Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-03-31

Nothing is probably better understood
among farmers than that, asssfule, wet
soil = acold SOIL. If vet sou i cold
soil, and cold simply because it is wet,
it is very easy logic to say dry the soil
and 1t viii become warm. This, too, is
always true in the case given. To drain
a soil well, or rather to putin condition
of constant self-drainage, is of course
the remedy for the wet and cold opndi-
ton. IT seems strange thAt so simple b
process, though known ana practiced
centuries ago to a very limited sexten4
d but very recently claiming general
attention, and being reduced to some
thing like a practical and scientific
basis.
Swamps, indeed, and stagnant pools
and ponds of water have, Of necessity,
been carried away through drains, or
more properly open bitches. But it has
been reserved for comparatively late
day to successfully apply system Of
tile drainage to almost all classes and
conditions of soil.
! The wet condition Of the soil is, how
ever, only part of the problem. A
wet soil is also difficult soil to manage,
on account of the baked condition to
which it is always liable Eunder a hot
sun. This renders it less sfriable, re-
quires vastly greater expenditure of
labor and time to bring it into good
farming condition, and produces less Of
grains or grasses after allthe labor has
been expended. - IL - - a ~
To dry soil by undertakings is also,
therefore, to remedy at one stroke all
these difficulties, for warm, dry soil
will seldom or ever bake, and is more
productive than the cold and wet. As
this is question of practical science,
let us briefly examine few simple laws
ON which the facts have stated rest
and by which the results mentioned are
brought about.
First-It is well-known fact in
science that water is powerful radiator
of heat. This being true, all soils hav-
ing, for portion of the season, large
quantities of surface water, must, of ne
cessity, be deprived of a large proper
ton of the heat of the SUMS rays, they
being radiated by the water, instead Of
being absorbed by the soil, as should be
the case, and rs must be before the soil
will be warm enough to touch and
quicken the germ-life Of the seeds sown,
or planted. Heat, indeed, is one of the
main conditions of life; and while it is
possible to destroy life by overheating,
it is equally certain that no very high
type of life can be produced, or after
production continued, without regu-
lar and constant supply of warmth or
heat. IA 8 -
Second-But pools and surface water
are not alone the enemies of production.
It is also well-known fact in science
that evaporation produces cold. Take
the simple process of making the ice
cream, a luxury as easily produced in
the suns of July as in the frosts of De-
cember. This is done by the use of the
well-known law of sudden and rapid
carried on by the column of
ice and salt outside of the column of
cream, and by which the heat is with
drawn from the cream to SO great an ex-
tent as to produce ice. %
Third-Wet lands waste the manure,
by not allowing ready absorption; the
parts of manure frequently pass
off in vapor, and are carried by the
winds to enrich your neighbours soil,
who by undertakings reaps the benefit
of your labor as well as his own.
Fourth-There is also another method
by which underdrainage changes the
temperature and condition of the soil.
The soil, as just shown, having been
rendered more friable and porous by
carrying off the surface water, is also
in condition to allow the rainfall to pass
easily and quickly through from the
surface to the drain below. In this pas
sage of rain through soil and subsoil the
heat or warmth in rain is carried down.
ward and absorbed by the soil or SUBJ
soil. As this absor bent force is always
more effective in the ratio of the porous
ness of the soil, it follows that all the
warmth of the summers rain, instead of
being wasted by radiation and evapora-
ton, may, by judicious system of
be stored away in the soil be-
low, and reappear in the increased
quantities and improved qualities of the
grains, grasses and fruits, to reward
and bless the husbandman for his toll.
Fifth-Well-drained lands will stand
a drought better than wet lands. This
viii be apparent when it is remembered
that during large part of the season
moisture is supplied to the roots of grow
ing crops by capillary attraction. In
hard, baked soil, this process is arrested,
and the supply of moisture necessary for
growth is cut off. Only well-pulver-.
ized, porous soil can give free play to
the law of capillary attraction. 4
Sixth-PrOper understanding, by keep
ing warm, dry surface, will prevent to
q great extent, if not entirely, that thing
so fatal to some crops called frost-up-
heaval.
Seventh Experiments have shown
that the temperature of fields lying side
by side has been changed at depth of
seven inches from deg. to 10 deg. F.
in favor of the one drained, and in the
time of maturing both grain and fruits
of from ten to twelve days. In this way
have wet, cold, baked soils been trans
formed into dry, warm, porous soils,
their productive power greatly increased,
and at a much less expenditure of time
and money.
In conclusion, wet, cold land, whether
used for pastures or meadows, will pro-
duce coarse grasses, mixed with weeds
and often MOSES. These grasses are
not only coarse in texture, but corre-
lacking in nutriment. By
wet lands the health of
animals is improved. Sheep-feeding on