FARM fand GARDEN MATTERS OP OF INTEREST TO agriculturists up cp to date kinf about tion of the soil Soll nod and yield thereof horticulture viticulture and nd floriculture advantages of Dral DraIn nace arre H B E necessity 0 1 drainage la Is not to be determined by the quality ot of water which falls or flows upon the surface nor upon the PON power er of the sun to carry it off by evaporation but upon the character of t the h e subsoil sub soil it if that is ot of sand or gravel the water will pass oft off below by natural drainage but it the subsoil sub soil is clay or other impervious substance the water is checked in its downward course and remains stagnant or bursts oui out upon the su surface in the form of oc springs most of the prairie lands are of the latter character and wherever such subsoil sub soil exists the land will not only be improved by tile drainage but it may be said that such drainage is absolutely essential to its proper development and culture to question the necessity of the process is little less absurd than it would be to ask whether it would be improved by plowing If instead istead of making hills tor for corn in the prairie grass with a hoe or spade all lands require drainage which at any season contain too much water that Is which hold at any time of the year more moisture than is good tor for the crops and causes them to suffer either by freezing ou out t in winter or having their roots in water durin during g the growing season drainage has been appropriately defined as the art of rendering land not only so tree free from moisture that no superfluous water shall remain in it but that no water shall remain long enough to injure or I 1 retard the healthy growth of such plants as are required tor for the sustenance of man or beast there are some plants as rice and cranberries which require a wet soil but most of those which are useful to man are drowned by being overflowed tor for a short time and are injured by any stagnant water about their roots the soil of the fhe prairies in most cases la Is with clay which not lin contains a mixture of me I 1 I 1 i tallie oxides which cause it to form a substratum almost of the nature of rock and known commonly among farmers as hard pan it is a common impression that clay is impervious to water and that therefore a clay soll eoll and particularly it if it has assumed the solid form of hard pan under tile the surface can not be drained drafted with tile and especially if 11 the tile Is laid lower than the hard pan but that such land Is not absolutely impervious Is proved by the tact fact that it Is very wet in the spring at almost any depth while in the latter part of the summer it becomes dry and hard how comes it to be soaked at any time it if water floes does not go into it and how comes it dry it if water does not come out of it the facts that clay will readily absorb a great deal of water and that it may be subsequently dried prove conclusively that it Is not impervious to water but they do not prove that water will pass through it with sufficient rapidity to answer the practical purposes ot of drainage it is nevertheless 11 tact fact that owners of clay farms almost invariably overestimate the difficulty in draining their land they know that lay clay is used for the bottom ot of ponds canals etc and is nearly or quite impervious but such is not its natural condition and it is only reached by working and beating it while wet or as in the case of the hard pan subsoil by continued pressure from above nor can clay be kept in this condition except by being constantly wet if once dried or subjected to the action of frost it resumes resume its natural porous condition anon