The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-04-20
For the anderson lntelzigencer.
Tile Draining.

had gone TO examine; not only his machinery
for the manufacture of Tile, but also his plan
of applying them, for the purpose of under
draining, feel it duty I owe him to acknowl-
edge myself thorough convert to his policy
and plans. And-I do this the more cheerfully,
from the fact that 1 have felt and expressed
great doubts as to the efficiency of Tile drain
ting in the sandy soils of this section of OUT
country. I am now satisfied that my want of
confidence was the result of failures in the use
of poles, plank tubes and other contriyances,
which, though constructed with the utmost
care, and at heavy cost of labor, have in
every instance disappointed my expectations
1t is true that poles may be relied on to con-
vey spring, as long as they may last, down a
natural descent. But where the grade ap-
proaches the horizontal line by the action of
heavy rains, the frequent rising of the streams
forcing backwater into the drains, and the
piling up of sand and mud by the boring ope-
rations of craw6sh and other reptiles, the ulti-
mate obstruction of all such drains is inevita-
bic.
If these are logical conclusions, they estab-
lish the fact beyond question that ne reliable
plan for undertaking our lands has been in
troduced into this section of our country,
whilst in England and other European coun-
tries, and in the Eastern, Western and North
ern States of the Union, the policy is coming
rapidly into general use, and is doubling, yea,
in many instances, quadrupling the value of
real estate.
1t may appear paradoxical to most minds to
assume that the undertaking of our uplands
will be scarcely less remunerating than on our
low grounds, and still more that draining them
should be insisted on as resource against the
drought of summer. But facts are stubborn
things. Experience has proved it. This prob
lem, though novel in conception, is nevertheless
susceptible of satisfactory solution. Reason
and common sense will, of course, suggest to
every one the necessity of guard drains in
connection with underdrains. They are insep-
cradle auxiliaries. Nor is subsoil plowing less
important. The theory of their joint operation
is, that guard drains judiciously constructed
may be relied on to intercept and convey the
superabundance of water of the heaviest rains
to the margin of the field. Deep plowing will,
for the most part, absorb what falls between the
guard drains, which, by the action of the Tile
below, is very speedily absorbed from the sur
face By this means, the deeply plowed and
well pulverized soil retains, for much greater
length of time, that open, porous and sponge
like condition, so we'll calculated to promote
and perpetuate the formation of moisture,
whether arising from the earth or applied to
its surface by dew or rains. Whereas, in the
absence of these precautionary measures, the
super-abundant water of the heaviest rains is
hurried over the surface Of the field to the rich
level lands or flats, where the fertilizing con-
stituents of the soils have been long accumula-
ting and there detained in state Of stagna-
tion until removed by the slow process of solar
evaporation.
1t will be admitted, on all sides, that'the soil
in such localities is in condition most unfa-
vorable to the growth of crops, and that al
though the yield may be much greater than on
the more elevated surrounding, even that is no
proof but that by undertaking it would have
been increased fourfold. The roots Of plants
are slow to penetrate nor can they absorb
nourishment from soil too often saturated with
water, nor can crops be greatly benefited under
such circumstances by the use of approved fer
tilizers.
In low grounds, the theory and advantages
of undertaking are much more easily COM
pretended. The lands are made wet by the
outcropping of springs from Che surrounding
uplsnds, and often in the interior of the swamps.
In situations where the bottoms are high and
dry, an open ditch around the field may be re-
lied on to effect the necessary drainage But
in vast majority of instances, open bitches
are inconvenient and Objectionable. They oc-
cupy too much space, and impose an intolera-
BILE amount of labor annually to clean them
out; and the result is, that by q neglect of this
impestant measure, the lands are broken and
cultivated when too wet, and in a few years
they become cloddy, cohesive and unproduct-
| i've.
The astonishing yield Of oar branch and
creek bottoms when fresh proves that they
contain the elementa of fertility in high de-
gree, and they continue to produce fine crops
as long as the vegetable mould which prevents
their cohesiveness lasts. With the destruction
of the mould, the humus of the soil ceases to
exist, and as this material is the principal sup.
ply of carbon to plants, sterility must be the
result; and lands in this condition can never be
rested until thoroughly drained, not because
the mineral manure or inorganic constituents
Of the soil have been destroyed, for most of
them are indestructible, but because they are
locked up in clods that are impenetrable to the
roots Of plants.