260 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



to bring into use natural resources hitherto hidden and unavailable. 

 The question should be looked at in the following way: If the 

 farmer own the land he must pay the taxes, keep up the improve- 

 ments, and procure the necessary help and implements for cultivat- 

 ing it. If there is land which he cultivates at a disadvantage, be- 

 cause it is too wet to yield a full crop, or possibly yields none at all, 

 proper drainage will cause this land to yield a full crop without the 

 expenditure of any additional labor, seed, or capital, and the entire 

 increase may properly be regarded as the profit of drainage. (F. 

 B. 187.) 



Construction of Open Drains. Ditches upon rolling land 

 may differ from those on level land in several important particulars. 

 Those for the former, having a grade which gives a rapid flow, may 

 be comparatively small and shallow. The outlets for tile-drains 

 may, if necessary, discharge at shallow depths, since the lateral slope 

 of the land is such that the drains may be laid at the desired depth 

 only a short distance from their outlets. They may have narrow 

 bottoms, since the velocity of flow is sufficient to scour and deepen 

 them. In level land, however, it is often necessary to provide for 

 practically the entire drainage, with but little assistance from the 

 natural slope of the land. The depth of ditches with grades of from 

 1 to 4 feet per mile should ordinarily be not less than 6 feet and the 

 bottom width not less than 4 feet. The side slopes in loam or clay 

 soils may be made at an angle of 45, or what is called a slope of 1 

 to 1. Where the soil is loose and sandy, the slope should be 2 feet 

 horizontal to 1 foot vertical, called a slope of 2 to 1. Ditches ex- 

 cavated with teams and scrapers can not be profitably made with 

 slopes less than 2 to 1. 



'The well-known method of making ditches with a plow and 

 scoop scraper need not be described. Where the earth is sufficiently 

 dry to afford a footing for teams and for the operation of the plow 

 and scraper, it is an economical method of making ditches. A large 

 part of open-ditch work must be done when the ground is wet and in 

 swamps under conditions where it is impossible to use teams. It is 

 also necessary at times to make deep excavations, where water is 

 sure to be encountered and where the earth is of such a character 

 that it can not be handled by teams and scrapers. 



There are machines which have been tried and found adapted 

 to the work where the ordinary scraper can not be employed. For 

 the making of small and shallow ditches what is known as the cap- 

 stan ditch plow is used in some localities. It is an immense plow, 

 which makes a ditch by cutting and throwing the earth from the 

 center each way, its action being similar to that of a common sod 

 plow. There are wings which push the earth thrown up 3 feet away 

 from the edge of the ditch, leaving it in a large, continuous ridge 

 on each side. The plow is pulled by two capstans, each of which is 

 turned by a team of horses. 



Underdrainage. The history of drainage shows that a great 

 variety of methods and materials have been employed in the work, 

 many of them very effective and all of them proving the value of 



