372 BOAKD OF AGlilCULTUKE. [Pub. Doc. 



2. Massachusetts possesses a very large area of swamp and marsh 

 land, — in many cases extremely well located as regards facilities for 

 market and for transportation to market. To drain our most ex- 

 tensive swamps and marshes in a satisfactory way will require a care- 

 ful study of the situation and the adoption of comprehensive and 

 carefully considered plans. It will be necessary, therefore, for the 

 numerous small holders to work together co-oi3eratively, or that the 

 small holdings be united, in order that the new improvements may 

 be economically carried out. 



3. Besides these swamp areas, there exist almost all over the State 

 places in many of the fields now under cultivation where the product 

 is inferior both as regards quality and quantity, on account of imper- 

 fect drainage. In these relatively unproductive portions of fields 

 already under cultivation, the work of drainage should in many cases 

 begin. 



4. The markets of Massachusetts are probably unsurpassed in any 

 part of the world; certainly they are unsurpassed in any part of this 

 country. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the product of the 

 wide areas at present unproductive will find a profitable market. 



The Beneficial Effects of Drainage. 

 The principal benefits following the drainage of land suffering from 

 excess of water may be stated as follows : — 



1. It deepens the soil. As has been stated, only that portion of the 

 soil is accessible to the roots of most of our valuable plants which lies 

 above the water table. If the average depth of the water table below 

 the surface of the ground during the growing season is two feet, the 

 total mass of soil through which the roots extend and on which they 

 can feed is only one-half as great as it would be if the average level of 

 the water table is four feet below the surface. Reducing the level of 

 the water table in one sense, therefore, enlarges the farm. True, the 

 soil at the lower levels may not be equally rich in the elements of 

 plant food with that nearer the surface, but its contribution in that 

 direction is nevertheless important. Some of the readers of this paper 

 may ask the question whether the roots of our ordinary plants will 

 penetrate to the lower soil levels rendered available by drainage. Upon 

 this point the writer has not the slightest doubt. The roots of most of 

 our common crops penetrate far more deeply than is generally sup- 

 posed, and there are probably few if any among the common cultivated 

 crops that will not send roots to a depth of at least four feet, provided 

 the soil conditions are favorable. 



2. Drainage promotes more perfect aeration. The air cannot pene- 

 trate a water-logged soil. The action of the oxygen of the air upon the 

 various soil constituents is favorable in several important directions. 



(a) It promotes oxidation, and gradually renders soluble and avail- 

 able numerous soil compounds which but for this action must remain 

 inaccessible to the growing crop. 



