LAWN BEAUTIFICATION 275 



There are at least two bad effects to be 

 expected from an oversupply of water. They 

 are: 



(1) An oversupply makes certain areas so 

 soft that they cannot be cultivated at all or at 

 least not until late in the spring. 



(2) Air, which is essential to plant growth, 

 cannot enter the soil supplied with a super- 

 abundance of water. 



Air is as necessary to the roots of plants as 

 water and it is upon this principle that all sys- 

 tems of cultivation and drainage are based. 



The complicated chemical changes in the soil 

 for the growth of the plant cannot take place 

 unless there is sufficient of both air and water. 

 Roots cannot exist where there is a super- 

 abundance of water in the soil. 



There are several systems of drainage which 

 will not be discussed here. I consider under- 

 drainage with common drain tile is the best sys- 

 tem for ordinary conditions, and it is with this 

 system that I have had most experience. The 

 discussion is given mostly from the viewpoint of 

 results on my own grounds. 



Small, well-burned drain tile was used on my 

 Santa Rosa grounds carefully laid with a slope 

 of one foot to forty feet and it has proven emi" 

 nently satisfactory in every respect for twenty- 



