210 



T H E I R K I G A T I N AGE. 



depth. In time, the water makes its way down 

 far below the roots of the plant ; a drought 

 comes on and the plant suffers, because the 

 root system in its .early life could not extend 

 deep enough to enable it to find sufficient film 

 water from which to draw its moisture during 

 the dry period. 



For example, corn that was planted in a wet 

 soil in May will be found to have made shal- 

 low root development by August, when the 

 usual drought comes on, and to lack posses- 

 sion of a sufficient depth of soil to furnish 

 moisture for this trying time. On the other 

 hand, the well-drained soils that are dryest in 

 May usually have the largest amount of avail- 

 able moisture in July and August, because the 

 larger root development in this land places the 

 plant in contact with a larger amount of soil 

 during the late summer drought. 



The deeper the soil condition will permit 

 a tile drain to be placed the better the results 

 will be. The space between the water table 

 and the mulch at the surface represents the 

 territory in which the roots may obtain plant 



Low Swamp Land Waste Land in Every Sense of the Word, Since It Yields \o 

 Crop and Is a Menace to the Health of the Community. 



food. The better the drainage, the larger the supply of 

 food which the plant can use. This may seem contra- 

 dictory when one is reminded that the underdrain carries 

 away dissolved plant food. But the gains from drainage 

 are in every way far greater than the losses. 

 3. Drainage makes the soil warmer. Soil 

 that is saturated with water warms in the 

 sunshine very slowly, as compared with a 

 soil that is well drained, because the amount 

 of heat required to raise the temperature of a 

 pint of water one degree is about five times 

 as great as the amount necessary to raise the 

 temperature of a pint of dry soil one degree. 

 A drained soil warms up more rapidly in the 

 spring and permits an earlier planting. This 

 lengthens the growing season and insures 

 early maturity, which is an important con- 

 sideration, especially in the case of early 

 garden crops. 



The drainage of wet land is a paying in- 

 vestment and in many instances the increase 

 in the value of the crop is sufficient to pay, 

 in a few years, the entire cost of the 

 drainage. 



The accompanying photographs show the 

 result of drainage on an Ohio farm in Cham- 

 paign county. 



In general, there are two conditions of 

 land in Ohio that require drainage: 



1. Low lands that are flooded with water 

 from the higher surrounding land. 



2. Comparatively level fields or rolling 

 tracts of heavy clay soil on which the water 

 stands at or near the surface for several days 

 after a heavv rain. 



The Same Field, Growing a Fair Crop of Corn, One Year After It Had Been 

 Drained. It Will Require Three or Four Years to Get the Full Benefit of 

 the Drainage. 



For most low lands that are flooded from 

 the higher lands, the remedy is quite simple. 

 These lands are in the form of a basin, the 

 bottom of which is impervious. Drainage is 

 accomplished by cutting a deep open ditch 

 through the rim of the basin or providing a 

 large tile through which the water may 

 escape to the nearest stream. This may 

 be supplemented by lines of tile or open 

 ditches which will intercept the water as it 

 flows from the 

 higher levels, as 

 shown in the dia- 

 gram. 



Strips of low, wet 

 land may also be 

 drained by the use 

 of a line of tile 

 placed through the 

 lowest portion and /"'; 

 supplemented by/'.'. 



Strips of Wet Land May Be 

 Portion. The Parallel Lin 



Drained By Lines of Tile Placed Through the Lowest , 

 es at the Bottom Represent an Open Ditch or Creek. 



