SOILS AND CROPS. 



41 



Practice of Farm Drainage. 



Many of the farm lands in Canada 

 are well drained naturally, but others 

 are low lying and must be partly or 

 entirely artific^ly underdrained, or 

 else remain w^ and otherwise incap- 

 able of full production. The practice 

 of underdraining is now receiving bet- 

 ter attention than heretofore, but 

 many farmers are not availing them- 

 selves of its benefits for two chief 

 reasons: (1) Lack of sufficient know- 

 ledge of drainage operations; (2) in- 

 sufficient knowledge of the cost. 



Again, there are lands that are so 

 constituted physically as not to need 

 artificial draining. The following are 

 the chief costs for vnderdrainage: 

 Cost of Drainage (Ontario.) 



The cost of drainage varies with the 

 conditions. With convenient outlet, 

 clean soil, in the early summer while 

 the earth is still soft, drains can be 

 put in at from 30 to 40 cents a rod, 

 tile included, but later in the summer 

 or in digging that is difficult from the 

 nature of the soil, they may cost any- 

 where from 50 to 75 cents. PracticfU 

 ditchers sometimes charge even mor<' 

 than this, but these estimates are 

 based on operations of which we have 

 actual knowledge. We know of one 

 ten-acre field being drained four rods 

 apart at a total cost of $14.50 an acre. 

 Previous to this it was the wettest 

 field on the farm, was never sown 

 earlier than June, never gave more 

 than a half crop, and often not that, 

 and would grow only timothy and oats. 

 Since being drained it is the second 

 driest field on the farm, has never 

 but once been sowed later than April, 

 always gives a full crop, and wili 

 grow successfully anything that can 

 be grown on the high land of the farm. 

 It is a pleasure to work the field now. 

 If the reader will just figure out the 

 difference in value between a half 

 cfop of oats or timothy and a full 

 crop of wheat or other grain, he will 

 find that those drains were not long m 

 paying for themselves. This drainage 

 was done twelve or fifteen years ago 

 when labor was cheaper than now, but 

 on the other hand the drains were put 

 closer together than most soils de- 

 mand. Perhaps $17 to $20 per acre 

 would fairly represent the cost per 

 acre, in average conditions at the 

 present time. — Drainage Department. 

 Guelph, Ont. 



Depth and Distance Apart, 



A mistake that some often make Is 

 that of putting their drains too shal- 

 low. This arises from not understand- 

 ing fully the action and function of 

 the drain. To begin with, why is it 

 necessary to drain? Because the roots 

 of plants cannot live and thrive in soil 

 containing excessive water. This 

 being so, we must next ask how deep 

 do the roots naturally go in the soil 

 where the conditions as to drainage 

 are perfect? If they go six inches 

 only, then it is sufficient to drain our 

 soil on the surface alone. If they go 

 three feet deep, then for best results 

 we must drain three feet deep. But, 

 again, how deep do they go? This 

 varies somewhat with the crop, but 

 the roots of com, winter wheat, oats, 

 barley and clover, some of our staple 

 crops, penetrate at least from three 

 to four feet in average field conditions. 

 Then how deep should we drain? PYom 

 three to four feet in order that the 

 roots of these crops may have full op- 

 portunity to penetrate the soil. It 

 may be suggested that two feet would 

 be sufficient for the early needs of the 

 crop, and that as the season advanced 

 the water would naturally recede far- 

 ther below, thus giving the roots 

 plenty of space. This argument would 

 have sdbie weight but for one fact: 

 the "water-table" in drained land is 

 not level, but curved. If, in a field 

 that is underdrained, one were to dig 

 a series of holes four feet deep every 

 ten feet between two drains, and if 

 after a heavy rain he were to ob- 

 serve the water in the holes for a 

 day or two, he woiJd find that In a 

 very short time no water remained in 

 the hole at either drain, but the one 

 situated midway between the drains 

 would stand full for a long time, and 

 the others would have less and less 

 in them as he approached the drains, 

 thus showing that the water-table is a 

 curved surface, beginning at either 

 di-ain and rising between. How fast 

 does it rise? That varies with the soil 

 and with the time since rain. In a 

 clay in fairly good condition, when 

 flow in drains begins to lessen, it will 

 be found that the water rises 1 foot In 

 about 25: in loam, 1 foot in 33; lA 

 lighter soils the rise will be slower 

 still. The closer the drains are to- 

 gether the less the height of the crest 



