Drainage 85 



land into good condition, without great expenditure of 

 capital. The "run-down" character of a farm is usually 

 more a matter of dilapidated fences and buildings, weedy 

 fields and slovenly appearance, than of exhaustion of 

 plant -food in the soil. 



1. THE AMELIORATION OP THE LAND 



Land that is "quick" is in good physical condition. 

 It is finely pulverized, "mealy," mellow, deep. It is 

 almost useless to apply expensive plant -food to poorly 

 tilled and intractable land. The first efforts, therefore, 

 must be given to drainage tillage, the addition of fiber, 

 rotation. 



Drainage. The best drainage is that which is pro- 

 vided by nature ; that is, land which is naturally well 

 drained comes into condition more quickly, as a rule, 

 and is in more continuous good tilth than that which 

 it is necessary to drain artificially. However, the very 

 best results may be secured by a good system of tile- 

 drainage. Underdraining is practiced for two pur- 

 poses to carry off the superfluous water, and to im- 

 prove the physical texture of the soil. All low and 

 boggy lands need to be drained for the first purpose. 

 Very . stiff clay lands, which are normally dry and 

 hard, usually can be much improved in their physical 

 texture by a good system of underdrains. The philos- 

 ophy of this is simple. If water stands long in clay 

 lands, it tends to cement or to puddle the soil. If the 

 superfluous water is quickly taken off, however, this 

 cementing or puddling does not take place. The soil 



