There is every-reaBon to suppose that the potato disease which has been prevalent in many sections of the country, has been induced by the continued wet state of the soil during the early summer months. Dry weather completely checked its progress, and on dry, elevated soils it was scarcely seen. On drained lands, the disease was also comparatively unknown. Were anything wanting to establish the value of draining as the foundation of all improvement in cultivation, it has been furnished us this season. It is certainly the most economical. Draining tiles are comparatively cheap; an inch and a half or two-inch pipe is of ample capacity, exoept for mains. Depth is of great importance. Even in tenacious soils, the drains should be three and a half or four feet deep. At this depth, their influence extends over a greater space;'consequently, fewer drains are necessary than when they are placed nearer the surface. Those who have not had experience in this matter, have but a faint idea of the increased value it confers on the soil. Perhaps the best argument in favor of draining, is the fact that those who have experimented on a small scale are profiting by experience, and extending their operations.

Agricultural chemists have much to answer for in their almost total neglect of enforcing the improvement of the mechanical condition of the soil; they have dwelt too exclusively upon its < chemical constituents; indeed, the physical condition of the soil is seldom connected with the analysis of the chemist. In a former volume (1849), I took occasion to allnde to this subject; more recently, we find an increased attention given it by scientific writers. So much depends upon the decomposing power of the atmosphere, that its presence or absence in a soil will materially effect its productiveness. The soil should be considered as a laboratory, in which, by the aid of air and moisture, chemical changes are constantly occurring, preparing the various kinds of plant food for admission to roots. Bat let the atmospheric influences be excluded, and this process is stopped; the most valuable ingredients, although, present, may now remain unavailable and useless to vegetation, because not in a condition fitted for absorption. It has been proved that soils which, on analysis, have shown a sufficiency of ingredients for a crop, have proved unproductive, because these matters have not been present in an available form.

Draining removes the surplus water, and allows the unimpeded access of the various gases upon which vegetable life wholly depends.

Vegetable Garden #1

In choosing a situation for the culture of vegetables, that which, affords the most shelter should have a careful consideration. The best situation and aspect is one having a southwest slope, backed on the north and east points by a shelter of trees sufficiently distant to break the force of winds without interfering with the crops. This is perhaps of more importance than the natural adaptability of the soil. The operations of culture will constantly tend to alter and improve the soil. A free loam will be found most suitable, and if resting on a somewhat clayey subsoil, it will produce heavier crops, and require less manure than where the subsoil is of a gravelly or sandy character. Draining will be indispensable as a permanent foundation for the gradual improvement and amelioration of such soils. A clayey soil also requires more care in its cultivation, but this will be more than counterbalanced by its capacity of production. Light, sandy soils are, in general, earlier; much, however, will depend upon the situation. A clayey loam, well drained and sheltered, will be at least as early as a sandy loam on an exposure; and the great superiority of the former, for general purposes, is such as to render it the most desirable.

A principal feature in the management of clayey Boils, is to turn them over roughly, exposing as much surface as possible to the action of frosts. This is a very important matter, and has the effect of rendering clayey soils capable of being cropped as early as those where sand predominates.

Vegetable Garden #2

The continued open weather has afforded ample opportunities for preparing the soil and forwarding operations for early spring cropping. The value of such crops as Onions, Peas, Parsnips, Potatoes, etc, depends very much upon the period of sowing and planting. Onion seeds sown on the 10th of March have produced a fine crop of large bulbs, when, from seed sown on the 26th of the same month, the produce was only fit for small sets. The potato crop cannot be relied upon unless planted early, and the advantage of eight or ten days in spring is frequently all the difference between failure and success. It is necessary, however, to keep in view that tender crops, such as Lima Beans, Dwarf Beans, Corn, Okra, etc, do not gain by being planted before the soil has attained considerable heat, and the atmospheric temperature warm and settled.

Every auxiliary towards getting the ground in early working condition should therefore be resorted to; such as throwing the surface up in ridges, and, if of a clayey texture, frequently turning it over, that it may be the more thoroughly penetrated by frost; and, it should further be remembered, that working and trampling on adhesive soils while they are wet, will render all previous preparation entirely useless; and it may be well to remind beginners that all permanent and remunerative improvement in tenacious soils must be founded upon a proper system of under-draining.