200 SOILS 



value for feeding than that which grows in wet 

 land, not only because the better grasses thrive 

 in the well-drained soil, but also because they 

 actually contain more nutriment. These and 

 other benefits of draining wet, shallow or hard 

 soils may be crystallised into one sentence ; drain- 

 ing increases the producing capacity of such soils 

 and enables the man who tills them to put 

 his crops upon the market at a lower cost of 

 production. 



WHAT KIND OF DRAINS TO USE 



Soils are drained in two ways, by surface drains 

 or by under-drains. Which method should be 

 followed is mainly a matter of expediency and of 

 thoroughness. Surface drainage is secured chiefly 

 by means of open ditches. The objections to open 

 ditches as compared with under-drains are numer- 

 ous and forceful. They cost more than tile drains, 

 both to make and to maintain. More soil must 

 be moved for surface drains than for under-drains 

 in order to make the ditch of the needed capacity 

 and to give the banks sufficient slope so that they 

 will not wash. Ditches need frequent repairing 

 and cleaning out, the sides cave in, they become 

 choked with plants, many of which may be noxious 

 weeds, and the soil wasnes in. 



Ditches take up much valuable space and hinder 

 the use of teams. In order to thoroughly drain 

 a wet field the ditches would need to be so close 

 and so large that they would occupy one-fifth to 

 one-sixth of the area. This is too much to lose 

 if under-drains will do just as well. Furthermore, 

 the loss of water from open ditches by evaporation 

 is very great. It amounts to from 40 to 50 inches 



