DRAINAGE 
in surface ditches. This will generally 
require an engineer. Select land that is 
close to a market. Should be governed 
by the location of the land, its nearness 
to market, as to whether it will pay to 
drain. Locate the dykes so that the 
drains will discharge at low-tide. These 
dykes should be high, strong and wide, 
and provided with tide gates. Then the 
drainage area should have main drain 
and laterals leading to it. The rains and 
drains should remove the excessive sait in 
a couple of years, during which time the 
land may be pastured. Sorghum or rye 
may be used for the first crop. Cost of 
draining such lands will be about $30 to 
$60. 
River and Creek Bottoms 
straighten the stream, dyke the upper 
part of the flat lands necessary, clear the 
river channel of brush, deepen it if neces- 
sary, clear the land of organic matter 
where the dyke is to be built. The slope 
of the side walls will depend on the char- 
acter of the soil. They ought to be three 
feet above the high-water mark. They 
are ordinarily six or eight feet wide on 
the top. Sluice gates are necessary so 
that you can let the water out when 
necessary. 
Drainage of Irrigated Lands 
About 138 per cent of all the irrigated 
land in the United States, or about one 
million acres, is in need of drainage. The 
reason for this is the excessive use of 
irrigated water. The first appearance of 
excessive water is the appearance of 
swails and swamps, and later on white 
and black alkali, brought to the surface. 
The water table rises, and when it reaches 
to within several feet of the surface the 
alkali or soluble salts rise to the surface, 
the water evaporates and leaves this de- 
posit of salt. (See next article.) 
Remedy 
The best remedy is to drain the land. 
Lower the water table to about four or 
five feet below the surface. The seep- 
age from above should be intercepted and 
removed by a deep cut-off ditch. Use a 
second ditch if necessary, and then tile 
below as needed. The size of the drain 
907 
depends on the area above. It may be 
necessary to line the canal in places 
where the soil is gravelly. 
Kind of Drain 
It should be four to seven feet deep 
and may be open ditch. Box drains are 
often better than tile. Use the larger size, 
never less than five inches. Box drains 
should never be less than 6x6 inches, 
while 10x12 or 12x20 inches is often used. 
Tramp the dirt back into the trench and 
watch surface irrigation water to prevent 
it from entering the tile. 
Obstructions are more frequent in irri- 
gated land. Alfalfa roots have been 
cleaned out by dragging brush and wire 
through. Should leave a manhole to the 
tile every 500 feet. 
Arid soils are not full of water crevices 
and water moves in special underground 
passages. In planning for a drainage 
system, the first thing is to study under- 
ground conditions and lay drains to the 
water. 
Cost of Drainage 
First of all, we must know the num- 
ber and size of tile required before we 
can make any definite estimate. 
Items of Expense 
1. No. of Tile—-Lay direct to source 
of water and use no more than is neces- 
sary. 
2. Cost of Tile—3-inch, $16 per 1,000; 
4-inch, $20 per 1,000; 5-inch, $30 per 
1,000; 6-inch, $40 per 1,000; 8-inch, $60 
per 1,000. (Of course, the price of tile 
will vary at times and in different local- 
ities. The prices given above are for the 
local market.) 
3. Freight if Shipped—3-inch tile 
weighs 414 lIbs.; 6-inch tile weighs 11 Ibs. 
The cost of freighting tile is about 10c 
per 100 lbs. This is for small quantities. 
4, Hauling and Distributing—3-inch 
tile will run about 400 to the load, and 
6-inch tile about 175 to the load. Cost 
about $5 per team. 
5. Digging and Laying—$2.50 to $3.50. 
Considerable tile has been laid in this 
vicinity for 40-60c per rod. This includes 
filling the ditch. 
