138 RELATIONS OF SOIL TO WATER 



It may naturally be thought that crops on a drained elay 

 will suffer more in a season of drought than those on an 

 undrained clay, the quantity of water held near the surface 

 being undoubtedly greater in the latter case. This is not so, 

 indeed the reverse is found to be the fact. The roots of the 

 crop are indeed far more widely distributed in the drained 

 soil, and are thus far better able to obtain water. Moreover, 

 the movement of water is more speedy in a drained than in 

 an undrained soil. 



