Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-08-24
AGRICULTURAL.

DRAINING LAND.-The dry weather that
follows the closing of summer is favora-
Bile time for draining low, or naturally
moist lands. At this season the natural
slrings are diminished, the ground is set
tes, and other labor on the farm permits
attention to such work better than at any
other season. Thorough draining, as q
means towards the successful improvement
of wet soil, is an ackn )wledged fact. But
t." expense. with the uncertainty of i'm
mediate profit, frightens many farmers
from iuuiciouS system of ditching and
draining lands which would be the most
productive and valuable of the:T estates.
Again, there are lands convenient tor out
let and full OF water, which would cost lit
tie, save labor, to render the drainage per-
feet. Yet these lands frequently remain
in their natural state year after year, pro-
ducing crops of little value, and passing
from one proprietor to another, without
Improvement HOalA.
There is no data, or estimate in general
whereby to ascertain the. net cost of drain
ing per acre. Every thing willdepend on
the nature of the soil, the cost of labor,
material, depth and extent of drains. &c.
brick tiles of the horse shoe, sole and pipe
varieties are unquestionably the best, al
though more costly. Stone drains are
cheaply constructed where the material is
close at hand. Board and brush drains
answer temporary purpose; but we would
advise either of the first mentioned where
land is valuable and capital is in hand.
Underdrainage, unlike some farm improve
ments. never pays if done in cheap, un-
skillfuI manner. 1t must be executed with
some engineering art, with the object of
permanency, and of rendering the soil
better adapted to plant growth.
There are fields on almost every farm
that have too much water, surplus of
which retards vegetation by preventing
the tree access of the atmosphere; also pre-
venting the decomposition offood on which
the crops, either grass or cereals, depend.
Such land is cold, inert and sour. If under
cultivation, it cannot be plowed in spring.
until most other lands are planted; then. if
the season is cold, or wet, the crop is in
variably light-freqaently not above the
cost.of cultivation. Ii in grass, such lands
yield coarse, sour hay, or Indifferent pas
turage. Manure, rotation of crops, and
even the best cultivation, fail to bring re-
munerative returns. The only remedy is
drainage. Sometimes undue moisture is
caused by rainfall only, which can be OBJ
waited by open bitches. where the right
fall. or descent can be reached. More fire.
quently we find wet land underlaid with
an impervious stratum, along which spring
water flows seeking an outlet on the sur
face. This water, and its evaporation,
make the;top soil too wet for cultivation or
Tue VI buc CiOpS.
Scientific agriculture teaches this great
truth: DRAMA ge increases the temperature
of soils. It makes the soil dry, porous an6
friable. 1t then absorbs the atmospheric
air, the solar heat and other plant food. II
also aids the decomposition OF manures anC
allvegetable matters that produce fertility
Here is the great mystery of drainage ex-
planned. You dig the trenches, lay the
tiles, aud Nature finishes the operation
off fbr0rr roI
your drains, the lane produces more rap
i'd vegetation, the temperature is increased,
and large crops follow each returning sea-
son. Instead of cold, sour, ungenerous
and unfruitful soil, you have the best land
on the farm, reclaimed, improved and made
profitable by drainage.
There are several other facts, not gener
ally known, connected with drainage. Ex
perience has proved that undrained land
are more liable.to suffer from drought thar
those thoroughly drained. The former, il
a.dry time, become baked and compact, ant
do not readily absorb the moisture from
the atmosphere b1t a well drained soil
open and iris BILE, receives into its pores
absorbing like sponge, the dew and aque
oas vapor in the air. This moisture i
thus taken down through the soil TO tn
roots of the plants. Another evil of un
drained land, it is more subject to frosts-
Arctic Jack visiting it earlier than field
that are 0dbuTdIly uIy. Again, w luJe
grains, and even grasses, are badly injured
by freezing and .thawing, Tin the Winte
mopths,) on moist wet lands. The roots o
both grass and grain are frequentl,
"thrown out" on this undrained soil. ant
the crop destroyed or materially injured
Undrained land, under peculiar circum
stances, also engenders fevers and agues-
proying that health is sometimes perilet
and lost by living in close proximity tt
low lands that are always saturated wit
mofstures.-Fdrns and Fireside.
KEEP THE CALVES THRRTYEA cal
kent. winter and summer, in thrift
Growth. at two years old will make a
mnch. and more beef. than one negligentl
kent at twice that age. The profit will b
fonnd on the side of the two year ole
and the loss on the four year old; ye
the owner of the latter has pursued hi
system. if system it may be called, wit
the idea he was saving money. Keep tn
thrifty animal two years longer in the sam
wav. and something very handsome in tb'
way of beef win be the result; while tn
staryeling can never pay the expense OF 1t
rearing and feeding.
AMERICAN gardeners neglect nothini
more than the cultivation of our will
nJants, ard flowers. Like some scholars
thew value nothing unless it comes iron
Europe. M