Drainage and Larger Crops. 



455 



adjoining land. Drains arranged in low or springy places will generally 

 greatly improve the productiveness of the land at a small expenditure 



per acre. 



Returns from drainage. 

 There are two classes of returns from drainage. One has to do with 

 the healthfulness of a region, the other with the money income. It is 

 especially to be remembered that the land in need of drainage is just the 

 land which, when drainage is established, gives the largest crops. Some 

 of the most productive lands of the country at the present time are the 

 lands on which drainage was necessary. 



Fk 



375. — The result of poor drainage in a peach 

 orchard. Many trees missing. 



Effects of drainage. 



The effects of drainage, as was indicated above, are numerous and far 

 reaching. Seven fundamental beneficial effects may be mentioned here : 



1. Drainage removes the excess or gravitational water. — that is 

 the water which is free to move under the influence of gravity. It 

 should be remembered that all the water which flows away in the 

 drain would be directly injurious if not removed. 



2. Drainage firms the soil. A wet soil is soft and miry. The 

 water acts as a lubricant to the soil particles, permitting them to 

 move freely so that they will suj^port very little weight. This is 

 especially inconvenient in all cultural operations. 



