16 TILE DRAINAGE. 



tiles handled practically all that water down through the soil, 

 and left the ground not at nil qn1lied by surface wash, and 

 without material loss of fertility from manure or soil. But 

 how fearful would have been the loss and damage except for 

 the tile drains! Think of the immense amount of water 

 that fell on the 20 acres in those 5y days ! Almost exactly 50 

 Ibs. on each square foot, or 21,780 tons on the 20 acres- 

 enough to take a man and team 3 years to cart away, draw- 

 ing 21 tons say half a mile each working day ! Without the 

 tile drains, ali this water must have run off from or remain- 

 ed stagnant on the surface of an already over-saturated soil. 

 If much of it had remained on it, as in case of level land 

 with depressions, it would have wholly ruined the wheat, 

 and terribly "puddled" the soil and damaged its texture. 

 Or if it had run off rapidly, as from quite rolling clayey soil 

 not tiled, it would have gullied the land badly, and caused 

 immense loss of fertility by washing away the soluble ele- 

 ments of plant food and even much of the soil itself. But 

 with the soil thoroughly tiled it did not gully or wash ; and 

 the water, filtering down through the soil to reach the 

 drains, nearly three feet deep, left these soluble elements in 

 the soil as food for the wheat and future crops. The wheat 

 " survived the flood" in fine condition. The drainage was 

 the Noah's ark that saved b >th the wheat and the fertility. 



Fourth. Removing the surplus water down through the toil 

 by tile drainage is best because it adds fertility to the soil 

 with each rainfall. That is, it not only prevents loss from 

 surface wash, but it actually secures gain from the rain. 

 Falling rain water, especially during thunder-storms, con- 

 tains some available nitrogen, small in amount, but valua- 

 ble. If the land is tiled, the soil acts as a filter, and arrests 

 this fertilizing matter and holds it just where plant-roots 

 can get it. 



Fifth. Removing the surplus water down through the soil 

 by means of tile drainage helps to warm the soil as well as 

 dry it, giving best condition for plant-growth. It warms it 



