Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1882-03-16
9emat5atit Nartbusst.
GIwET AND DRY.

mer's Institute in Tifiin:
Success in agriculture depends upol
certain physical conditions of air an,
earth IN which and upon which crop
grow. The first of these conditions
if, indeed, the case allows of prece
dence at all, is fertility OF the soil anC
by fertility of soils is meant that the,
contain the elements, simple or com
pound, organic, which enter into tht
particular kind of vegetation sough
to be produced. Concomitant, per-
haps, with fertility, is the presence o.
atmospheric air, without the presence
of which neither animal nor vegetable
life can exist; then comes heat whose
agency in the growth of plants is in.
dispensable. The mechanical condl
tion of the seed-bed is consideration
of primary Importance; as upon the
physical condition of the soil to which
seeds have been committed, depend,
In great measure, the free play and
adaptation of all the conditions OF
plant gro with. Heat is another condi.
= tion or agent in the process of vegeta.
BILE development, that performs such a
high Office as to entitle it to a position
of the highest importance; while light
paints with emerald hues almost the
entire vegetable kingdom, and while it
lends the charm Of beauty, its agency
in building up the vegateble world is
indispensable. While all the elements
of fertility may be present in the soil,
and the mechanical conditions favora.
ble to what vegetable growth may OBJ.
tain; while the imponderable agents of
light and heat may play their allotted
part, there remains yet another condi
tion which is at once an agent or pow
er and constituent element of univer-
sal necessity-Water Water in some
form, in some measure of supply, is
indispensable to the growth of every
vegateble and animal body. Water,
in just the right quantity for ordinary
farm crops, produces condition that
we call moisture, or simply moist,
when it is in superabundant supply.
we call the condition wet; when there
is less water than any given crop de-
mands, we call the condition dry.
Dryness is the partial or total absence
of water. '.......
Water fills the earth, air fills space,
water dlssolves, dlgests and absor6s air
to limited extent, while the air, in
turn, drinks up, carries in its substance,
in the form of vapor, mostly, an i'm
mense quantity of water, which is pre-
cipitated to the earth in the form of
rain, snow, etc. In this way water is
supplied to the dry land of our globe
from the oceans, lakes, rivers and mo-
rasses, and even from the land itself
All lands are capable Of absorbing and
holding a great quantity of water, ex-
cept perhaps, very sandy soils, which
drink in rapidly but do not hold super
abundant water great while; this ex-
cess of water in tee SOIL or over it.
and how to get away with it, has been
a perplexing question to farmers; and,
indeed, we have not yet reached a prac
tical solution of the question. So far
as removing superabundant wafer from
swamps, swales, estuaries, whether the
water comes down in the form of rain
and remains in or over the soil for
want of an avenue for escape, or
whether it comes up out of the ground
IN regular springs or ''scaps" or "spou.
ty' land, our system of open drains
and subterranean condults has per-
formed results incalculabIe in dollars;
but, while this is admitted, the evil is
only partially remedied. The bad eff
fects Of water are numerous. Water
lsurps vast areas of our best soils {
which are lost partially or wholly to '
agriculture, and to the country. Wa t
ter usurps nearly all OF the subsoil of {
such lands as are cultivated, which is {
,he cause, as general proposition, of i
such Indifferent success of our Ameri- 6
IAN agriculture. Right here, where t
he cause of frequent or general fail c
Tres of crops is not suspected; here, t
n soils with dry surface for few /
nches, and from which the husband i
nan expects a bounteous yield-here, e
ye, more than in swamps, where the t
water frequently submerges the soil n
nd subsoil alike, is where the great r
lamage to farming, by superabundant v
Vater, is found to obtain. a
In general, our subsoils are equally 8
important with the soil itself; fire. v
Luently, the subsoil is as rich in plant d
ood as the soil itself; and in such sit o
ations where the soil has been meas i
rably exhausted, throwing to the Is
urface from two to five inches of sub c.
oil regenerates the soil, and gives the a
nwary occupant new farm. If the tt
ertility of the subsoil could be- availed a
in the ordinary operations of farm ff
1g, the actual soil would not so soon O.
eeome exhausted; but this is but sell t(
ON the case; because, in wet season, a.
least, the subsoll is filled with water az
nd is sodden, and when dry season CT
appens to dissipate the superabun- ol
ant humidity, then the logged in
lbsoil becomes nearly as hard as vi
ock, soft is impenetrable by the delv- te
,g radicals of plants, and it almost al
efies any mechanical means the far is
Ter now has to break it up. The tr
,bsoil is generally SO wet and sodden &C