is almost a nonconductor of heat, and earth saturated with water and frozen, is like unto it, so that neither the warmth of the subsoil or surface-soil can be readily imparted to it. Dry earth, on the other hand, although frozen, is still a good conductor, and readily dissolves at the first warm breath of Spring above, or the pulsations of the great heart of Nature beneath.



CHAPTER XVI.

POWER OF SOILS TO ABSORB AND RETAIN MOISTURE.

Why does not Drainage make the Land too Dry?—Adhesive Attraction.—The Finest Soils exert most Attraction.—How much Water different Soils hold by Attraction.—Capillary Attraction, Illustrated.—Power to Imbibe Moisture from the Air.—Weight Absorbed by 1,000 lbs. in 12 Hours.—Dew, Cause of.—Dew Point.—Cause of Frost.—Why Covering Plants Protects from Frost.—Dew Imparts Warmth.—Idea that the Moon Promotes Putrefaction.—Quantity of Dew.

The first and most natural objection made, by those not practically familiar with drainage operations, to the whole system is, that the drains will draw out so much of the water from the soil, as to leave it too dry for the crops.

If a cask be filled with round stones, or with musket balls, or with large shot, and with water to the surface, and then an opening be made at the bottom of the cask, all the water, except a thin film adhering to the surface of the vessel and its contents, will immediately run out.

If now, the same cask be filled with the dried soil of any cultivated field, and this soil be saturated with water, a part only of the water can be drawn out at the bottom. The soil in the cask will remain moist, retaining more or less of the water, according to the character of the soil.

Why does not the water all run out of the soil, and leave it dry? An answer may be found in the books, which is, in reality, but a re-statement of the fact, by reference to a principle of nature, by no means intelligible to finite minds, called attraction. If two substances are placed in close contact with each other, they cannot be separated without a certain amount of force.

"If we wet the surfaces of two pieces of glass, and place them in contact, we shall find that they adhere to each other, and that, independently of the effect of the pressure of the air, they oppose considerable resistance to any attempt to separate them. Again, if we bring any substance, as the blade of a knife, in contact with water, the water adheres to the blade in a thin film, and remains, by what is termed adhesive attraction. This property resides in the surface of bodies, and is in proportion to the extent of its surface.

"Soils possess this property, in common with all other bodies, and possess it, in a greater or less degree, according to the aggregate surface which the particles of a given bulk present. Thus, clay may, by means of kneading, be made to contain so large a quantity of water, as that, at last, it may almost be supposed to be divided into infinitesimally thin layers, having each a film of water adhering to it on either side. Such soils, again, as sand or chalk, the particles of which are coarser exert a less degree of adhesive attraction for water."—Cyc. of Ag., 695.

Professor Schuebler, of Tubingen, gives the results of experiments upon this point. By dropping water upon dried soils of different kinds, until it began to drop from the bottom, he found that 100 lbs. of soil held by attraction, as follows:

Sand 25 lbs. of water. Loamy Soil 40 " Clay Loam 50 " Pure Clay 70 "

Mr. Shedd, of Boston, gives the result of a recent experiment of his own on this point. He writes thus:

"I have made an experiment with a soil of ordinary tenacity, to ascertain how much water it would hold in suspension, with the following result: One cubic foot of earth held 0.4826434 cubic feet of water; three feet of dry soil of that character will receive 1.44793 ft. vertical depth of water before any drains off, or seventeen and three-quarter inches, equal to nearly six month's rain-fall. One cubic foot of earth held 3.53713 gallons of water, or if drains are three feet deep, one square foot of surface would receive 10.61 gallons of water, before saturation. Other soils would sustain a greater or less quantity, according to their character."

Besides this power of retaining water, when brought into contact with it, the soil has, in common with other porous bodies, the power of drawing up moisture, or of absorbing it, independent of gravitation, or of the weight of the water which aids to carry it down into the soil. This power is called capillary attraction, from the hair-like tubes used in early experiments. If very minute tubes, open at both ends, are placed upright, partly immersed in a vessel of water, the water rises in the tubes perceptibly higher than its general surface in the vessel. A sponge, from which water has been pressed out, held over a basin of water, so that its lower part touches the surface, draws up the water till it is saturated. A common flower-pot, with a perforated bottom, and filled with dry earth, placed in a saucer of water, best illustrates this point. The water rises at once to a common level in the pot and outside. This represents the water-table in the soil of our fields. But, from this level, water will continue to rise in the earth in the pot, till it is moistened to the surface, and this, too, is by capillary attraction.

The tendency of water to ascend, however, is not the same in all soils. In coarse gravelly soils, the principle may not operate perfectly, because the interstices are too large, the weight of the water overcoming the power of attraction, as in the cask of stones or shot. In very fine clay, on the other hand, although it be absorptive and retentive of water, yet the particles are so fine, and the spaces between them so small, that this attraction, though sure, would be slow in operation. A loamy, light, well pulverized soil, again, would perhaps furnish the best medium for the diffusion of water in this way.

It is impossible to set limits to so uncertain a power as this of capillary attraction. We see that in minute glass tubes, it has power to raise water a small fraction of an inch only. We see that, in the sponge or flower-pot, it has power to raise water many inches; and we know that, in the soil, moisture is thus attracted upwards several feet. By observing a saturated sponge in a saucer, we shall see that, although moist at the top, it holds more and more water to the bottom. So, in the saturated earth in a flower-pot, the earth, merely moist at the surface, is wet mud just above the water-table. So, in drained land, the capillary force which retained the water in the soil to the height of a few inches, is no longer able to sustain it, when the height is increased to feet, and a portion descends into the drain, leaving the surface comparatively dry.

Thus, it would seem, that draining may modify the force of capillary attraction, while it cannot affect that of adhesive attraction. It may drain off surplus water, but, unaided, can never render any arable land too dry. If, however, the surplus water be speedily taken off by drainage, and the capillary attraction be greatly impaired, so that little water is drawn upwards by its force, will not the soil soon become parched by the heat of the sun, or, in other words, by evaporation?

Without stopping in this place, to speak of evaporation, we may answer, that, in our burning Summer heat, the earth would be burnt up too dry for any vegetation, were it not for a beneficent arrangement of Providence, which counteracts the effect of the sun's rays, and of which we will now make mention.

Power to imbibe moisture from the air.—We have spoken, in another place, of the absorption, by drained land, of fertilizing substances from the atmosphere. Dry soil has, too, a wonderful power of deriving moisture from the same source.

"When a portion of soil," says Johnston, "is dried carefully over boiling water, or in an oven, and is then spread out upon a sheet of paper in the open air, it will gradually drink in watery vapor from the atmosphere, and will thus increase in weight.

"In hot climates and in dry seasons, this property is of great importance, restoring as it does, to the thirsty soil, and bringing within the reach of plants, a portion of the moisture, which, during the day, they had so copiously exhaled."

Different soils possess this power in unequal degrees. During a night of 12 hours, and when the air is moist, according to Schuebler, 1000 lbs. of perfectly dry

Quartz sand will gain 0 lbs. Calcareous sand 2 " Loamy soil 21 " Clay loam 25 " Pure agricultural clay 27 "

Sir Humphrey Davy found, that the power of attraction for water, generally proved an index to the agricultural value of soils. It is, however, but one means of judging of their value. Peaty soils and strong clays are very absorbent of water, although not always the best for cultivation.

Sir H. Davy gives the following results of his experiments. When made perfectly dry, 1000 lbs. of a

Very fertile soil from East Lothian, gained in an hour 18 lbs. Very fertile soil from Somersetshire 16 " Soil, worth 45s., (rent) from Essex 13 " Sandy soil, worth 28s., from Essex 11 " Coarse sand, worth 15s. 8 " Soil of Bagshot Heath 3 "

"This sort of attraction, however," suggests a writer in the Cyclopedia of Agriculture, "it may be believed, depends upon other causes besides the attraction of adhesion. The power of attraction, which certain substances exhibit for the vapor of water, is more akin to the force which enables certain porous bodies to absorb and retain many times their volume of the different gases; as charcoal, of ammonia, of which it is said to absorb ninety times its own bulk."

Here again, we find in the soil, an inexplicable but beneficent power, by which it supplies itself with moisture when it most needs it.

Warm air is capable of holding more vapor than cooler air, and the very heat of Summer supplies it with moisture by evaporation from land and water. As the air is cooled, at nightfall, it must somewhere deposit the water, which the hand of the Unseen presses out of it by condensation.

The sun-dried surface of fertile, well drained soil, is in precisely the condition best adapted to receive the refreshing draught, and convey it to the thirsting plants.

We may form some estimate of the vast amount absorbed by an acre of land in a dry season, by considering that the clay loam, in the above statement, absorbed in 12 hours a fortieth part of its own weight.

OF DEW.

Dew is one of the most ordinary forms in which moisture is deposited in and upon the soil, in its natural conditions. The absorbent power of artificially-dried soils, as has been seen, seems to depend much upon their chemical constitution; and that topic has been considered, without special reference to the comparative temperature of the soil and atmosphere. The soil, as we have seen, absorbs moisture from the air, when both are of the same temperature, the amount absorbed depending also upon the physical condition of the soil, and upon the comparative moisture of the soil and atmosphere.

The deposition of dew results from a different law. All bodies throw off, at all times, heat, by radiation, as it is termed. In the day-time, the sun's rays warm the earth, and the air is heated by it, and that nearest the surface is heated most. Evaporation is constantly going on from the earth and water, and loads the air with vapor, and the warmer the air, the more vapor it will hold.

When the sun goes down, the earth still continues to throw off heat by radiation, and soon becomes cooler than the air, unless the same amount of heat be returned, by radiation from other surfaces. Becoming cooler than the air, the soil or plants cool the air which comes in contact with them; and thus cooled to a certain point, the air cannot hold all the vapor which it absorbed while warmer, and part of it is deposited upon the soil, plant, or other cool surface. This is dew; and the temperature at which the air is saturated with vapor, is called the dew-point. If saturated at a given temperature with vapor, the air, when cooled below this point, must part with a portion of the vapor, in some way; in the form of rain or mist, if in the air; in the form of dew, if on the surface of the earth.

If, however, other surfaces, at night, radiate as much heat back to the earth as it throws off, the surface of the earth is not thus cooled, and there is no dew. Clouds radiate heat to the earth, and, therefore, there is less dew in cloudy than in clear nights. If the temperature of the earth sinks below the freezing-point, the aqueous vapor is frozen, and is then called frost.

To radiate back a portion of the heat thus thrown off by the soil and plants, gardeners cover their tender plants and vines with mats or boards, or even with thin cloth, and thus protect them from frost. If the covering touch the plants, they are often frozen, the heat being conducted off, by contact, to the covering, and thence radiated. Dew then is an effect, but not a cause, of cold. It imparts warmth, because it can be deposited only on objects cooler than itself.

It has been supposed by many that the light of the moon promotes putrefaction. Pliny and Plutarch both affirm this to be true. Dew, by supplying moisture in the warm season, aids this process of decay. We have seen that dew is most abundant in clear nights; and although all clear nights are not moonlight nights, yet all moonlight nights are clear nights; and this, perhaps, furnishes sufficient grounds for this belief, as to the influence of the moon.

The quantity of dew deposited is not easily measured. It has, however, been estimated by Dr. Dalton, to amount, in England, to five inches of water in a year, or 500 tons to the acre, equal to about one quarter of our rain-fall during the six summer months!

Deep and well-pulverized soils attract much more moisture, in every form, from the atmosphere, than shallow and compact soils. They, in fact, expose a much larger surface to the air. This is the reason why stirring the ground, even in the Summer drought, refreshes our fields of Indian corn.



CHAPTER XVII.

INJURY OF LAND BY DRAINAGE.

Most Land cannot be Over-drained.—Nature a Deep drainer.—Over-draining of Peaty Soils.—Lincolnshire Fens; Visit to them in 1857.—56 Bushels of Wheat to the Acre.—Wet Meadows subside by Drainage.—Conclusions.

Is there no danger of draining land too much? May not land be over-drained? These are questions often and very naturally asked, and which deserve careful consideration. The general answer would be that there is no danger to be apprehended from over-draining; that no water will run out of land that would be of advantage to our cultivated crops by being retained. In other words, soils generally hold, by capillary attraction, all the moisture that is of any advantage to the crops cultivated on them; and the water of drainage would, if retained for want of outlets, be stagnant, and produce more evil than good.

We say this is generally true; but there are said to be exceptional cases, which it is proposed to consider. If we bear in mind the condition of most soils in Summer, we shall see that this apprehension of over-draining is groundless. The fear is, that crops will suffer in time of drought, if thoroughly drained. Now, we know that, in almost all New England, the water-table is many feet below the surface. Our wells indicate pretty accurately where the water-table is, and drains, unless cut as low as the surface of the water in the wells, would not run a drop of water in Summer.

Our farmers dig their wells twenty, and even fifty, feet deep, and expect that, every Summer, the water will sink to nearly that depth; but they have no apprehension that their crops will become dry, because the water is not kept up to within three feet of the surface.

The fact is, that Nature drains thoroughly the greater portion of all our lands; so that artificial drainage, though it may remove surplus water from them more speedily in Spring, cannot make them more dry in Summer. And what thus happens naturally, on most of the land, without injury, cannot be a dangerous result to effect by drainage on lands of similar character. By thorough-drainage, we endeavor to make lands which have an impervious or very retentive subsoil near the surface, sufficiently open to allow the surplus water to pass off, as it does naturally on our most productive upland.

OVER-DRAINING OF PEATY SOILS.

No instance has yet been made public in America, of the injury of peat lands by over-drainage; but there is a general impression among English writers, that peat soils are often injured in this way. The Lincolnshire Fens are cited by them, as illustrations of the fact, that these lands do not require deep drainage.

Mr. Pusey says, "Every one who is practically acquainted with moory land, knows that such land may be easily over-drained, so that the soil becomes dusty or husky, as it is called—that is, like a dry sponge—the white crops flag, and the turnip leaves turn yellow in a long drought."

These Fens contain an immense extent of land. The Great Level of the Fens, it is said, contains 600,000 acres. Much of this was formerly covered by the tides, and all of it, as the name indicates, was of a marshy character. The water being excluded by embankments against the sea and rivers, and pumped out by steam engines, and the land under-drained generally with tiles, so that the height of the water is under the control of the proprietors, grave disputes have arisen as to the proper amount of drainage.

An impression has heretofore prevailed, that these lands would be too dry if the water were pumped out, so as to reduce the water-table more than a foot or two below the surface, but this idea is now controverted.

In July 1857, in company with three of the best farmers in Lincolnshire, the writer visited the Fens, and carefully examined the crops and drainage. We passed a day with one of the proprietors, who gave us some information upon the point in question. He stated, that in general, the occupants of this land entertain the opinion, that the crops would be ruined by draining to the depth of four feet. So strongly was he impressed with the belief that a deeper drainage was desirable, that he had enclosed his own estate with separate embankments, and put up a steam-engine, and pumped out the water to the depth of four feet, while from the land all around him, it is pumped out only a foot and a half below the surface, though in Summer it may sometimes fall somewhat lower.