AMELIORATION OF LAND 79 



being warmer, plants have the opportunity 

 during summer of maturing more quickly. 



It is found that stock are healthier on land 

 that is well drained than on land that is 

 water - logged, certain specific diseases in 

 sheep, such as foot-rot and liver-rot, being 

 more or less associated with, or, at least, 

 intensified by wetness. In the case of 

 pasture, it is found that when the surplus 

 water is withdrawn by artificial drainage, 

 poor plants, like sedges and rushes, have a 

 tendency to disappear, better plants, includ- 

 ing clovers, making headway amongst the 

 herbage. 



On dry land, also, a greater variety of 

 crops may be grown than on wet land, and 

 these crops may be utilized in a different 

 fashion. Roots, for instance, can scarcely 

 be grown upon land that is over-wet, and 

 if grown they can only be utilized by being 

 carted off the land and consumed at the 

 homestead, or upon some drier part of the 

 farm. Folding, for instance, which is such 

 a common method of utilizing roots on dry 

 land, is impossible on land that is overcharged 

 with water. Where land is distinctly wet, 

 the chief tillage crops are wheat and beans, 

 but when land has been drained this small 

 list may be extended to include mangolds, 



