28 DRAINAGE 
as much ditching as you can. There is no danger of 
getting too many drains. 
Ditches give the proper temperature to the soil, pro- 
mote soil ventilation and conserve soil moisture. 
Most heavy soils are compact and cold, the tempera- 
ture in them is too low, and the soil ventilation too in- 
adequate to be conducive to plant growth. There is no 
room in them for plant roots to perform their proper 
functions. 
Lands improperly drained are slow in diwtae out, and 
seeding them is delayed beyond the proper season for 
planting, thus giving a shorter growing season. 
It takes more labor to till cold, compact, non-drained 
soils. All kinds of soils are benefited by drainage. 
Drainage, figuratively speaking, opens up the pores of 
the soils so that water from rains and snows will quickly 
enter and percolate through them, down to the drains 
rather than over the surface, preventing to a large extent 
the disastrous results of soil washing. 
Drainage will also prevent the standing of water in the 
low places of our farms and thus eliminate the soured, 
heavy soils found in such spots. 
The greatest advantage to be obtained by plenty of 
drainage is the putting of the soil in that condition of 
porosity, deepness and pulverization, as will prevent 
droughts as well as floods. 
In a thoroughly ditched soil, plant roots at once strike 
deep where they are safe from the onsets of summer 
droughts. 
The experience of years has been that well-drained 
