PART TWO— DRAINAGE 



CHAPTER IX 

 PRINCIPLES OF FARM DRAINAGE 



Regulation of Soil Water. All vegetation is dependent 

 upon the water or moisture in the soil for life and growth. 

 Water dissolves the plant food in the soil and enables the 

 plant to absorb and circulate it throughout its structure. 

 Water also being transpired or given out by the plant, has a 

 cooling effect, which counteracts the heat of the burning 

 sun and prevents the plant from being withered or burned 

 up. The amount of water used by plants for their most 

 satisfactory growth is called the duty of water. Nature does 

 not always supply water to the soil in quantities conducive 

 to the most satisfactory growth of the plant. Often there is 

 too little water, and many times there is too much. Land 

 is drained for the purpose of relieving the soil of the surplus 

 water. 



History of Drainage. The practice of land drainage 

 runs back to a very early date. Some of the most interest- 

 ing drainage projects of early times are the drainage of the 

 fens of England and of Haarlem Lake in Holland. Land 

 drainage by means of tile was introduced in Europe as early 

 as 1620, but it did not come into general use until about 1850. 

 Land drainage by tile was begun in the United States as 

 early as 1835, by John Johnson, a farmer of Geneva, New 

 York. These early drain tiles were made by hand. Tile- 

 making machines were introduced about 1848, and from this 

 time on, tile drainage increased rapidly. 



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