Farm drainage Part 7

Secondly: The growth of the crops is quickened all through the Summer by an increase of several degrees in the temperature of the soil.

Thirdly: The injurious effects of frost are kept off several days later in the Fall.

Of the value of these conditions, the farmer, who has lost his crops for lack of a few more warm days, may make his own estimates. In Roxbury, Mr. I. P. Rand heats up a portion of his land, for the purpose of raising early plants for the market, by means of hot water carried by iron pipes under the surface of the ground. In this manner he heats an area equal to 100 feet by 12 feet, by burning about one ton of coal a month. The increase of temperature which, in this case, is caused by that amount of coal, can, in the absence of direct measurement, only be estimated; but it, probably, will average about 30, day and night, throughout the month. In an acre the area is 36.4 times as great as that heated by one ton of coal; the cost being in direct proportion to the area, 36.4 tons of coal would be required to heat an acre; which, at $6 per ton, would cost $217.40. To heat an acre through 10, would cost, then, $72.47. It may be of interest to consider how much coal would be required to evaporate from an undrained field that amount of water which might be carried off by under-drains, but which, without them, is evaporated from the surface. It may be taken as an approximate estimate, that the evaporation from the surface of an undrained retentive field, is equal to two inches vertical depth of water for each of the months of May, June, July, and August; which is equal to fifty-four thousand three hundred and five gallons, or eight hundred and sixty-two hogsheads per acre for each month. If this quant.i.ty of water were evaporated by means of a coal fire, about 22-2/3 tons of coal would be consumed, which, at $6 a ton, would cost $136. The cost of evaporating the amount of water which would pa.s.s off in one day from an acre would be about $4.53. It is probable that about half as much water would be evaporated from thorough-drained land, though, by some experiments, the proportion has been made greater--in which case the loss of heat resulting from an excess of moisture evaporated from undrained retentive land, over that which would be evaporated from drained land, would be equal to that gained by 11-1/3 tons of coal, which would cost $68; and this for each acre, in each of the three months. At whatever temperature a liquid vaporizes, it absorbs the same total quant.i.ty of heat.

The latent heat of watery vapor at 212 is 972; that is, when water at 212 is converted into vapor at the same temperature, the amount of heat expended in the process is 972. This heat becomes latent, or insensible to the thermometer. The heat rendered latent by converting ice into water is about 140. There are 7.4805 gallons in a cubic foot of water which weighs 62.38 lbs."

We have seen that a sea of water, more than three feet deep over the whole face of the land, falls annually from the clouds, equal to 4,000 tons in weight to every acre. We would use enough of this water to dissolve the elements of fertility in the soil, and fit them for the food of plants. We would retain it all in our fields, long enough to take from it its stores of fertilizing substances, brought from reeking marshes and steaming cities on cloud-wings to our farms. We would, after taking enough of its moisture to cool the parched earth, and to fit the soil for germination and vegetable growth, discharge the surplus, which must otherwise stagnate in the subsoil, by rapid drainage into the natural streams and rivers.

Evaporation proceeds more rapidly from a surface of water, than from a surface of land, unless it be a saturated surface. It proceeds more rapidly in the sun than in the shade, and it proceeds again more rapidly in warm than in cold weather. It varies much with the culture of the field, whether in gra.s.s, or tillage, or fallow, and with its condition, as to being dry or wet, and with its formation, whether level or hilly.

Yet, with all these variations, very great reliance may be placed upon the ascertained results of the observations already at our command.

We have seen that evaporation from a water surface is, in general, greater than from land, and here we may observe one of those grand compensating designs of Providence which exist through all nature.

If the same quant.i.ty of water fell upon the sea and the land, and the evaporation were the same from both, then all the rivers running into the sea would soon convey to it all the water, and the sea would be full. But though nearly as much water falls on the sea as on the land, yet evaporation is much greater from the water than from land.

About three feet of rain falls upon the _water_, while the evaporation from a water surface far exceeds that amount. In the neighborhood of Boston, evaporation from water surface is said to be 56 inches in the year, and in the State of New York, about 50 inches; while, in England, it is put by Mr. Dalton at 44.43 inches, and, by others, much lower.

Again, about three feet of water annually falls upon the _land_, while the evaporation from the land is but little more than 20 inches. If this water fell upon a flat surface of soil, with an impervious subsoil of rock or clay, we should have some sixteen inches of water in the course of the year more than evaporates from the land. If a given field be dish-shaped, so as to retain it all, it must become a pond, and so remain, except in Summer, when greater evaporation from a water surface may reduce it to a swamp or marsh.

With 16 or 18 inches more water falling annually on all our cultivated fields than goes off by evaporation, is it not wise to inquire by what process of Nature or art this vast surplus shall escape?

Experiments have been made with a view to determine the proportion of evaporation and filtration, upon well-drained land, in different months.

From an able article in the N. Y. Agricultural Society for 1854, by George Geddes, we copy the following statement of valuable observations upon these points.

It will be observed that, in the different observations collected in this chapter, results are somewhat various. They have been brought together for comparison, and will be found sufficiently uniform for all practical purposes in the matter of drainage.

"The experiments upon evaporation and drainage, made on Mr.

Dalton's plan, were in vessels three feet deep, filled with soil just in the condition to secure perfect freedom from excess of water, and the drainage was determined by the amount of water that pa.s.sed out of the tube at the bottom. These experiments have been most perfectly made in England by Mr. John d.i.c.kinson. The following table exhibits the mean of eight years:

====================================================================== YEAR. October to March. April to September. Total each year.

----- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- Rain. Filtra- [%] Rain. Filtra- [%] Rain. Filtra- [%]

tion. tion. tion. ----- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- 1836 18.80 15.55 82.7 12.20 2.10 17.3 31.00 17.65 56.9 1837 11.30 6.85 60.6 9.80 0.10 1.0 21.10 6.95 32.9 1838 12.32 8.45 68.8 10.81 0.12 1.2 23.13 8.57 37.0 1839 13.87 12.31 88.2 17.41 2.60 15.0 31.28 14.91 47.6 1840 11.76 8.19 69.6 9.68 0.00 0.0 21.44 8.19 38.2 1841 16.84 14.19 84.2 15.26 0.00 0.0 32.10 14.19 44.2 1842 14.28 10.46 73.2 12.15 1.30 10.7 26.43 11.76 44.4 1843 12.43 7.11 57.2 14.04 0.99 7.1 26.47 8.10 36.0 ----- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- Mean 13.95 10.39 74.5 12.67 0.90 7.1 26.61 11.29 42.4 ====================================================================== Legend: [%] = Per cent filtered.

"A soil that holds no water for the use of plants below six inches, will suffer from drouth in ten days in June, July, or August. If the soil is in suitable condition to hold water to the depth of three feet, it would supply sufficient moisture for the whole months of June, July, and August.

"M. de la Hire has shown that, at Paris, a vessel, sixteen inches deep, filled with sand and loam, discharged water through the pipe at the bottom until the 'herbs' were somewhat grown, when the discharge ceased, and the rains were insufficient, and it was necessary to water them. The fall of water at Paris is stated, in this account, at twenty inches in the year, which is less than the average, and the experiment must have been made in a very dry season; but the important point proved by it is, that the plants, when grown up, draw largely from the ground, and thereby much increase the evaporation from a given surface of earth. The result of the experiment is entirely in accordance with what would have been expected by a person conversant with the laws of vegetation.

"The mean of each month for the eight years is:

============================================== Per cent MONTHS. Rain. Filtration. filtered.

-------------+---------+-----------+---------- _Inches._ _Inches._ January 1.84 1.30 70.7 February 1.79 1.54 78.4 March 1.61 1.08 66.6 April 1.45 0.30 21.0 May 1.85 0.11 5.8 June 2.21 0.04 1.7 July 2.28 0.04 1.8 August 2.42 0.03 1.4 September 2.64 0.37 13.9 October 2.82 1.40 49.5 November 3.83 3.26 84.9 December 1.64 1.80 110.0 ==============================================

"The filtration from April to September is very small--practically nothing; but during those months we have 12.67 inches of rain--that is, we have two inches a month for evaporation besides the quant.i.ty in the earth on the first day of April. From October to March we have 10.39 inches filtered out of 13.95 inches, the whole fall. 'Of this Winter portion of 10.39, we must allow at least six inches for floods running away at the time of the rain, and then we have only 4.39 inches left for the supply of rivers and wells.' (Breadmore, p. 34.)

"It is calculated in England that the ordinary Summer run of streams does not exceed ten cubic feet per minute per square mile, and that the average for the whole year, due to springs and ordinary rains, is twenty feet per minute per square mile, exclusive of floods--and a.s.suming no very wet or high mountain districts (Breadmore, p. 34)--which is equal to about four inches over the whole surface. If we add to this the six inches that are supposed to run off in freshets, we have ten inches discharged in the course of the year by the streams. The whole filtration was 11.29 inches--10.39 in the Winter, and .90 in the Summer. The remainder, 1.29 inches, is supposed to be consumed by wells and excessive evaporation from marshes and pools, from which the discharge is obstructed, by animals, and in various other ways.

These calculations were made from experiments running through eight years, in which the average fall of water was only 26.61 inches per annum. When the results derived from them are applied to our average fall of 35.28 inches, we have for the water that const.i.tutes the Summer flow of our streams 13.25 cubic feet per minute per mile of the country drained, and for the average annual flow, exclusive of freshets, 26.50 cubic feet per mile per minute.

That is to say, of the 35.28 inches of water that fall in the course of the year, 5.30 run away in the streams as the average annual flow, 7.95 run away in the freshets, and 20.47 evaporate from the earth's surface, leaving 1.56 for consumption in various ways. In the whole year the drainage is nearly equal to one cubic foot per second per square mile (.976), no allowance being made for the 1.56 inches which is lost as before stated. These calculations are based upon English experiments. Mr. McAlpine, late State engineer and surveyor, in making his calculations for supplying the city of Albany with water (page 22 of his Report to the Water Commissioners), takes 45 per cent of the fall as available for the use of the city. Mr. Henry Tracy, in his Report to the Ca.n.a.l Board of 1849 (page 17), gives the results of the investigations in the valleys of Madison Brook, in Madison County, and of Long Pond, near Boston, Ma.s.s., as follows:

========================================================================== Name Fall of rain Water ran off Evaporation Ratio YEAR. of and snow in from surface of valley. in valley. inches. of ground. drainage.

----------------+--------------+---------------+--------------+----------- 1835 Madison Brook 35.26 15.83 19.43 0.449 ------+---------+--------------+---------------+--------------+----------- 1837 Long Pond 26.65 11.70 14.95 0.439 ------+---------+--------------+---------------+--------------+----------- 1838 Do 38.11 16.62 21.49 0.436 ------+---------+--------------+---------------+--------------+----------- Mean 0.441 ==========================================================================

"Madison Brook drains 6,000 acres, and Long Pond 11,400 acres. Mr.

Tracy makes the following comment on this table: 'It appears that the evaporation from the surface of the ground in the valley of Long Pond was about 44 per cent more in 1838 than it was in 1837, while the ratio of the drainage differed less than one per cent the same years.'

"Dr. Hale states the evaporation from water-surface at Boston to be 56 inches in a year. (Senate Doc., No. 70, for 1853.)

"The following table contains the results arrived at by Mr. Coffin, at Ogdensburgh, and Mr. Conkey, at Syracuse, in regard to the evaporation from water-surface:

============================================================= COFFIN, at Ogdensburgh, CONKEY, at Syracuse, in 1838. in 1852.

MONTHS. +--------+---------------++--------+-------------- Rain. Evaporation. Rain. Evaporation.

-----------+--------+---------------++--------+-------------- January 2.36 1.652 3.673 0.665 February 0.97 0.817 1.307 1.489 March 1.18 2.067 3.234 2.239 April 0.40 1.625 3.524 3.421 May 4.81 7.100 4.491 7.309 June 3.57 6.745 3.773 7.600 July 1.88 7.788 2.887 9.079 August 2.55 5.415 2.724 6.854 September 1.01 7.400 2.774 5.334 October 2.73 3.948 4.620 3.022 November 2.07 3.659 4.354 1.325 December 1.08 1.146 4.112 1.863 -----------+--------+---------------++--------+-------------- TOTAL 24.61 49.362 41.473 50.200 =============================================================

"The annual fall of water in England, is stated, by Mr. Dalton, to be 32 inches. In this State, it is 35.28 inches. The evaporation from water-surface in England, is put, by Mr. Dalton, at 44.43 inches. The fall is less, and the evaporation is less, in England than here; and the fall, in each case, bears the same proportion to the evaporation, very nearly; and it appears that the experiments made on the two sides of the ocean, result in giving very nearly the same per centage of drainage. In England, it is 42.4 per cent.; in this State, it is 44.1. In England, the experiments were made on a limited scale compared with ours; but the results agree so well, that great confidence may safely be placed in them."

In reviewing the whole subject of rain, and of evaporation and filtration, we seem to have evidence to justify the opinion, that with considerable more rain in this country than in England, and with a greater evaporation, because of a clearer sky and greater heat, we have a larger quant.i.ty of surplus water to be disposed of by drainage.

The occasion for thorough-drainage, however, is greater in the Northern part of the United States than in England, upon land of the same character; because, as we have already seen, rain falls far more regularly there than here, and never in such quant.i.ties in a single day; and because there the land is open to be worked by the plough nearly every day in the year, while here for several months our fields are locked up in frost, and our labor for the Spring crowded into a few days. There, the water which falls in Winter pa.s.ses into the soil, and is drained off as it falls; while here, the snow acc.u.mulates to a great depth, and in thawing floods the land at once.

Both here and in England, much of the land requires no under-draining, as it has already a subsoil porous enough to allow free pa.s.sage for all the surplus water; and it is no small part of the utility of understanding the principles of drainage, that it will enable farmers to discriminate--at a time when draining is somewhat of a fashionable operation with amateurs--between land that does and land that does _not_ require so expensive an operation.

CHAPTER IV.

DRAINAGE OF HIGH LANDS--WHAT LANDS REQUIRE DRAINAGE.

What is High Land?--Accidents to Crops from Water.--Do Lands need Drainage in America?--Springs.--Theory of Moisture, with Ill.u.s.trations.--Water of Pressure.--Legal Rights as to Draining our Neighbor's Wells and Land.--What Lands require Drainage?--Horace Greeley's Opinion.--Drainage more Necessary in America than in England; Indications of too much Moisture.--Will Drainage Pay?

By "high land," is meant land, the surface of which is not overflowed, as distinguished from swamps, marshes, and the like low lands. How great a proportion of such lands would be benefitted by draining, it is impossible to estimate.

The Committee on Draining, in their Report to the State Agricultural Society of New York, in 1848, a.s.sert that, "There is not one farm out of every seventy-five in this State, but needs draining--yes, much draining--to bring it into high cultivation. Nay, we may venture to say, that every wheat-field would produce a larger and finer crop if properly drained." The committee further say: "It will be conceded, that no farmer ever raised a good crop of grain on wet ground, or on a field where pools of water become ma.s.ses of ice in the Winter. In such cases, the grain plants are generally frozen out and perish; or, if any survive, they never arrive at maturity, nor produce a well-developed seed. In fact, every observing farmer knows that stagnant water, whether on the surface of his soil, or within reach of the roots of his plants, always does them injury."

The late Mr. Delafield, one of the most distinguished agriculturists of New York, said in a public address:

"We all well know that wheat and other grains, as well as gra.s.ses, are never fully developed, and never produce good seed, when the roots are soaked in moisture. No man ever raised good wheat from a wet or moist subsoil. Now, the farms of this country, though at times during the Summer they appear dry, and crack open on the surface, are not, in fact, dry farms, for reasons already named. On the contrary, for nine months out of twelve, they are moist or wet; and we need no better evidence of the fact, than the annual freezing out of the plants, and consequent poverty of many crops."

If we listen to the answers of farmers, when asked as to the success of their labors, we shall be surprised, perhaps, to observe how much of their want of success is attributed to _accidents_, and how uniformly these accidents result from causes which thorough draining would remove.

The wheat-crop of one would have been abundant, had it not been badly frozen out in the Fall; while another has lost nearly the whole of his, by a season too wet for his land. A farmer at the West has planted his corn early, and late rains have rotted the seed in the ground; while one at the East has been compelled, by the same rains, to wait so long before planting, that the season has been too short. Another has worked his _clayey_ farm so wet, because he had not time to wait for it to dry, that it could not be properly tilled. And so their crops have wholly or partially failed, and all because of too much cold water in the soil. It would seem, by the remarks of those who till the earth, as if there were never a season just right--as if Providence had bidden us labor for bread, and yet sent down the rains of heaven so plentifully as always to blight our harvests. It is rare that we do not have a most remarkable season, with respect to moisture, especially. Our potatoes are rotted by the Summer showers, or cut off by a Summer drought; and when, as in the season of 1856, in New England, they are neither seriously diseased nor dried up, we find at harvest-time that the promise has belied the fulfillment; that, after all the fine show above ground, the season has been too wet, and the crop is light. We frequently hear complaint that the season was too _cold_ for Indian corn, and that the ears did not fill; or that a sharp drought, following a wet Spring, has cut short the crop. We hear no man say, that he lacked skill to cultivate his crop.

Seldom does a farmer attribute his failure to the poverty of his soil.

He has planted and cultivated in such a way, that, in a _favorable season_, he would have reaped a fair reward for his toil; but the season has been too wet or too dry; and, with full faith that farming will pay in the long run, he resolves to plant the same land in the same manner, hoping in future for better luck.

_Too much cold water_ is at the bottom of most of these complaints of unpropitious seasons, as well as of most of our soils; and it is in our power to remove the cause of these complaints and of our want of success.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves."

We must underdrain all the land we cultivate, that Nature has not already underdrained, and we shall cease complaints of the seasons. The advice of Cromwell to his soldiers: "Trust G.o.d, and keep your powder dry," affords a good lesson of faith and works to the farmer. We shall seldom have a season, upon properly drained land, that is too wet, or too cold, or even too dry; for thorough draining is almost as sure a remedy for a drought, as for a flood.