Land Drainage in New York 1659 



There are large, rounded liills of stony loam soil that often 

 contain wet areas. Their structure consists of glacial till inter- 

 stratified with layers and pockets of gravel and sand in which 

 water accumulates. The drumlin-shaped hills typically devel- 

 oped in Wayne County are of this sort. Springs and wet areas 

 are of frequent occurrence. 



Some of the most misleading soil in reference to wetness is 

 found in the hill lands of southern New York. Much of that 

 land has a good slope and sometimes it is almost precipitous. 

 The slope would seem to insure good drainage but the structure 

 of the soil is such that good drainage does not exist. Much of 

 the land has a moderately porous soil underlain by an impervious 

 or hardpan subsoil. The rainfall is absorbed into this loose top- 

 soil and trapped by the subsoil so that it is removed only by slow 

 percolation and by evaporation. In addition springs are of com- 

 mon occurrence and spread down the slope in the form of a fan 

 of wet soil. 



Many other special types of wet soil occur but the above covers 

 those that are most frequently met. Indications of wet soil are 

 " heaving " in winter, failure of seed to germinate, bare patches 

 or missing trees, pale green leaves, slow and stunted growth of 

 crops and either a black or a pale, washed-out mottled color of the 

 soil. Also the tendency to puddle and become lumpy under till- 

 age are further evidences of wetness. 



EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE 



The reasons for the importance of thorough drainage will be 

 better understood after a consideration of the far-reaching effects 

 of drainage upon nearly all the factors of soil fertility. 



1. The first effect of drainage is to remove the excess of water 

 from the pores in the soil and replace it with air. This means 

 better soil ventilation. Ventilation is as essential for the roots 

 of most plants as it is for animals. Cut off their air supply by 

 submersion or other means and the roots of plants soon die. In- 

 termittent wetness does exactly this. There is a repeated pruning 

 of the small roots as the soil changes from a dry to a prolonged 

 wet condition. By producing deeper drainage and better ventila- 

 tion, artificial drainage promotes deeper penetration of the roots 

 of plants. 



