The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-07-21
Value of Drainage.


it was cold, damp soil, and liable to
late spring and early autumn frosts /; but
tile draining, by disposing of the surplus
water, and allowing the suns rays to
heat up the soil, instead of expanding
its force in evaporating, the water soon
changed these conditions and placed it
in this respect on a par with the more
favored sandy loans of the neighbor-
hood, naturally warmer, but less rich in
plant-food. For some years ! have been
in the habit Of laying off my pillow land
into strips four rods in width. These
are back furrowed toward the center,
and the result is deep clean furrow on
each side. In wet season the surplus
water is drained off, while in dry,
wet season like this, the suns heat
penetrates deeply, and the moisture
rises from below by capillary attraction.
These lands might be called raised seed
beds, which they are in fact, and the
best row Of corn, or swarth of grain is
at the center, where the opposing fur
rows meet. Until we are able TO tile
drain this is very good substitute, but
it leaves the ugly dead burrows to re-
mind us that this is but a temporary
make-shift, instead Of a real, permanent
improvement; but in new country.
with cheap land and dear labor this
can be tolerated. | find this plan as
valuable for a dry as for wet season,
though it was first adapted for the latter
in particular. Land in this condition
is ready to absorb the heaviest rainfall
without washing. In this case the soil
hn dc h. al TO
it from the rain-water and the atmos-
phere, and just here is illustrated
most beautiful law of nature: In the
first place, the vapor of the atmosphere
has an affinity for all the gases that
are driven into the air by heat or decay,
and these gases are plant-food. If you
place tumbler Of water in sick room,
it will be tainted with the efiiuvia in
short time, and thus be unfit to drink.
In time the atmosphere becomes charg-
ed with these gases but now comes q
shower, and washes them out Of the air,
simply for the reason that the water
has a greater affinity for them than the
air; but when this water reaches the
soil, the soil has greater affinity for
these gases than the water: hence, if
through the soil, all of this pant.food is
restrained by the soil, and the water is
left pure, that is, free from these pre-
pared elements Of plant-food, and yet
not free, for after it has parted with
| these it dissolves its lime and its car
| Donates, and returns them to the air or
carries them to the roots of plants, as it
returns to the surface by capillary at
traction. We cannot control the rain
| fall as individuals, yet we can so modify
the conditions Of our soil as, to great
extent. to meet and overcome the diff
Guilty. While we may form a pretty
correct idea Of the coming weather for
few days, beyond that ali is sealed
| book. The absence or presence of clouds
the great store-house of cold that al
ways hOvers above us-need but the
wind to give us new phases Of the
weather without much notice. Ten
years ago wave Of cold mantled the
country with white frost on the 5th of
June as far south as Tennessee, and a
few years later, on the last of August,
we had a similar visitation. doing an
immense amount of damage. though
less in well-drained soils and sheltered
situations than in those more exposed.
What we need is to learn how TO manage
our land in just such a season as this,
| or, in short, how TO manage in all sea-
sons, for no two are precisely alike. In
| order to do this, we must study the con-
ditions, and thus be prepared to act
accordingly. At this season of the year
rain falls, usually, about once in seven
days, as this is about the period Of the
regular storms. For some weeks the
east wind has set in on Mondays, and
continued from two to three days, and
giving us cloudy, threatening weather.
Last Monday we had a mild easterly
wind, with threatenings of rain ; on
Tuesday, high. cold, northeast wind,
nearly clear, with n cloudy night, fol-
lowed with frost on Wednesday and
Thursday, no clouds, with cold north
easterly wind, followed with change
to the west. We should, therefore, look
for our rainy days on Mondays and
Tuesdays. Failing in them, we may
not expect rain until the following week.
The outlook is for cold, dry term, but
all may be changed in day but we
have this to console us: if we prepare
our land for dry, cold term. it will be
just as well to be prepared to meet a
change to warm, seasonable rains.