272 LUTHER BURBANK 



A Practical Drainage System 



Hundreds of persons each season marvel at 

 the exceedingly varied and prolific crops raised 

 on the experiment farms — exclaiming, "What a 

 delightful soil you have!'* 



Their surprise grows when they are assured 

 that this productive land was originally almost 

 valueless for growing plants. It was made fruit- 

 ful by artificial drainage and irrigation. The 

 application of the simplest principles of regula- 

 tion of water supply resulted in transforming a 

 relatively sterile soil into one of the most fertile 

 areas of the earth's surface. The method by 

 which this was accomplished may be outlined as 

 offering a model that may be followed to advan- 

 tage in draining similar land anywhere. 



Probably half the low-lying soils in the United 

 States could be made more productive by drain- 

 age. Even if the soil of your lawns and gardens 

 is fairly productive, you may advantageously 

 consider the advisability of introducing a system 

 of drainage like that which we have employed at 

 Santa Rosa with striking results. 



The soil originally consisted of what is called 

 adobe, a black claylike soil, said to be of volcanic 

 origin, and this particular piece cracked so 

 during the latter part of the dry season, that it 



