The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-05-09
Ghe 9armer.
WITHDRAWING.

UHDEh-DkAlN1NG.
In no department Of agriculture has
there been more marked, a more i'm
portant, more scientific, more practi-
cal step in advance, than in draining
Farmers, like other men, have been wont
to limit their draining, as they limited
their care Of manure, or their depth Of
blowing, to the production Of directly
visible or tangible effects. In planting
seeds, or in hoeing corn, if they found the
ground to be well loosened to the depth to
which the hoe penetrated, they were
satisfied. If the brown liquor from the
manure-heap ran through gully under
the barnyard gate into the high road, they
could see the waste, and the means of
stopping it. IF they saw water standing
on the surface Of the land, or saw that
surface wet and spongy when it should be
dry, they saw that some means should be
provided to remove the superAuous mois-
ture.
The more enlightened among them have
learned, in these later years, that the roots
Of plants penetrate more deeply than the
hoe or the surface pillow, and that there are
riches in tie sub-soil which will amply
repay the labor of loosening them up
In our opinion, the extension of the
practice Of understanding offers greater
promise to the farmers of the older States
than does any or all other improvement Of
the century Indeed, it is the keynote Of
good farming on all lands that are not
naturally thoroughly drained; and naturally
well-drained lands are neither very fire.
quent nor usually very good. Generally |
speaking, that which is most susceptible of |
high cultivation, with lasting and profitable
results, is that which, in its natural condi-
ton, is underlaid by rctentiye sub-soil,
which holds water until it is removed by |
the slow and chilling process Of evapora-
ton. Such land usually contains more Of |
the ingredients that growing plants require
than do the lighter and looscr sandy soils.
The difficulty with them is, that they are
50 water logged, 50 chilled by the evapora-
tion Of their water, so pasted together by
moisture, so baked into clods by drouth, so
sealed against the entrance of air, so un-
favorable for the healthful action of the
suns heat and for the needful fermenta-
ton Of their organic parts, that they are
nnfavorablc to the termination Of seeds,
inhospitable to tender rootlets, and un-
generous Of their hidden wealth.
Our long-ontertained conviction that the
above statements are true, has been
confirmed BY the reading of a work en-
titled aEraining for Profit and Draining
for Health" recently written by Col.
Warning, the Engineer Of the Drainage of
Central Park, who has made the science
and art Of agricultural and sanitary drain
agc q specially for years.
In the confidence which his observation
Of the effects of tile-draining has inspired,
he gives less attention to the making of
stone drains than many farmers would
consider desirable, but all Of his arguments
will apply with less force perhaps to
these, as well. and the undoubted su-
periority and economy Of tiles are sufficient
justification Of the policy, to which he
alludes as follows:
aTo our writing in advocacy Of improve
ments, Of any kind, there is always temp
tation to throw tub to the popular whale,
and TO suggest some makeshift BY which
certain advantage may be obtained at
halfprice. 1t is proposed in this essay to
resist this temptation, and to adhere to /
the rule that whatever is worth doing, is
worth doing well, : in their belief that this
applies in no other department of industry
with more force than in the draiuing Of
land, whether for agricultural OF for
sanitary improvement. Therefore, it will
not be recommended that draining be
oven confined to the wcttest lands only;
that, IN the pursuance Of penny-wisdom,
drains be constructed with stones, or
brush, or boards that the antiquated
horseshoe tiles be used because they cost
less money, Or that il win in any case, be
economical to make only such drains as
are necessary to remove the water oflarge
springs. The doctrine herein advanced is,
% far as draining is applied at all, it should
y done ia the most thorough and com
pleto manner, and that il is better that, in
eon'msneing an improvement. single
Gold be really well drained, than that the
whole farm NJ half drained.
Huf course. there are some farms that
suffer from TOO mach water, which are not
worth draining i present many more
which At he present. prics Of frontier
lands. are only worth relieving Of the
water which stands on she surface and
rot few On which de quautity Of s.sne
10 BE- renosed suggests the psopriety Of 4
making ride bitches IN which 70 hide
iIem (usins the sliieles, incidentally. as .
drains. A handbook o. draining i not
needed bg che owners of such farms their
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