The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1853-11-23
ing this would vanish and the presumed
expense Ire materially lessened on careful

ing this would vanish and the presumed
expense Ire materially lessened on careful
consideration.
know not that l have traversed any
country with more lively interest than
beautiful, picturesque Lombardy. The
dark pail of Austrian despo,ism enveloping
it did not suffice to dim its natural lowell
ness and luxuriance, so greatly improved
by the labor and genius of man. ltseems
to have grown into its system Of almost
universal irrigation by imperceptible and
unmarked degrees, and to be nov pro-
ducing double harvests annually as the re-
suits of some fortuitous impulse rather
than offoresight and deliberate calculation.
The magnificent plain Of Upper Italy,
which has for so many centuries been the
field Of combat where Goth and Latin
Frank and Hun, Gaul and Germ an, have
struggled for the mastery Of Europe, slopes
almost imperceptibly from the Alps TO the
Pc, and the impetuous torrents which tear
the rocky sides Of the snow-crowned prec-
ipices, are arrested and chastcned in the
blue lakes which lie at the foot of the
mountains, smiling serenely out upon the
plain. Thence the waters proceed with a
more gentle and measured cadence to the
great river, and are drawn off and stayed
from point to point to fill the irrigating ca
mails and ensure a rich reward 10 the hus-
bandman's labors. Let any stream from
heavy rains become a raging, foaming.
milky torrent, and its waters have a value
which the pure element could not com
mand, and are drawn off on every side
until the canals and reservoirs are allied.
and all danger Of inundation %precluded.
Thus the waters are most valuable for If
rigation just when they are most easily and
abundantly oblainable for that purpose.
The water which has irrigated one fertile
garden or field, far from being exhausted,
has been rendered more nourisling there
by, and may now be drawn off 10 ~fertilize
the next field lying an inch or so lower,
and thence to the next, and so on to
the river, enriching and g~laddening all il
touches on its way. Irrigation is the life
blood of Lombardy; shall it be nothing,
teach nothing, TO US?
Hthere DO a country on earth Which one
) would suppose irrigation unsuited 10. Great
| D.;tn.~ - tbot oo.xt, H., a.ootinr1
) moist, cool climate, coupled with her com
r pact, clay sub soil, (not universal, bu'
very extensively would seem to render q
, deficiency Of moisture one ofthe very las
: evils to be apprehended or guarded agains
! in her agriculture. And yet her best far
mers are now embarking rapidly and ex'
tensively in irrigation. finding it p~ractica
/. hle and immensely profitable. Not here
|, as in Lombardy, is the natural flow Of TIT
4 streams, in their descent from the hills t.
r the rivers, relied on; but great pumps ar
/ employed, raising water by steam or othe
! power from rivers, brooks and ponds, TO
height whence it is carried by gravitatiol
: through metallic and gutta-percha pipes t
every point where it is needed. Mr.. Mechl
the ex-London merchant who retired fror
trade with a competency to earn anothe
by scientific farming, takes the lead in thi
application, and his estimate Of the in
Il creased productiveness of lands by rea
al son Of irrigation, and the profits thus Sc
r cured, would seem wild to any audienc
is unfamiliar with the subject. | may stat,
r however. that he fixes the expense Of cor
4. yeying his manures in a liquid from h
yard to every portion Of his estate as equiv
alent TO n penny sterling or two cen
i, per cariload-that is TO say, the iertllizin
. properties which were contained in a to
Of muck compost are now conveyed TO II
soil that requires them at the cost Of OF
penny. Thatloading, tean,ing, unloadin
), and spreading in the old way must ha,
cost far more than this, you cannot dout
d and beside. the fertilizing liquid. being e1
10 tirely free from seeds or weedy germs
any kind, and in a condition TO be readi
and totally absorbed by plants. mus,
:. worth twice as much as if applied in Il
i. old way. Now, consider that this load
N manure has been conveyed through ar
ID applied with many tons Of water, just WHIT
at the soili is most thirsty, and the plants mo
I'd needy. and you can readily judge that t
ton Of manure dissolved in water and a
Piled through irrigating pipes at the &C
!. of a penny, must be worth at least thri
:, as much as the same ton applied in t
crude, solid state, at a cost OF not less tn,
thrice that sum. But | must not dwell
:. details. You have the general idea. al
!, can follow it out at your leisure into all
:. necessary results
De Effects Of Deep Flowing.
The Farmer and Mechanic" publis
ed at Lewiston Falls, Maine, says