CHAPTER XV.

OTHER ADVANTAGES OF DRAINAGE.

DRAINAGE is of great advantage in many other respects; among these it may be stated that

Drainage facilitates Pulverization.-One object of plowing land is to pulverize it, and render it workable. Every one knows that a wet soil can never be pulverized, and plowing a clayey or loamy soil, when wet, does, perhaps, more injury than if it were not plowed at all, because, if plowed when wet, the soil is pressed together, and is turned over by the plow in almost unbroken slices, which become very hard clods when dry, and render it difficult of culture. Pulverization of the soil is so essential that, more than a hundred years ago, Jethro Tull advocated the idea that complete comminution or pulverization of the soil was a complete substitute for manure. In fact, the little book recently published by a London house, entitled "Tillage a Substitute for Manure," is made up mainly from the writings of Jethro Tull. The Lois Weedon system of culture, by which more than a dozen successive good crops of wheat were harvested from the same piece of ground, is simply another application of the principle advocated by Tull; and, while this system is not drainage in a direct sense, it undoubtedly partially answers the purpose of drainage. Cultivating to the depth of three feet, as the Lois Weedon system requires, must certainly lower the water line, and thus consummate one of the objects of drainage. The deeper any soil is cultivated, the better will it produce.

If the water is withdrawn from the soil, teams can pass

over it with less injury to the soil than on that which is not underdrained. The undrained clay, when tramped by cattle pasturing, or by being frequently hauled over, acquires a consistency to hold water, from which underdrained land is exempt. It is a common practice to haul manure either in the winter or early in the spring, and, in many instances, as much injury is done to the land in hauling as the manure benefits it.

Drainage prevents Surface Washing.-Many plowed fields, especially where the land is rolling, suffer greatly in spring and fall time, from "washing" by heavy rains. On drained lands, the rain is at once absorbed, and washing is thus prevented.

CHAPTER XVI.

WILL DRAINAGE PAY.

1ST. For the Garden.-With regard to lands designed for garden uses, that have a compact subsoil, there can not be a doubt of the economy of underdraining. Earliness and depth of soil are essential to a good garden; and in many localities these conditions can not otherwise be secured. Drained lands freeze to a greater depth than the undrained, but they are much sooner dry and fit for working, or for seed, in the spring. And during the summer, however wet the season, or recent the rain, the underdrained land may be worked so soon that the weeds do not necessarily get a start.

Ground that is made dry underneath may be cultivated to any desired depth, and may then be brought to any degree of richness, without the bad effects that sometimes follow excessive manuring on shallow soils; and the deeper the soil is stirred, the less injury is sustained from drought. The expense of draining a garden thoroughly is, therefore, a mere trifle, compared with the benefits that may be obtained from the outlay.

2d. For Nursery Uses, the soil must be susceptible of deep, early and frequent tillage. These conditions can only be secured on lands having a loose subsoil, or such as have been well drained. When drainage is necessary, the outlay of $20 or $25 an acre will be more than returned in a single season.

3d. The Orchard will pay as well for drainage as the garden. The necessity of dry land for the orchard is so generally admitted that the highest and driest parts of

the farm are almost everywhere selected for this purpose. Orchards planted on river bottoms, in preference to clayey uplands, are no exception to this; for the bottoms, beside having the deepest soil have the loosest subsoil, and are consequently driest underneath. Apple trees, planted over a subsoil that is for a large portion of the year saturated with moisture, are never thrifty, productive or long-lived. Of the various expedients that may be employed to secure the growth of an orchard on wet land, the cheapest and most reliable is underdrainage. The drains should be about three feet below the surface, and midway between the rows of trees; if they are more directly under the trees, the roots find their way into the drains and ultimately close them. In preparing for an orchard, it is desirable to subsoil the ground as deeply as possible across the drains before planting. The whole expense of such preparation is so inconsiderable, compared with the value of one year's produce of a good orchard, that, even without taking into account the increased longevity of the trees, there is no question about the profitableness of underdraining.

4th. Tilled Lands.-There are two principal advantages derived from the thorough drainage of tilled lands. The first is, the lengthening out of the time in which work may be done, because the drained lands may be plowed so much sooner than the undrained. But the chief benefit is the increase of the crop. In Old England the average wheat crop has more than doubled since draining was undertaken in earnest. Results equally favorable, though on a smaller scale, have been obtained in the state of New York, and also in Ohio. This increase depends not so much on larger crops than were ever grown without drainage, but in lessening greatly the causes of failure, so that

a fair crop is much more certain. Where the expense of drainage is $20 or even $25 an acre, an increase of four or five bushels of wheat to the acre on every crop, or of ten or fifteen bushels of corn, would make the drainage an excellent investment-far better, indeed, than money loaned at ten per cent. per annum. But this is not the principal advantage; for on drained lands a good crop of grain is often grown, while on adjoining lands, precisely similar and with the same tillage, the crop is a failure, so that the difference in one year has exceeded the whole expense of the drainage. There is another fact, also, worthy of mention: the quality of wheat and other grains is greatly improved by the steady growth which good drainage secures, the grain being uniformly plumper, thinner skinned, and therefore heavier.

5th. Grass Lands.-It is desirable to have pasture lands sound and dry, and fit for the tread of animals as soon as the feed starts in the spring. It is equally desirable to have grasses root deeply, so as to escape the influence of summer droughts. It is also advantageous to have lands in such a condition that they will produce a variety of grasses, which, by their different periods of ripening, will keep the pastures fresh through the entire season. Orchard grass and red clover will not prosper unless the soil be dry and loose. In meadows that are too wet, the redtop will gradually take the place of timothy, and what is still worse, wild and innutritious grasses will take the place of all the cultivated kinds.

land too wet

It is doubtless true that grass will grow upon for any other purpose, but it is a great mistake to suppose that land can not be too wet for grass. The best varieties of grass, the heaviest crops of hay, and the most uniformly fresh pastures, are to be found on soil properly drained. But will it pay to incur an expense of $20 an