Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1874-04-18

wide assures. as the clay loses its water
of absorption and shrinks. After the
surface soil has become sufficiently dry,
the land may be ploweG. seeds will ger
inmate and plants will grow. If there
be not too much rain during the season.
nor too little, the crop may be fair
one,-if the land be rich, very fair one.
1t is not impossible, nor even very un-
common, for such soils to produce large
| ", but they are always precarious. To
| the labor and expense of cultivation
which fairly earn a secure return, there
| is added the anxiety of chance; success
| is greatly dependent on the weather,
| and the weather may be bad. Heavy
| rains after planting may cause the seeds
to rot in the ground, or to germinate
imperfectly; heavy rains during early
growth may give an unnatural develop
| ment, or feeble character to the plants;
| later in the season, the want of rain may
cause the crop to be parched by drought,
| for its roots, disliking the clammy SUBJ
| soil below, will have extended within
| only a few inches of the surface, and
ale subject, almost, to the direct action
of the suns heat; in harvest time, bad
| weather may delay the gathering until
| the crop is greatly injured, and fall and
spring work mast often be put off be-
L SI,
| ing Is attended with too much uncer-
tainty-with too much luck-to be satis-
factory; yet so long as the soil remains
| in its undrained condition, the element
| of luck will continue to play a very inn
portant part in its cultivation, and bad
luck will often play sad havoc with the
years accounts. Why is it
that the farmer believes, why should
| any one believe, in these modern days.
when the advancement of science has so
simplified the industrial processes of
this world, and thrown its light into so
| many corners, that the word mystery
is hardly to be applied to any operation
of nature, save to that which depends
| on the always mysterious principle of
life, when the effect of any combination
| of physical circumstances may be fore
told with almost unerring certainty
| why should we believe that the success
| of farming must, after all, depend MAIN
.ly on chance? That an intelligent man
should submit the success of his own
patient efforts to the operation of luck =
that he should deliberately bet his capi-
| tai, his toll, and his experience on hav-
ing good season or bad one,-tfis is
not the least of the remaining mysteries
Some chance there must be in all things,
more in farming than in mechanics,
| no doubt; but it should be made to take
i the smallest possible place in our calcu-
| lations, by careful avoidance of every
condition which may place our crops at
| the mercy of that most uncertain of all
things, the weather; and especially
| should this be the case, when the very
| means for lessening the element Of
| chance in our calculations are the best
| means tor increasing our crops, even in
| the most favorable weather."
i piua anu&hino liEo do
/ scription of the manner in which tile
drains are made, would be beyond the
scope of any single newspaper article.
| Our province is, rather, to call attention
to the subject; to emphasize its impor-
tance, and to urge its investigation.
Still, it may be interesting to some of
our readers, to state briefly the character
of these drains, the manner in which
they act, and the theory of their bene-
fetal effect.
| The best form of tile is that known as
s'pipes and collars" They are made of
a good quality Of red earthenware, SINH
lar to that used for f1ower-pots. The
collar is about two and a half inches
long, and the pipe about thirteen inches
long. The ends of the pipes meet in the
middle of the collars, and the water
finds its way into the joint, which is
perfectly tight. 1t would seem at first
sight as though this would not admit
sufficient quantity, but, if fall of an
inch of rain "a large amount) were to
be removed-every drop Of it-in forty
eight hours ("and in a less period it
neither will, nor is it desirable that it
should, filter through an agricultural
soil'') each joint will be required to re-
ceive two-thirds of table spoonful of
water per minute. Ample experience
has shown that these dralns-laid at the
usual interval of forty feet, and at the
| depth of four feet-will completely
drain the stiffest clay. AS the water
falls on the ground, it does not run la
terally toward the drains, but settles
directly down to the level of the water
standing in the soil-above the level of
the drains-and raises this general level
until it rises to the height of the flow of
the drain, when it flows off. Without
the drains it would fill the soil to the
surface, and lie stagnant until removed
by evaporation. AS roots will not en-
ter, nor live in soil which is filled with
stagnant water, and as the process of
evaporation is a cooling one, the effect
of an excess of water in the soil is high
ly injurious. 1t has been proved by re-
cent experiments in Scotland, that the
elevation of the temperature of the land,
resulting from understanding, was
equivalent to removal of the land from
100 to $50 miles further south.
| We cannot leave this subject without
asking the reader to examine Col. War
ing's work, where he will find land
drainage so fully and ably treated, as to
well repay him for his trouble.