GENERAL AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE. 7 
1 he type of low land which offers the greatest opportunity for 
drainage is included in the Poygan, Whitman, and Clyde Series. 
These types of land when thoroughly drained will all make 
excellent farm land, and conditions are such that most of this 
land can be reclaimed at a cost which will make the development 
profitable. The peat soils, on the other hand, require much 
more careful cultivation and fertilization after drainage, and 
much of this land also lies tributary to large streams which are 
sluggish in their movement, and the lowering of which is fre¬ 
quently necessary before the adjoining peat land can be thor¬ 
oughly drained. 
The drainage of some of the peat, therefore, offers obstacles 
greater than the drainage of the heavier soils. There are consid¬ 
erable areas of peat land, however, which can be readily drained, 
and on which drainage enterprises are now under way. The 
completion of these various drainage enterprises will add a lanre 
acreage to the tillable land within the county. 
Most of the marsh land within the county is still unimproved, 
and the chief use which is being made of it is for pasture and 
to some extent for marsh hay. 
Where areas of low land include several farms, the owners 
can readily form a drainage district, and sell bonds to pay for 
the improvement. This is the method which has been used, and 
a number of drainage districts have already been established 
in the county. I 11 this way, the cost of the drainage can be 
spread over a number of years, and can actually be paid for 
from the products of the improved acres. Assistance in the 
development of such projects can, and in fact must, be secured 
from the state authorities, who pass upon the possibility of the 
project before the state permits the organization of a drainage 
district. Where the areas of marsh land are small and confined 
to one farm, and where there is sufficient outlet, the farmer can 
install his own tile system without the co-operation of adjoining 
land owners. This has been done on a number of occasions, yet 
there are thousands of acres in small tracts which have not been 
improved. 
For a more detailed discussion of drainage, see bulletins 284 
and 309, Wisconsin Experiment Station. 
