1660 Report of Farmers' Institutes 



2. The tilth of the soil is improved and less cultivation is re- 

 quired to get the soil in condition for a crop. Drainage is the 

 first requisite for good tilth and the efficient use of tillage imple- 

 ments. Xot only can the land be worked sooner after each rain 

 but it can be worked more days in the year. Consequently a less 

 equipment of tools, teams and men is required to handle a given 

 area of well drained than of wet land. The waste of energy and 

 returns is especially large where there are wet spots. All the soil 

 i^ never in condition to work at the same time and the crop does 

 not ripen evenly. These conditions entail increased cost and re- 

 duced returns. 



3. Drainage does not remove any water which would be bene- 

 ficial if it remained. It removes the static water. On the other 

 hand the improvement of the tilth of the soil and the deeper pene- 

 tration of plant-roots make a larger amount of film water avail- 

 able to the crop. On drained land crops usually stand dry 

 weather better than on intermittently wet land. Go into the corn 

 field in August after a dry spell and one can pick out the wet spots 

 by the curled leaves. 



Xear the surface of the soil the fiuctuation in the moisture con- 

 tent is greatest. Deep in the soil the supply is more uniform. 

 Consequently the deeper crop roots can maintain themselves the 

 more uniform is their water supply likely to be. 



4. Drainage results in a higher average temperature of the 

 soil and in a quicker warming in the spring. The difi'erence in 

 warmth between sand and clay soil is due to their difi^erent ca- 

 pacities to hold water. Either kind of soil is cold and late when 

 saturated with water. A low temperature hinders the starting 

 of seed and growth. A drained soil may be eight or ten degrees 

 warmer than the same soil undrained. 



5. The supply of available plant-food is increased by the better 

 ventilation, higher temperature, deeper root penetration, better 

 tilth, better moisture supply, and the more active and favorable 

 bacterial growth in the soil, all of which conditions result from 

 improved drainage of a wet soil. The organisms that cause the 

 decay of roots and manure and those that use the free nitrogen of 

 the air are particularly afi"ected in a beneficial way. All these 



