ORCHARD DRAINAGE, 



BY A. T. LINDERMAK 



An ice pitcher on the diuner table in mid-summer is an ilhistration of the 

 amount of moisture contained in the atmosphere at that season of the year. 

 Apparently covered with sweat, the pitcher shows that with its small surface 

 during the dinner hour a tablespoonful of water can be extracted from the air 

 coming in contact with it. This is one principal of drainage. 



A lampwick drawing the oil from the bottom of the lamp to the blazing top 

 is an illustration of capillary attraction. This is another principal of drainage. 



The well known law of gravitation, causing the water in the leach to perco- 

 late to the bottom is the third and last principle of orchard drainage. 



The commonly accepted idea that the prime object of an nnder drain is, as 

 its name indicates, to drain the water off the land, is entirely erroneous in our 

 estimation. The main benefit in the way of draining is in draining the atmos- 

 phere of moisture, not the land. Of course these remarks are not intended to 

 apply to drains laid for the express purpose of relieving some swampy or 

 springy place of its surplus water, but to nnder-drains laid on orchard lands. 



We believe in orcharding for fruit, not for woody growth, and while a cer- 

 tain amount of wood must be produced each year to promote health, yet we 

 believe this needed amount is much more limited than is commonly supposed. 



A law of nature which we have often noticed in fruit and forest trees is, that 

 whenever their growth is checked or retarded they at once bend their energies 

 toward the reproduction of their species by developing fruit buds. Now we 

 come to the place in our argument where a slight divergence is necessary in 

 order to make our idea clear to the reader. 



The summer of 1871 was noted for extreme drouth in this section (Kent 

 County) ; the cherry trees generally developed a wonderfully large amount of 

 fruit buds, but not a large growth of wood ; the winter of 1871 and 1872 was 

 remarkable for extreme cold and little snow. Mark the result: The spring of 

 1872 brought a large amount of blossoms on the cherry trees, and the early 

 summer an enormous crop of fruit, notwithstanding the extreme rigor of the 

 previous winter. We might cite numerous other instances which prove that a 

 limited supply of moisture during the growing season produce a large propor- 

 tion of well ripened fruit buds and a limited amount of well ripened wood. 

 Now if this premise be correct, we have the starting point. The next problem 

 is to ripen this large crop of fruit and produce the complement of buds for the 

 ensuing year, and at the same time retain the health of the tree unimpaired. 

 To do this nutriment is necessary, and we believe it to be also essential that 



