VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 77 



FARM DRAINAGE. 



By Rollln W. Whitney, of Springfield, Vt. 



In speaking to you upon farm drainage, I do not claim to 

 present any new discoveries, for land drainage in some form 

 is as old as civilization. Roman writers upon agriculture speak 

 of draining and the remains of ancient drains have been found 

 in Italy and England which are believed to be of Roman ori- 

 gin. The Egyptians were past masters in the art of draining 

 and irrigation, when Pharaohs daughter found Moses in the 

 rushes. 



But notwithstanding the benefits which it is well known 

 we may derive from draining it is so little practiced in New 

 England that one might have to take quite a journey before he 

 would find an object lesson in draining. 



Whoever can control the supply of water in the soil in 

 effect changes the climate, makes the season longer and re- 

 duces the dangers of crop failure to a minimum. Thoroughly 

 drained land can be worked earlier in spring and more quickly 

 after a rain than the ordinary heavy soils that do not require 

 draining. Drained lands will also withstand drouth better and 

 there is practically no danger of over-draining, that is of 

 making the land too dry, in fact it will make the soil more porous 

 and cause it to retain a sufficient amount of water for a longer 

 time when it is very dry. 



It has been found that at the depth of seven inches soil in 

 which the stagnant water has been removed by underdrains is 

 from six to ten degrees warmer in summer than similar soil 

 which has not been drained. This makes a change of climate 

 equal to an elevation of from two to three thousand feet or we 

 may say adds two or three weeks to the length of the season, 

 which is of great value in Vermont where the farmer, each 

 year, has a race with the climate in his efforts to get the planted 

 crops in early enough so that they will ripen before the first 

 frosts in the fall. Grass roots under favorable conditions often 

 penetrate the soil to the depth of two feet, but if stagnant water 

 rises to within a few inches of the surface the rootlets will all 

 be stopped there as though met by a solid rock. No valuable 

 forage plant will grow where the soil, or the subsoil, contains 



