The Cornell Reading-Courses 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

 NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



Entered as second-class matter at the post office at Ithaca, New York 



B. T. Galloway, Director A. R. Mann, General Editor 



COURSE FOR THE FARM, ROYAL GILKEY, Supervisor 



VOL. IV. No. 78 



DECEMBER 15, 1914 



THE SOIL SERIES 

 No. 5 



LAND DRAINAGE AND SOIL EFFICIENCY 



Elmer O. Fippin 



The underdrainage of the soil in order to remove quickly the excess 

 of free water in the pores is quite as important as the practice of those 

 methods of tillage that collect and conserve the rainfall. In fact, the 

 starting point in such conservation is frequently underdrainage, which aids 

 in putting the 

 soil in such phys- 

 ical condition 

 that it shall have ' "^ 



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the maximimi 

 capacity for the 

 storage of mois- 

 ture. It also per- 

 mits the roots 

 of plants to pen- 

 etrate deeply 

 into the soil 

 where they can 

 readily draw 

 upon this stored 

 moisture. 



The necessity 

 for reasonable 

 drainage of the 



soil for the production of nearly all of the common farm and garden 

 crops is recognized by all persons connected with agriculture. Farmers 

 generally know that a saturated condition of the soil is unfavorable for 

 the growth of the staple plants. As to what constitutes reasonable 

 drainage of the soil, there is much difference of opinion. This fact is 



especially evident when one studies the farm land of the State in the 



[1819J 



Fig. 44. — View of system of underdrains placed at regular intervals. 

 Adapted to land wet throughout and on which intensive cropping is 

 to be practiced 



