Draining for Profit, and Draining for Health | Page 6

outlet at the bottom
for all the water which it receives from the heavens, from adjoining
land, or from springs; and which is more or less in the condition of
standing in a great, water-tight box, with openings to let water in, but
with no means for its escape, except by evaporation at the surface; or,
having larger inlets than outlets, and being at times "water-logged," at
least in its lower parts. The subsoil, to a great extent, consists of clay or
other compact material, which is not impervious, in the sense in which
india-rubber is impervious, (else it could not have become wet,) but
which is sufficiently so to prevent the free escape of water. The surface

soil is of a lighter or more open character, in consequence of the
cultivation which it has received, or of the decayed vegetable matter
and the roots which it contains.
In such land the subsoil is wet,--almost constantly wet,--and the falling
rain, finding only the surface soil in a condition to receive it, soon fills
this, and often more than fills it, and stands on the surface. After the
rain, come wind and sun, to dry off the standing water,--to dry out the
free water in the surface soil, and to drink up the water of the subsoil,
which is slowly drawn from below. If no spring, or ooze, keep up the
supply, and if no more rain fall, the subsoil may be dried to a
considerable depth, cracking and gaping open, in wide fissures, as the
clay loses its water of absorption, and shrinks. After the surface soil has
become sufficiently dry, the land may be plowed, seeds will germinate,
and plants will grow. If there be not too much rain during the season,
nor too little, the crop may be a fair one,--if the land be rich, a very
good one. It is not impossible, nor even very uncommon, for such soils
to produce largely, 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
seed to rot in the ground, or to germinate imperfectly; heavy rains
during early growth may give an unnatural development, or a feeble
character to the plants; later in the season, the want of sufficient rain
may cause the crop to be parched by drought, for its roots, disliking the
clammy subsoil below, will have extended within only a few inches of
the surface, and are subject, almost, to the direct action of the sun's heat;
in harvest time, bad weather may delay the gathering until the crop is
greatly injured, and fall and spring work must often be put off because
of wet.
The above is no fancy sketch. Every farmer who cultivates a retentive
soil will confess, that all of these inconveniences conspire, in the same
season, to lessen his returns, with very damaging frequency; and
nothing is more common than for him to qualify his calculations with
the proviso, "if I have a good season." He prepares his ground, plants
his seed, cultivates the crop, "does his best,"--thinks he does his best,

that is,--and trusts to Providence to send him good weather. Such
farming is attended with too much uncertainty,--with too much
luck,--to be satisfactory; yet, so long as the soil remains in its undrained
condition, the element of luck will continue to play a very important
part in its cultivation, and bad luck will often play sad havoc with the
year's accounts.
Land of this character is usually kept in grass, as long as it will bring
paying crops, and is, not unfrequently, only available for pasture; but,
both for hay and for pasture, it is still subject to the drawback of the
uncertainty of the seasons, and in the best seasons it produces far less
than it might if well drained.
The effect of this condition of the soil on the health of animals living
on it, and on the health of persons living near it, is extremely
unfavorable; the discussion of this branch of the question, however, is
postponed to a later chapter.
Thus far, there have been considered only the effects of the undue
moisture in the soil. The manner in which these effects are produced
will be examined, in connection with the manner in which draining
overcomes them,--reducing to the lowest possible proportion, that
uncertainty which always attaches to human enterprises, and which is
falsely supposed to belong especially to the cultivation of the soil.
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 the