174 
American Agriculturist, September 15,1923 
/ 
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also 
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Getting Rid of Unproductive Wet Spots 
How to Install Drainage in Springy Places in an Otherwise Perfect Field 
M OST farmers are continually plan¬ 
ning on and making improvements. 
Some plan for improved appearance, 
some for greater convenience, while 
others count no change as an improve¬ 
ment unless they can see where a 
good cash return will be paid on every 
hour and every dollar expended. Just 
Cat-Tails, a Sure Sign of a Wet Spot 
now when we are going through a 
period of national unrest there is the 
natural tendency to neglect any im¬ 
provements which are expensive or 
which do not promise immediate and 
profitable return. 
Drainage has long been looked upon 
—and properly—as a most permanent 
improvement and 
a most profitable 
investment. 11 
has appealed to 
those who planned 
for better ap¬ 
pearance, greater 
convenience and 
a cash return. 
While the scarcity 
of labor and the 
difficulty of mov¬ 
ing freight may 
make it seem ad¬ 
visable to delay 
;he tile draining 
if e x't e n s i v e 
areas, there never 
was a time better 
suited to the 
drainage of wet 
spots scattered 
through the tilled 
land, a condition 
so common in all 
of the rolling and 
hilly sections of 
the' East. These 
jobs are small, 
can be done with 
the regular farm 
labor and for the 
time and money 
expended give the largest amount of 
drainage. Moreover, the clearing up of 
wet spots in otherwise dry land makes 
possible earlier plowing, better fitting, 
and obviates the expensive and exasper¬ 
ating experience of frequent turning, 
short bouts and last but not least, get¬ 
ting stuck in the mud. 
The drainage of hillside areas is 
sometimes a little more difficult to get 
right, than that of flat land. In all 
drainage work, it is most important to 
locate the source of the excess water. 
This done, all that remains is to plan 
for the best and most economical means 
of carrying it to a proper outlet. On 
a hillside, wetness will usually appear 
in one of two ways, which show them¬ 
selves either as wet streaks extending 
down the hill or as a series of wet spots 
strung along the face of the hillside. 
The former are due to springs. The 
treatment of this condition is to defi¬ 
nitely locate the spring, which can be 
done with a little digging. When the 
source of the water is located, tile 
should be laid, preferably across the 
slope, to carry the water off. It is 
important in cases of this kind to have 
the tile go all the way across the prin¬ 
cipal source of water, and to cover the 
tile for several feet with small stones 
(figure 1) so that it will be easier for 
By A. M. GOODMAN 
the water to get into the tile than to 
come to the surface of the ground. The 
long wet streaks that extend down the 
hill are made wet merely by the spring- 
water flowing over the surface and as 
soon as the spring is tapped the whole 
area will dry up. 
Wet spots often 
occur on or at 
the foot of hill¬ 
sides. It is not 
uncommon to see 
small areas far 
up on hillsides so 
wet that cattails 
and other marsh 
vegetation flour¬ 
ish in them (fig¬ 
ure 2). Others will 
be wet only for 
a few weeks in 
the spring, but 
long enough to 
prevent the fit¬ 
ting of the soil 
and the starting 
of the crop. If 
several such spots 
are on the same 
hill they will 
almost invariably 
be found to be 
practically on the 
same level. Let us study the source of 
the water in this case. Water that has 
fallen upon higher land has percolated 
through the more porous layers of earth 
until it has finally come to a stratum 
of clay, rock or other impervious ma¬ 
terial. It has worked its way along 
over this until it reached the point 
Covering- the tile with stones, where they are abundant, is an advantage, 
although not essential 
where the stratum it was following 
came to the surface, and there it flowed 
out making the familiar wet spots. 
The fact that much of the substrata 
is a plain, either horizontal or sloping, 
accounts for several of these wet spots 
occurring at the same level. Whetlier a century, 
the seepage is 
found on the hill¬ 
side or at the 
foot of the slope 
the remedy is the 
same. A ditch 
about two and a 
half feet deep, 
and with a fall of 
at least four' 
inches in 100 feet 
should be dug 
across the face of 
the hill so as to 
pass through the 
upper edge of the 
wet area and a 
tile placed in it. 
A tile so located 
will collect and 
carry away this 
water urTder- 
ground without 
its ever reaching 
the surface. One 
other type of 
drainage should be considered here. 
Some of our most productive land is 
undulating. The water flows from the 
knolls down into the depressions caus¬ 
ing very uneven drying. As there is 
usually ample fall on such areas the 
solution is simple. Lay a tile through 
the lowest places, branching if neces¬ 
sary so as to collect the water from ad¬ 
joining depressions. 
In all three of these conditions a 
three-inch tile is large enough. Nothing 
smaller should be used, however. In 
order to keep to desired grade it may 
be necessai’y to lay the tile deeper or 
slightly shallower, but for the most 
satisfactory drainage one should plan 
to have about two feet of earth over 
the tile. 
If any drain is to be successful the 
outlet must be kept clear and be 
screened to prevent the entrance of 
vermin. 
Covering the tile, or backfilling as it 
is commonly called, should receive care. 
The tile is placed in the ground to 
collect water. If clay or hardpan are 
placed around the tile, water will not 
pass through it into the tile any more 
readily than it will penetrate these 
soils when in other places. They are 
in fact about as impervious as good 
concrete. The topsoil, then, with its 
roots, sod and stubble should be placed 
directly over the tile as this will permit 
the water to pass and enter the tile. 
After such sod and topsoils as are 
handy have been put in, it is well to 
take a shovel or a spade and break down 
the shoulders of the ditch. This has 
the several advantages of adding to 
the depth of topsoil over the tile, 
covering the tile deeply enough to pro¬ 
tect it during the 
rest of the hack 
filling, and of 
making the top 
of the ditch wide 
enough so that 
the furrow horse 
can walk in it, 
should one care 
to complete the 
job by backfur- 
rowing with a 
plow and team. 
We are often 
asked whether it 
is advisable to 
cover the tile first 
with straw, paper 
or burlap to pre¬ 
vent dirt from 
going in at the 
joints. Our an¬ 
swer is that we 
have never found 
anything better 
with which to 
cover joints than 
a piece of sod. 
Where field 
stones are abun¬ 
dant some farm¬ 
ers still use stone 
drains. These 
require a wider ditch and in every way 
more labor than a tile drain. 
We have seen many stone drains 
that clogged after one or two years 
of service and we know of a few that 
have been in operation for over halt 
Wet Spots Cut Yields and Profits 
