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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



LAND DRAINAGE. 



Nothing more important, nothing more neglected 

 among the most essential lines of agriculture, says Dr. 

 Knapp in The Rice Journal. Soil is composed of a 

 great number of exceedingly fine particles of irregular 

 form, having small spaces between them, as in piles 

 of cobble stones. In moist soil these earth particles 

 are covered with a thin film of water, which is ample 

 for vegetation. When the soil is saturated the spaces 

 between the particles are filled with water. Complete 

 saturation excludes air, prevents the formation of plant 

 food and tends to acidity of soil. This standing water 

 in the soil must be removed or profitable crops of 

 other than water plants can not be produced. Without 

 drainage the roots of our cereals are prevented by the 

 standing water from penetrating the soil deep enough 

 to withstand drouth. By capillary attraction the sur- 

 plus water is brought to the surface and it evaporates, 

 leaving a slight film of alkali, which in time becomes 

 a menace to plant life, the mechanical condition of 

 the soil is injured and the particles are left in an 

 adhesive state, breaking into clods when plowed. 



The coast country of Texas and Louisiana, for fifty 

 miles inland is mainly underlaid with a stiff and semi- 

 impervious subsoil. The soil is a rich clay loam or a 

 good sandy loam, and would be very fertile if it were 

 it not for the surplus water in the soil. It is idle to 

 recommend the general prairie farmer in this coast belt 

 to plant fruit trees or corn or potatoes and general farm 

 crops. He can raise rice and some grasses, and on 

 selected spots a variety of crops. Here is a genial cli- 

 mate, a superb soil, an abundant rainfall, and all the 

 conditions, except one, essential to the most luxuriant 

 plant growth. That one exception is standing water in 

 the soil. Whenever a post hole twenty inches deep 

 shows water in the bottom, there is too much water in 

 the soil. The problem before our people is to remove 

 this water. With drainage, farms now considered of 

 little value, will sell quickly at a good price, because 

 of intrinsic merit. It is not meant by drainage to 

 construct a few surface drains this may be of some 

 service for this simply removes the surface water, when 

 a removal of soil water to the depth of three feet is 

 required. Where there is sufficient outlet, tile drains 

 do this work perfectly, but the expense is prohibitive 

 to the average farmer. Open ditching is the only prac- 

 tical plan, and for this purpose the main ditches should 

 not be less than four feet deep and the laterals at 

 least three feet, and these ditches should be of ample 

 width to carry the water rapidly away. One serious 

 difficulty arises from natural conditions. The coun- 

 try is so generally level that the creeks and gullies at 

 times are full, preventing any flow from drainage 

 ditches. The creeks, and at times the rivers, are in- 

 sufficient, by reason of their slight fall, to remove the 

 water in the time required. Again, many small farms 

 have no practical outlet deep enough for drainage, but 

 there is generally some lowest part on such farms which 



provides surface drainage. It is entirely feasible to 

 construct the drainage ditches to the lowest point, and 

 throw the water out by means of a wind mill. The 

 use of a wind mill for such purposes is practical and 

 economic; the cost of the mill in many cases would be 

 less than the cost of a main drainage ditch to provide 

 outlet. 



Our American people have given little attention to 

 questions of the use of economic power. We practically 

 limit the use of the windmill to elevating water from 

 a well ; the economic Hollanders use it for drainage 

 and irrigation. A windmill tower and pump of suffi- 

 cient capacity to remove all the water from a farm of 

 160 acres can be bought for $150 or less. 



With a complete system of drainage, general farm- 

 ing can be undertaken with success along the gulf coast 

 and it never can be a complete success without it. The 

 use of steam or gasoline engines for mere drainage will 

 be found in general too expensive. 



DRAINING IRRIGATED FIELDS. 



C. G. ELLIOTT, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A good system of drainage must be developed along 

 with the distributing system if irrigation is to suc- 

 ceed. A few examples will be helpful. Albert Igo, 

 near Greeley, Colo., has used a series of small wells 

 located at points where water appeared, sinking them 

 into the gravel which lies beneath the saturated soil. 

 The wells consist of curb boxes twelve inches in diam- 

 eter, made with eight sides from board one inch thick. 

 They are sunk from eight to twelve feet deep, the ex- 

 cavations being made with a large anger. 



The wells have underdrain outlets about three 

 feet deep, leading to a surface ditch. The water rises 

 at once in these wells to the height of the outlet pro- 

 vided and flows away. The soil, which is about five 

 feet deep, is underlaid with gravel, which through the 

 process of seepa-ge from higher lands has become- sur- 

 charged with water, which by reason of constant pres- 

 sure and continual supply from land occupying a higher 

 level, saturates the soil above the gravel. These wells, 

 put in at various points where water appeared, re- 

 claimed at small cost a field which had been given over 

 to grazing land on account of the saturation and alkali. 



This method of draining is regarded as highly suc- 

 cessful by the farmers of the vicinity who have wit- 

 nessed the reclamation of the land so treated. The 

 method is simple. Its efficiency consists in relieving 

 the pressure of the underground water at such a depth 

 that it will not continue to force itself upward against 

 the soil, and also in removing such a quantity that 

 the gravel stratum underlying the tract will provide 

 for the remainder. 



Drains upon another plan have been used by J. 

 Hetzel and others in the vicinity of Longmont, Colo. 

 A continuous line of underdrains is laid crosswise of 

 the slope along the upper border of the lands showing 

 seepage. These drains are laid five feet deep, which 

 is regarded as necessary to their success. The subsoil 

 is adobe clay, in which pockets of sand are encountered, 

 which interfere with the laying of the drains. The 

 drains are made of 1-inch boards in the form of a 

 continuous box, 6x6 inches in the inside, with no bot- 

 tom. These drains, complete, cost about $1 per rod. 



