Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

6 articles on this Page

--_u_------------NOTES ON…

Detailed Lists, Results and Guides
Cite
Share

-u_- NOTES ON AGRICULTURE. [By Mit. EVAX JONES, M A., T.C.,OLI) COLLEGE SCHOOL, CARMARTHEN] LAND DRAINAGE. The ancients were well versed in the art of freeing the soil from water, but the advancement of learning, years of experience, the favourable result of the experiment, and the rapid progress of science, has cast an enormous amount of light upon this important subject during the last hundred years among English and Welsh farmers. Those who can afford time to read the works of y, Varro, and Cato. will find that ese efficient authors wrote very extensively on land etc. Our ancestors were accus- tonied t I drain the soil which was covered with water or in a marshy condition, while the modern farmer directs his attention mostly to the tillage or the pasture lands. Those who are desirous of obtaining a thorough knowledge of this sub- ject, would 0 do well by reading the works of the Hon. Sir James Graham and Mr Pusey. The fnrmer wrote on The Deanstone Frequent Drain System," and the latter on Thorough Draining." Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish drained from undrained land yet there are some signs of wetness by which we can be guided. Mr Jonson considers the following" indications of wetness" as conclusive —"(1) The low temperature of the s >ils, as shown by the winter snow lying on them longer than on drained land (2) glazed condition of the newly turned furrow (3) stunted or blighted straw (4) bleached appearance of grass lands far into the spring (5) the preseuce of the following weeds :—Upright meadow crowfoot, silver weed, marsh thistle, marsh cudweed, meadow dock, water dock, bo4 rush, marsh orchis, spotted orchis, hair hassock, reeds, sedges." The above points are familiar to all those who chance to dwell near undrained land. The farmer may be ignorant of the names and the botanical worth of the weeds mentioned above yet he knows from experience that they are very inferior as animal food. I shall endeavour in this week's notes to place clearly and distinctly before the reader the plan of draining our soils, the reason for doing so, and the object in view. THE PLAN OF DRAINAGE. In order to carry ont the work successfully and beneficially several things must be taken into thorough consideration, such as the nature of the soil, the distance between the "furrow drains, their depths in relation to the main drain, the position of the main drain, and the best materials for their construction. The "main" drain must be conveyed through the lowest level part of the ground, so that the "furrow" drains may be led into it with the greatest ease, and discharge their contents with the least effort. Often we find the ground so inclined that the farmer is forced to cut a secondary "main" drain, to lead out a portion of the water in another direction. The main drain must be of1 necessity a few inches deeper than the "furrow ones, or the drainage would be defective, and all the draim would soon wet out of order. The farmer must use his own judgment with regard to the depths of the 44 main, and the furrow" drains. The gradient is a matter of great importance, and must be regulated in accordance with the charac- ter of the ground in order to secure a uniform fall." With regard to the proper distance between the drains, Mr Jonson recommends the following plan :—"The parallel drains on stiff clays may be fourteenor sixteen feet apart on lighter clays the distance may be increased to twenty-one feet. While on loams, drains may lie from thirty to thirty-six feet apart." The materials for construction ought to be of the best quality, of durable nature, and not liable to break. The following have been employed with very great success :—The cylindri- cal draining pipe, stones, faggots, thorns, straw, and peat. When pipes are used they ought to be of a certain dimension, neither too big or toe email, generally of a medium size. In orclinary practice, pipes of 2 inch bore are preferred for furrow" drains and 3 ta 6 inch pipes are employed for the" main" or "carrying drains." Stones are considered very good but they must be used in a broken state and arranged with care. THE REASONS FOR DRAINING THE SOIL. (a) To Remove Stagnant Water. —Most people are aware that stagnant water lowers the tern- perature of the soil. The soil and the roots of the growing plant are not properly warmed by the heat of the sun's rays, because they are absorbed by the water present in the land. Water is a bad conductor of heat, and conse- quently the subsoil is seldom, if ever beuetited by the heat of the sun. (b) To Secure, a Free Passage for Fresh Air. — The fresh air is not capable of descending into the subsoil when stagnant w<*ter intervenes. Fresh air is absolutely necessary for the vegetable kingdom because it furnishes the plant with food, it changes the d rIùrmant into "active" matter, and there/ore acts as a fertilizing agent. (c) To Secure (f: Frce Passage fur Rain Water. —A thorou"ll drainage will prevent rain water from flow^'S over the surface of the soil, and will aD-w it to pass freely to the subsoil. In its r-ssage downwards it imports to the ground a ertaiii quantity of ammonia, oxygen, car- bonic and nitric acids, and also washes away everything that is injurious to plant growth. One writer says that water in motion exerts the following positive benefits :—(1) It directly conveys warmth to the soil and subsoil, and (2) rain water carries traces of carbon dioxide ammonia, and nitric acid with it, which it has waahed out of the air during its fall. These substances, no doubt, exert a beneficial effect, partly because their presence heightens the solvent action of water upon the mineral con- stituents of the soil, and also because they increase the nutritive value of water as a plant food. (d) To Deepen the Sod.-Wheii the subsoil is under stagnant water the roots of the various plants are not able to penetrate deep enough for food but after the removal of the superfluous water the roots obtain a free passage, and penetrate down to the subsoil with ease for food and support. The plants thrive better because the roots are well supplied by the substances found in the subsoil. One writer says 44 Soils are invariably deepened by draining, for by that means injurious and sour matters are removed from the surface and subsoil and they are sweetened. Therefore, plants can descend to depths in search of food, where, if they had gone before they would most likely have met with such matters as would have checked their growth, or causd the crop to fail altogether." THE OBJECT IN VIEW. (a) To Secure an Earlier Harvest. -Experienced farmers assure us that proper land drainage will make a difference of ten days in the time of the ripening of the corn crops. This is very natural, since we know that the soil is warmer, that plant food is more plentiful and nutritious, and that growth is hastened. The knowledge of this fact is of great importance to those who live in cold regions, where the harvests often happen to be rather late, by reason of the wet weather and undraiued soils. (b) To Secure a Healthy Lice Stock. Stagnant water endangers the health of man and beast because (1) it keeps the surrounding air too moist (2) it sours the soil and (3) it poisons the atmosphere and it renders the pasture unhealthy and feeble. In order to possess a healthy live stock, the farmer must devote a good deal of attention to the state of his soil, so as to remove everything that wars against health. 11 borne people believe that stagnant water and wet soil have been the direct cause of the diseases called "red water amongst cows and ,-I rot amongst sheep. (c) To Secure a Thorongh Prepared Condition of the Soil for Alaititres. -It would be useless to apply manure to undrained soil. Manure so used would be washed away by rain-water to the nearest brook or river, or either carried down to the river valleys or to the sea. Before the farmer could be well remunerated for his labour the manure must descend into the soil. Neither oil-cake given to live stock, iime applied to 11 the land, or top-dressings ditstributed over growing crops, will yield satisfactory results upon undraiued wet soils, but after drainage al these means may be used with advantage." As I intend to revert to this subject at somt future time, I shall not trouble the reader with any more remarks at present on the last two divisions of these notes.

REVIEW OF THE BRITISH COltN…

MARKETS.

Advertising

I CARMARTHEN COUNTY" PETTY…

Advertising