WINTER MEETING, 1877. 50 



farms in the counties of Miicomb, Wayne, St. Clair, Livingston, Shiawassee, 

 where a man would be at a loss where to place his orchard if he had any regard 

 for the life, health and prosperity of his trees. 



There are many more that it is desirable to have the orchard placed in a cer- 

 tain location on the farm, but the soil is too low and wet ; and yet we see farmers 

 wasting money year l)y year in such i)laces by buying and setting trees in places 

 where trees will almost absolutely refuse to grow, or if they live make but a 

 sickly, pinched growth, and they laboring in vain to keep the vacant places 

 full. It sometimes seems as if men use good judgment in every direction but 

 this. 



But let us look this question squarely in the face, and see what is to be 

 gained, if anything, by orchard drainage, and firsi, let us look at the influence 

 on the land and crops. 



Almost every farmer has some general idea that thorough drainage of land 

 is beneficial; but if one has never seen the effect produced by the drainage of 

 some low, wet piece of ground by drains thirty feet apart, and three and a half 

 to four feet deep, he will be more than surprised. It will seem as if some fairy 

 with magic wand has touched it with a charm, and lo ! where only sedges and 

 Avild grasses, ferns and flags could grow, we now see fields of waving corn or 

 grains, meadows of beautiful grass, and all brought about through the agency 

 of drainage. And here let me say that much more of our land would be bene- 

 fited by drainage than most farmers imagine. 



If your lauds are not ready to work in thirty-six to forty-eight hours after 

 severe rains yon had better introduce drains at once. 



You may, perhaps, get frightened at the amount of water taken from the 

 field, and fear for the time of drought, but here you will be doubly surprised 

 for the crop over the drains will stand the dry weather better than the other, 

 from the greater capillarity of the soil suj^erinduced by the taking away of the 

 water before hand. 



The first benefit I notice, then, in regard to the soil is its greater porositv, by 

 which the field is made more pulverulent, easy to work ; and ac the same time 

 the soil aerified, that is, the water is rapidly taken from the soil, and the air fills 

 the interstices and induces capillarity when the dry weather comes on. You 

 are all familiar with the puddling of the soil that takes place where water has 

 stood and evaporated, so that the soil seems baked and compact in such hol- 

 lows, while on the ridges the soil is much more loose and porous, though of the 

 same texture. The drains make the whole even better than the ridges. 



Second, the greater warmth and quickness of the soil. Most of you are 

 aware that evaporation is a cooling process ; that to keep cool in the long sum- 

 mer days, we sprinkle our floors thoroughly with water, and the heat is absorbed 

 in the effort to convert the water into vapor, and thus the temperature in that 

 immediate vicinity is lowered. 



Yon have but to transfer this process to your fields and you can understand 

 why it is that wet fields are always cold, and why vegetation grows more slowly 

 there. Also why these fields are liable to late spring frosts and early ones in 

 the fall. But take away the water by drains and you avoid the large amount 

 of evaporation necessary to make the field tillable. You can often gain ten to 

 twelve days of time in the spring, and nearly as much more in the fall, and 

 thus make a crop which would otherwise be lost by frost. 



But why speak of the crops in an address on orchard drainage ? We ans- 

 wer, because farmers generally crop their land when the orchard is young, as a 



