TILE DRAINAGE 139 



tached, enables us to see that the crops on our beds never 

 suffer from a lack of water ; neither is the soil ever tramped 

 down so as to prevent the roots from being able to " breathe 1 ' 

 through the loose soil. It may be that this is not exactly 

 the way to express it, but you all know what I mean. I think 

 one reason why we can not compete in fruit-growing with 

 California is because we have not the loose porous soil they 

 have. We can, however, have it more loose and porous than it 

 now is by keeping it at all seasons of the year free from stand- 

 ing surplus water. In our locality I have often seen a field 

 plowed, harrowed, rolled, and cultivated until it was light, 

 loose, and fine, and in just the trim for putting in the seeds. 

 Very likely it had been just rolled the last time preparatory 

 to running over the seed-drill. Now, if, at this stage of pro- 

 ceedings, a tremendous rain sets in, so that the whole field is 

 made like mud, it will settle down so hard and compact that 

 the chances for a good crop are just about ruined. The only 

 real remedy for such a state of affairs is to wait until the 

 ground is dry enough to plow and harrow and roll again.* 

 If, however, the field had been thoroughly underdrained , the 

 rain does comparatively little damage. With surface drains, 

 such as I have mentioned, the damage is still less ; but the 

 owner must keep off the ground with his team and tools un- 

 til it is sufficiently dry to work. 



TOOLS FOR UNDERDKAIN1NG. 



Our friends may have noticed that some of the tools on 

 page 82 have not been described or mentioned. This is be- 

 cause some of them are of my own selection. Fig. 2 is a 

 Dutch hoe. One of my men, fresh from the old country, 

 brought such a one along with him. The others laughed at 

 it, and said Fig. 8 was a good deal better, and answered every 

 purpose. When it came to filling up the drains, however, 

 our German friend got his hoe (Fig. 2) and soon convinced 



*The delay, especially if it keep on raining, may be about as disas- 

 trous as to go ahead. 



