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78 AGRICULTURAL. DANIEL LEE, Iff. D., Editor. SATURDAY JULY 80, 1559. LAND DRAINAGE. Few agricultural arts are more important than that which teaches the fanner when and how to drain, where to drain, and where not to ditch his fanning lands. Our attention is now directed to this subject by the perusal of the prize essay published in this paper, in which the removal of the real or supposed excess of water in the soil and subsoil, by the aid of open ditches, or covered drains, is brought forward as an elementary principle in agriculture. The author does not state very clearly, if at all, whether in his opinion, all tilled lands require artificial drainage; and if not, how the cul tivator is to know which fields or parts of fields need ditches or drains, and which are sufficient ly drained by nature not to require the assist ance of art in that respect. Since ditching and under-draining have become fashionable, many miles of draining tiles have been laid in ground where there is no surplus of water to run off, and where they do no more good than they would if buried in dry sand. Many open ditches do more injury by promoting the luxuriant growth of weeds, briars, and bushes, along their banks, and interfering with the plow and use of wagons and carts, than good by removing water from the land. The subject is one of much practical importance, and we desire to see it carefully and thorouglily discussed. Wherever water collects from the surround ing surface into a kind of basin, from a defec tive outlet, adequate artificial channels for the escape of this stagnant water are an obvious benefit. But it is rare that land which has no more water upon its surface or under it than that falling directly upon it in rain or snow, will not become sufficiently dry, if deeply and thoroughly cultivated. Such are the general dryness and temperature of the atmosphere in all parts of the United States,.that about twice as much water will evaporate from the surfaces of plants and the ground, in twelve months, as falls from the clouds; so .that if the rain-fall were evenly and properly distributed through out the year, having reference to temperature and the wants of vegetation, there could be no excess, except where a given surface receives water by the influx of that from other surfaces. Some impervious, tenacious clays, however, re fuse to imbibe water, except vary slowly, and part with it quite as reluctantly. Such are often largely benetitted by surface drainage, and by under drains to prevent the bad effects of tem porary stagnant water. As between the two systems, the preference is generally given to well laid pipe drains, rather than open ditches. Some prefer to combine both; having their main drains open, especially where the amount of water to be removed is large, and all the tributaries covert, «• «•> not to interfere with tillage and other farming opera tions. This is a much better arrangement than to drain swamps and bogs entirely with open ditches. Men who make covered drains without fully understanding the art are apt to see them fill up in a few years with sand, clay, leaves, or other trash, to the ruin of the conduit or passage for water. On the other hand, there are in Great Britain thousands of miles of such blind drains that have remained free for the escape of water for fifty years without repairs. Their excellence depends on being so covered that no surface water ever enters them with its mud. All water has to filter through two or more feet of earth, and enters the under dram perfectly free from all sediment. Hence, nothing is deposited and the conduit keeps open for ages. Draining tile can now be manufactured so cheaply by farmers themselves, who have any clay that will make brick, that open ditches are fast going out of use. A tile machine costs in New York, from $225 to $250 ; and its transportation South will not be very expensive. But it is quite practicable to make drams of small trees of the size of fence rails that will last a lifetime. Most farmers know that logs, buried in water, as in some mill-dams and ponds, or in mud, will last a century without rotting, where the air is nearly excluded. By digging a ditch three or four feet deep, and placing there in, side by side, two small logs, say six inches in diameter, on an average, covered by the half of a third one, with the split side down, the latter having a diameter of from eight to ten inches, one may construct a cheap and quite durable wooden drain. No surface water must be per mitted to run into this drain, no more than into one made of tile or stone. It will often happen that many of thege covered drains will be re quired to free the land of all excess of moisture; for water can only enter them by percolating through the ground. Where there is sufficient fall, such drainage water may be profitably used for irrigating land below. If the water contain salts of iron, or alumina, or humic substances in excess, it should pass through marl, or lime, be fore it is used for irrigation. Land that needs draining usually contains agricultural salts of value, if rightly used. They may be in excess. If so, drainage and liming are the proper remedies. One great objection to' all surface drainage and washing is the removal of much fine or ganic and inorganic matter from the soil, which would remain and yield plant-food, if the ex cess of water were removed from the subsoil It is a great benefit to land to Yeceive the sedi ment deposited from surface water, as when still water, in a freshet, that covers some part of a river bottom, throws down rich mud. But let a strong current wash the ground at any place, and there the fertility is damaged.— Hence, surface wa thing is always to be avoided; and clear subsoil water, (not muddy water from open ditches.) is to escape from cultivated K SOVXKSjUff FIELD AND DX&SBXDS. ground. A deep, and properly covered drain, is the best possible substitute for a natural spring. These abound on naturally well drained land; and one can make good artificial springs where there is sufficient fall, and no lack of rain. It is however mainly to remove standing and stagnant water in basins that artificial out lets are needed. But common uplands require more care to keep water from running off too soon than to prevent its exeess or stagnation. Small patches near springs and a few other wet places some times demand artificial drains; but common uneven upland will very rarely furnish water to an under drain, if made. So much water runs off the surface, and so large is the capacity of the ground to hold it, that there is no surplus. This fact is easily demostrated by digging a hole three feet deep into which no water will flow from the subsoil and stand. If no water flows in and stands in ordinary weath er, then no outlet should be formed or is needed. On tilled land, water should never stand in the subsoil nearer than some three feet of the sur face. Hence, two feet ditches are nearly value less, except to remove surface water. To get clear of water rising up from below, drains, three or four feet deep, must be used. —in THE STUDY OF GRASSES-NO 5. Tall Oat Grass — (Arena elatior). —This grass has attracted some attention at the South from its seed being advertised in the Southern Cul tivator, under the name of “ Stanford's Wild Oat Grass.” It has been before the public several years under a new name, without any good reason, unless it be to sell its seed at an extravagantly high price. Some five or six years ago, Col. Peters of Atlanta received sam ples of this grass from the gentleman whose name it bears, and forwarded them to the writer, then in Rochester, and editor and proprietor of the Genesee Farmer. The plants received from Col. P. were submitted to the inspection of Prof. Dewey, of that city, one of the most reliable botanists in the country, who pronounced it the Arena elatior; or under the newest systematic botany, the Arrhenatherum arenancettm. It is a tall coarse grass which has been known in Pennsyluania and New York, since the first settlement of those States. W ilsox describes it as “a perennial native of the meadows and pastures of Great Britain; and it usually grows to the height of about five feet; and though a coarse plant, it vegetates with luxuriance, and has been permitted a place among the agricultu ral grasses. Yet it contains but a comparative ly small portion of nutritive matter; and is ill relished by cattle, and is much disliked by horses.” llaxham says: '‘lt is a grass of considerable value, is eaten by all kinds of stock, and ought to form a part of all permanent pastures; though not in too great proportion; as according to the experiments of Sinclair, it contains too large a proportion of bitter extractive and saline matter. The quantity of herbage which it produces rlnrincr tha wW*U La vory pat\ side ruble. In dry sandy arable land, the tubers spread about, and it becomes a very troublesome weed; and in many districts it is so abundant that farmers collect their roots and burn them. This grass and Triticum repens (couch grass) are the two species eaten by dogs to excite vomiting.” We might cite other authorities to the same effect, but it is unnecessary. It is certainly far better than no grass; but where its true charac ter is known it is sparingly cultivated. Mixed to the extent of one- fourth with other seeds, it will yield both hay and jiasturage. Botanists describe forty different species as belonging to the genus Arena, only three or four of which are of interest to the farmer. Common oats, (Arena sativa) is beyond com. parison, the most valuable of the genus. It is an annual, and may be grown for hay quite as well as for its seed. Indeed, on rich land, prop erly cultivated, and cut just before the rust usually attacks the plant, one may raise a large amount of excellent forage from either the black or white oats. The cultivation and annual seed ing required, are the main objections to growing the cereal grasses for stock. One wants plants that will grow for years with one sowing of the seed, and keep stock as well as young barley, wheat rye, and oats. It is to be regretted that grass-culture and stock-husbandry are so little studied in this country. A writer in the August number of the Southern Cultivator says “ Although I am a strong advocate for stock raising, the idea that stock enriches the soil seems to me merely speculative. True, stock are great collectors of manure, but do not create a particle. The richness scattered over a great extent of cour try they bring home to their rest ing places at night, but what they bring they have taken from their feeding quarter, so that while they enrich their pen, they impoverish their pasture.” The above statement is true only to a limited extent, as the careful study of the best grazing lands will soon demonstrate. Perennial grasses are best produced on bottom land near streams, springs, or moving water. Everywhere this moving water supplies growing herbage with its appropriate aliment, forming green oases even in the great sand desert of the Sahara. Grass fed by a perennial spring or brqok can no more ex haust land, when removed in the stomachs of cattle and sheep, than the bottoms of the Nile are exhausted by the exportation of wheat and rice for thousands of years. In both cases, moving water restores the elements of fertility. Hence, one may have hundreds of acres of swamp, or other low-lying pastures, whose soil is fattened by living springs, branches, the leach ings and washings of hills and mountain masses of eartli, to yield rich manure forever that costs notlring.* Water will not run up hill and convey plant food from low lands to high lands; but sheep, cattle, and horses will, if well fed, easily travel up hill, and thus carry their manure from irrigated low-grounds, to the precise places where the farmer most needs it. For thirty years we have taught this grand principle in farm economy through the public press, and no one lias ever successfully assailed it. Moving water and moving air are nature s great agen cies for creating and distributing fruitfulness over islands and continents. Grass and live stock co-operate in the work. It is time to investigate the deep philosophy of agriculture, and see things precisely as an all-wise Creator has made them. The reason why so few farmers see any virtue in grass is tbeir constant refusal to study the unerring laws of God. Men set up agricultural idols, which have their being in the plenitude of hu man ignorance and false traditions, and insist that all shall worship them to the end of time. They assume that human wisdom can no far ther go than to kill grass and destroy the fer tility of all arable soils! Let us take one step beyond this false assumption, and use grass as infinite Wisdom intended it to be used. Its function in the great economy of nature is to augment the fruitfulness of the earth, and pre pare it for the comfortable subsistence of all the mammalia, at the head of which is placed talk ing, reasoning, accountable Man. iir w HEAT AND DROUTH. The corn crop has suffered badly in large districts in this State in consequence of pro tracted dry weather, and the scorching influence of a hot sun. The crop is ruined in many places, so that no after rains can redeem it. Both Catawba and Isabella grapes are rotting prematurely, and mainly from the excess of heat. The Scuppernong has thus far escaped injury. Another year, if grapes are exposed to extra heat and a blazing sun, it will be wise to in crease the shade of this rather tender fruit. This may be done by bushes placed on a tem porary frame work of poles over the vines. It is the excess of heat, light, and a high dew point, that rots grapes. —■— THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. We are pleased to notice in the August num ber of the Smithem Cultivator that the Rev. C. W. Howard, the able editor of the South Countryman, has united his paper with the for mer, and has become one of the editors of the Cultivator. The arrangement is wise, and will benefit all parties. H > MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. This institution is expected to go into opera tion in September. Its farm was purchased of C. B. Calvert, Esq., near Bladensburg, who has taken a deep interest in this farmers’ college. It has our best wishes for its success. t »i . METEOROLOGICAL. Mr. Editor : I am often asked, what is the comparative result of the fall of rain for the last two years ? Below you will find an abstract from my register for each month for the two years ending with 30th June, 1859, and you can publish it, if you think it of interest. Yours truly, Powelton, Ga. H. D. Smith. Amount of rain In Inches, which fell at Powelton, Ga., for the year ending: July 1857 to July 1858 Inches July 185Sto ’59 Inches July 2.62 July 8.00 August 2.85 August 8.15 September 95 September. 4.22 October 87 October 2.66 November 5.21 November 1.47 December 4.40 December ..9.51 January 9.41 January........ . .4.44 February 4.38 February 4.00 March 8.84 March 4.96 April 8.46 April...! 2.78 May 1.72 May 2.48 June 6.19 June 2.7 S 44.40 50.45 Mr. Smith has our thanks for a copy of the above meteorological record. Where fifty inches of rain fall in a year, every acre receives about five thousand tons in that length of time. The influence of so much water, with its various solvent agents, on rocks, soils, plants and ani mals, deserves tho careful consideration of every farmer. It is now known that rain and snow bring ammonia, nitric acid, carbonic acid, and even earthy minerals, to the ground on which they fall. Timely seasons are nature’s manure for poor land and starving crops. SORGHO AS A FORAGE PLANT. The Marquis de Vibrave communicates to the Journal of Practical Agriculture, his experience in feeding Sorgho to cattle. We find it in the London Mark Lane Express. He says: “ The sorgho is not a violent poison for cattle; but if the effects observed, not only in my cul tivation, but also in that of many of my neigh bors, be frequently renewed, we ought to at tribute to this plant a deleterious influence. On a farm which I occupy myself, 25 horned cattle have been fed exclusively on sorgho during a month; and from the precise day on which it was introduced in feeding the cattle, the journal of the farm shows a diminution of the profit of the dairy by one-half, and the same decrease was exhibited every month of feeding with the sorgho. “On the other hand, there was, in respect to one of the cows, a case of wind, that caused its death. Any other kind of food might have pro duced a similar accident; but what many of my neighbors have assertedns, the sterility of the cows fed on sorgho. If these two facts, ste rility on the one hand, and a diminution of half in the production of milk on the other, repeated regularly in consequence of feeding the cows on sorgho, we must conclude from them that this plant is injurious; since it hinders or diminishes all kinds of production by interfering with the secretion which must necessarily provoke a perturbation in the animal organism; all morbid causos having their origin in suppressions of this nature.” It is worthy of remark that the seed of the Sorgho, or Sorgum saccharatum, was introduced into this country from France; where it has been used by the Marquis de Vibrave and others, much longer than in the United States. The diminution in the secretion of milk of one half in a dairy of 25 cows, reported above, cor responds with results obtained by some of our dairy friends at the North. No species of broom corn has ever proved a good forage plant; nor can the exaggerated statements emanating from the Patent Office, or elsewhere, remove this natural defect TRIAL OF MOWING MACHINES. We have been interested in reading an ac count of the trial of fifteen different kinds and patents of mowing machines in Livingston county, Western New York, on one of the ex tensive farms of James Wadsworth, Esq., em bracing many acres of the famous Genesee bot toms. The trials were made under the auspices of the Livingston County Agricultural Society, and were continued two days with great care and judgment. On the morning of the first day, the machines were set at work in clover, each two-horse machine cutting one acre, and the one-horse machines half an acre. In the afternoon the machines were put in timothy grass, and each required to cut the same amount as in the morning. The next morning the committee took charge of all the machines, and with their own teams and drivers, gave each machine a separate trial. This examination oc cupied the entire day, and every point of the different mowers was closely investigated. The committee on two-horse machines say: “ Each machine was driven at different rates of speed, and the side draft estimated, as well as the actual draft. They were also frequently stopped and started in grass that it was difficult to cut, heavy timothy with thick bottom, and put to such tests as were sufficient to satisfy the committee of their relative merits. There was no machine that did not perform satisfactorily —some it seemed impossible to place in position that they could n6t be started with a slow and steady motion. The committee consisted of five, and they were unanimous in the opinion that the four best machines were the Ketchum, Buck-Eye, Wood i Manny, and Hubbard. Os one-horse machines, but two were tried — those of Wood and Ketchum. The committee say there was so little difference between the two machines that they were scarcely able to decide between them. Our southern friends who are about forming meadows, some of which wo doubt not will rival those of Mr. Wadsworth, will see by the above that machines for cutting hay may bo had of the most reliable character. A two-horse mower costs about $100; a ono-horse mower $75. — WHEAT CROP IN WESTERN NEW YORK. The Rural Few-Yorker says that wheat in the Western part of New York will be harvested the present week, and adds : The result, thus far, has been most favorable, where the proper conditions were observed as to varieties, soil, and time of seeding—except in localities where the wheat was affected by the severe Juno frost.— Indeed, during the past ten days we have seen as fine fields of wheat in this county as were grown before the appearance of the midge. Many of these bid fair to produce from thirty to forty bushels of first quality wheat to the acre.— Among others, we examined several fields of Dayton wheat, the product of seed brought from Ohio last fall by Capt. It. Flinn, of Le Roy. It is a very fine variety—a white bald wheat, with short, stiff straw, and if it acclimates os well as the Mediterranean, will prove invaluable in this region. Elisha Harmon, Esq., of Wheatland, has seventy acres of this variety, which we think will average at least thirty bushels to the acre. We are aware that “one swallow does not make a summer —tnat the present season has been remarkably favorable for the growth and maturity of the wheat plant—vet, from in formation obtained last season and this, from ob servation and reliable cultivators, we are satis fied that the former great staple of this section of the Union can still be successfully and prof itably cultivated. Before the wheat fly destroyed so much of their great staple, the farmers of Monroe county produced nearly a million and a half bushels of wheat a year ; and we are happy to learn from other sources that Western New York, as well as Ohio and other Western States, are favored with good wheat crops this year. [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] Coalmouth, P. 0., Kanawiia C’ty., Va., } July 16th, 1859. ) Dr. Daniel Lee — Bear Sir : I have received from Mr. Gardner several numbers of the South ern Field and Fireside, and am very much pleased with it. Indeed, I have for a long time felt the want of such a Southern paper, although we have the Messenger and Planter in Virginia.— They are only issued monthly, and do not fully meet our wants. Being a young farmer, your department is the one which is most interesting to me. I read with attention your articles on “grasses,” and merely wnte to add my testimony to that which you have already adduced as to the value of Orchard Grass, both for meadow and pasture. ’Tis not, lam sorry to say, in general use here, but in Tazwell and some of our South ern grazing counties, I have seen it growing lux uriantly, and have been told by reliable men from that section that it is the best grass for cat tle that they have ever used. I have had a field of it myself, for about five years, and think it the best I have over tried, affording food for stock earlier in the Spring aud later in the fall than other grasses, and much less affected by eitli ’ er extremes of wet or dry weather. Mixed with clover, it makes excellent hay, as both bloom, and are, consequently, ready for the scythe at or about the same time. It will yield an immense deal of seed to the acre. I believe that one rea son why persons are frequently disappointed with it is that they sow it too thin, and it does not spread very rapidly, growing when thinly ‘ sowed, in tussocks. It should be sowed at the rate of from one and a half to two bushels per ’ acre. I am this year trying what is called the Hungarian Grass, and am more pleased with it than I expected, for I was inclined to believe it a- humbug. I find that it is of very rapid growth, and when sowed early, would afford three crops here in one season. Though appa rently a coarse grass, my horses and cattle seem to eat it greedily, when given them in the sta bles. It is, I think, better adapted to soiling than anything I have yet tried. lam carefully saving Vetch seed from a few sown in my gar den ; they grew very luxuriantly, and I have no doubt will prove valuable for soiling. I have some subscribers on my list, but shall not yet send it in, as I hope to obtain more.— Most of our farmers have subscribed to other journals, such as the Country Gentleman, See., and are not willing to take more. Another year, I think the Field and Fireside will circulate very generally here. All to whom I have shown it, seem to like it very much ; especially as it is a literary and agricultural journal combined. Wishing your noble enterprise the success it so richly deserves, I am, Very respectfully, George P. Thompson. THE HOOK’S INFLUENCE ON PLANTS. Does the planting of garden seed, in different stages of the moon’s fullness, affect, in any way, the growth or productiveness of the plant ? Or is it only some old woman’s story ? Green Gardener. It is quite as likely to be an old man’s story, as that of an “old woman;” but whether the story of the one or the other, there is no proof that the changes of the moon affect, in any way, the germination of seeds, or the growth of plants. NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the New York State Agricultural College, took place at Ovid, the 7th inst, upon the College grounds. About 1 o’clock, Gov. King, and most of the Trustees, with many leading and active friends of the College, formed a procession Farm House, and were escorted to the platform by the citizens of Ovid, preceded by the Geneva Brass Band. A large concourse had assembled, num bering not less than four to five thousand—peo ple who, from their behavior and attention, ex hibited their deep interest in the proceedings. On arriving at the foundation of the College edifice, Gov. King called the assemblage to or der, and prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Hunt, of Ithaca. CoL B. P. Johnson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, read tho contents of the box to be placed in the comer stone, which consisted of a long. list of agricultural reports, books, papers, essays, sermons, letters, daily papers, names of officers of the institution, Ac. Gov. King then laid tho comer stone, and de livered an address to the people in attendance. Brief addresses were also made by Maj. M. R. Parker, ofSackett’s Harbor; Hon. A. B. Conger, President of the State Agricultural Society; Hon. J. R. Williams, of Ithaca; CoL B. P. John son, and others. • The writer happened to be in Albany in 1822 when The Legislature was in session, and at the time Judge Bcel, as Chairman of tho committee on agriculture, reported a bill to establish a State Agricultural School in New York, and ap propriating SIOO,OOO to that purpose. The bill failed to become a law; but from that day to the present, the plan of having such an institution has never been abandoned; and after the lapse of thirty-seven years, and half as many defeats, the “corner stone of a State Agricultural College has been laid.” A whole generation of old fogies has passed off the stage for their country’s good, while the friends of agricultural learning have been fighting this protracted battle; and in tho same way, after the fossil remains of the old bachelor President who vetoed the land bill that passed both branches of the last Congress to found agricultural schools in all the States, shall be forgotten, a measure of the same character will become the law of the land. - VEGETABLE TRADE. From Norfolk, Va., Tuesday, there were shipped 3,000 boxes of tomatoes to Philadelphia, and 1,500 boxes of the same to Baltimore. On Wednesday,3,soo barrels and boxes were shipped to New York. The shipments now consist prin cipally of tomatoes, apples, peaches, and pota toes, besides a great quantity of pears, cucum bers, beets, egg-plants, okra, Ac. The growing importance of tho vegetable and truit trade of the South is worthy of more at tention than it has hitherto received. It is a trade from which South Carolina, Georgia and Florida are destined to reap great advantages in a few years. To this trade in fruits and vege tables, there is to be added the export of many fat lambs and adult sheep, cattle, and other meats, for northern consumption. [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] Dr. Lee: Your correspondent, M. A. J., from Effiingham, in No. 7, asks if “ any grass can be grown to profit on which is bottom land subject, at some periods of the year to an over flow of two or three inches ?” If the overflow docs not remain on the land longer than the usual freshets, I can inform him, that the Stanford Wild Grass will make luxuriant crops upon it. I have about six acres of such ground in that grass, that has been overflowed several times, from 6 to 24 inches, and for two or three days at a time, and I could not discover that it sustained any injury. If, however, his land is naturally wet and swampy, I cannot answer for it, not yet having tried it on wet land. Herds, or red top grass will grow profitably on swampy land. Respectfully, John R. Stanford. No grass is injured by the overflow of a stream for one or two days, and rarely, if the water covers tho meadow or pasture, a week or ten days. Without the least unkindly feeling toward Col. Stanford, we have deemed it our duty to our readers to speak, in another place, less fa vorably of his grass than we could have wished. On the other hand, we are in some danger of doing him injustice, for we have seen grass grown in the winter, and early in spring, from seed sold by CoL S., that yielded much forage for cows and horses fed in stables. They con sumed it greedily; yet this grass will compare with other cultivated grasses about as rye-bread compares with the best wheat bread. Black rye-bread, all must admit, is much better than no bread; and both rye.and tall oat grass will grow where wheat and clover will not. Hogs in Kentucky.— Tho Cincinnati Price Current , from an abstract from the assessors' returns showing the number of hogs in Ken tucky, makes the aggregate of sixty-four coun ties, all that are yet returned, 815,538, against 639,297 last year, being an increase of 176,241. The returns embrace all bugs of six months old, on the 10th of January eac h year. The Providence Journal says thm, the rot is making »ad work in many of the potato fields of Rhode Island, and in some localities the crop will prove almost a total failure. In Bristol some farmers have ploughed up whole fields of potatoes, (the rot being so extensive as not to pay the expense of digging,) and replanted with other seed.