The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-02-24
FARM AND GARDEN.
Drainage.

Oroluo8e.
II VIC were asked what will give better
returns To farmers tor money expended ia
carrying on their pursuits our answer
would be that IN the prairie states nothing
will pay as we'll az land drainage. And
VIC venture the assertion that every man
who has examined the subject will
readily assent TO the proposition that q
thorough system OF underdrainxge through
out Illinois would double the productive
capacity OF the stale. A report made
some time ago, published in the trausac
lions Of the State Board Of Agriculture
showing the whole number OF acres OF wet
land and their present value, together with
their value when Grained, IL sufficient to
subs, autiate this statement, even II more
direct evidence was not at hand. Butsuch
proof Is not wanting. And YET the effec.
Of drainage IN ameliorSting the soil, and
preserving an equal degree Of moisture by
means of the ventilation they afford, IS but
imperfectly com pretended by the mass OF
farmers who think only Of the necessity OF
removing standing water. As our friend
II. w. 8. Cleveland said, In paper writ
ten some time ago upon this subject:
They thiRk It unnecessary to provide art.
ificial means for removing tho water when
1t il not seen to sand upon the surface
bu, iu reality It Qn the great majority of
cases) Is held In the soil to such an extent
Is to oe greatly injurious to the growing
crops. II drain tile are laid at intervals of
forty or fifty feet, the effect will be that the
water from heavy rains will speedily pass
of, and the soil, instead of remaining
soggy and dead, will become friable and
easy to cultivate; and as the water runs
off its place Is supplied by AIR, which
keeps 1t light and porous, and IN times of
drouih imparis to it the moisture with
which, even IN the dryast times, it is laden,
and thus prevents ITS ever becoming baked
IN clOus, as clay land Is sure to do II IN
drained. The most obstinate clays are 30
affected by drainage that they crack and
crnmble, and become annually more loose
and frisble"
Mr.. Cleveland is an authority on drain
age, and we reproduce further matter on
this subject from his pen. The distance,
he says, at which drains should be laid
from each other depe.ds greatly upon the
nature OF the soil. In porous soil the
deeper the drain is laid, the farther 1t will
draw; the clay soils can not be thoroughly
drained unless the drains arc within twenty
or thirty feet Of each other, however deep
they may be laid; and in any case the fur.
Their the water has to pass through the soil
20 reach the dram, the longer 1t will be IN
doing 1t. In regard to the depth of drains,
three feet 10 the least that should ever be
admitted, and no man who has ever tried
three and halt or four feet will ever stop
at less without feeling Of selfreproach.
But In some cases the depth must nccessa
rily be governed by the amount of fall.
The first point to ascertain IS the lowest
point at which an outlet can be secured
without risk Of backwater by the rising OF
the stream or pond into which it empties,
for it is obvious that the grade OF all the
drains mus. be dependent on this, and the
folly of attempting to arrange any portion
TILL this is established IS PLAN.
A fall of three inches in one hundred
feet, or half an inch to rod, will suffice
for perfect drainage; but in oil cases of
slight fall it is OF vital importance that the
drains he straight and smooth. 1t Is de-
,irable to preserve as even grade as pos
,Ible, and it is of essential importance that
no hellops should ever occur where the
water would stand If not pushed on by
that which follows, Tor III every such in
stance 1t will flow out Of the joints instead
Of In, and will speedily become choked by
silt, which Is sure to be deposited in such
places. The mains should be from three
10 SIX inches lower than the laterals, so
that the latter may never have the water
yet back by standing water iu the main.
All writers agree that 1t Is best to have
Is few outlets as possible. Everywhere
Else the work Is protected by the earth
above it, but at the outlet II is exposed to
he action Of the frost, the treading OF cat
lie, the mischief Of boys, and the entry Of
reptiles, as we'll as the accumulation of
deposits brought down by the drains them.
selves. Iron pipes set IN masonry with
swing gates are the proper finish for all
important outlets. and it is obviously de-
desirable that they should be as few IN
number as posslb!e.-Prairie Farmer.