DRAINAGE 



turn may be expected from further investment. 

 Almost without fail will he become an earnest 

 advocate of under drainage. 



Where Returns are Largest. The total area 

 of land needing drainage is immense. Swamps 

 form only a small part of this area. Yields of 

 much old farm land are limited by the excess of 

 water during portions of the year. As land be- 

 comes older, the area needing drainage increases. 



The owner of wet land does well to gain his 

 first experience in a field where a swale or other 

 wet strip not only fails to produce a full crop, 

 but limits the yield of the remainder of the field 

 by delaying planting and cultivation. This double 

 profit often is sufficient to repay cost in a single 

 year. 



Material for the Drains. Doubtless there are 

 places and times when stone, or boards, or brush 

 should be used in construction of underdrains, 

 but they are relatively few in number. Such 

 underdrains lack permanency, as a rule, though 

 some stone drains are effective for a long time. 

 If drain tile can be obtained at a reasonable 

 price, it should be used even in fields that have an 

 abundance of stone. Its use requires less labor 

 than that of stone, and when properly laid on a 



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