INDIANA HORTICULTURAT. SOCIICTY. 407 



drains three and one-half feet deep and thirty feet apart. Great care 

 was taken to do the work well. Every line of tile was plotted, so that its 

 location might be definitely known. The grading of the ditches and laying 

 of the tile were done by experienced men. The trees for permanent 

 orchard were set so that the line of drain was midway between the rows. 

 The surface is undulating prairie, with clay subsoil. In no instance have 

 the roots of the trees interfered with the working of the drains. The 

 trees have made strong and healthy gi-owth. Mr. Spaulding claims that 

 drainage promotes the maturity of the wood, both of fruit-bearing trees 

 and of nursery stock. In dry weather the well-known effect of drainage 

 in protecting the common farm crops against damage is also marked in 

 its effect in fruit production. In this instance we have the practical test 

 of the benefits of drainage in fruit culture for a run of years. It has been 

 claimed by the advocates of farm drainage that tile drains improve in 

 efficiency with age. Here the practical benefits have been tested year 

 after year with no rising disadvantage. The open, porous condition of the 

 soil, which admits of the rapid passing away of heavy rainfalls, has been 

 uniform. Mr. Spaulding said that the surface drainage of a piece of land 

 may be good, but long continued rains thoroughly saturate the soil and 

 subsoil, which on untiled land will become compact and settle around the 

 roots of the trees. The channels for the passage of water and air will be- 

 come closed and remain so until some deep freeze-up lifts the soil again, 

 and the trees will be damaged. Tile drainage provides against any trouble 

 of the kind. The company picked 3,000 bushels of choice apples, while 

 other orchards in the neighborhood, not drained, had but few. In the 

 growing of nursery stock, drained and undrained lands have been used 

 extensively, and in every instance the drained soil has produced the best 

 stock. On drained land the trees have never developed any discoloration 

 of the wood, so common on undrained soil. Mr. Spaulding's orchards 

 number over 14,000 trees, and he says that he has never lost a tree from 

 freezing on land thoroughly drained, but has had occasional loss from 

 other causes. Dr. W. I. Chamberlain, in his book, "Tile Drainage," gives 

 his experience with underdraining orchai'ds on his own farm, near Hudson, 

 Ohio. In summing up the eft'ect of tile drainage, of different degrees of 

 thoroughness, upon the life of the trees, in a period of sixteen years, dur- 

 ing which time he replaced the trees which died, he gives the following 

 concise statement: Where tiled both sides of each row, 13 per cent, re- 

 placed; where tiled on one side of each row, 36 to 41 per cent, replaced; 

 where not tiled at all, 63 per cent, replaced. It is fair to add that the 

 present thrift and bearing capacity of the trees are about in the same ratio. 

 These are all cases of orchards planted on soils which have clay subsoils. 

 The experience of their owners is given after a test of from twelve to 

 sixteen years, and is a unit as far as demonstrating the value of tile drain- 

 age for fruit orchards. With these facts before us, is it not wise to give 

 the closest scrutiny to soils upon which it is proposed to plant fruit trees? 



