Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-17
UNDERTAKING..
Some Reflections on tbs Practice of Drain.
ing Farm Lands.

ing Farm Lands.
Whenever an unusual drought oc-
ours, and whenever devastating floods
prevail, some writer is pretty sure to
breach the theory that our system of
undertaking is the cause of the diff
Guilty. The argument is that the lines
of pipe underground carry off the water
too rapidly and too thoroughly and
prevent the storing of water in the soil
for use in time of need. Undoubtedly,
as the country becomes settled and the
original forests are cleared off, the
water runs away moro rapidly than in
the early days. Cultivation, especially
deep ploV ng, breaks up the natural
water courses. AS the shade of the
forest disappears, the effect of sunlight
and tillage is to rapidly decrease the
amount of vegetable matter in the soil.
A crust forms on the surface, over
which rains and melting shows rush
into creeks and rivers, destroying large
amounts of property.
The evil is undeniable; but we hold
that the system of undertaking is not
responsible for it, and is in fact its most
efficient corrective. 1t is a great mis-
take to suppose that on a long Guilt
waited field deep undertaking causes
the water to run off more speedily or in
larger quantities after a heavy rain, or
at other times when there is liability to
floods. Drainage deepens soils and in
creases their absorptiye capacity. To
the extent it does this it restores soils
to the mechanical condition that they
had when the country was new. The
great bulk of water in new settlements
is held in the soil, not on it's surface;
or, if held in the latter condition. it is
at the expense of malarial fevers, which
are worse than the evils of drought and
flood.
1t is a popular mistake to suppose
that the bulk of uncleared new land is
undrained. Except in Dogs and
swamps, which settlers always avoid
when they can, there is a natural sys-
TEN OF undertaking through the
channels opened by decaying tree
roots, through which surface water per-
colates very much as it does in the
artificial underdrains. On an undrained
surface hardened by long cultivation
water runs off rapidly; and it is here
tlldt AOOuo dl0 "OoG 4ihC1y W OCCuf. LII
an experience of many years we have
uniformly found that deep underdrain-
ing caused the water to run off slowly.
It soaks into the soil, and this requires
time. The underdrain only takes the
excess of water above the point of sat-
uration. 1t is something like absorb
ingwater from the pressure of a sponge
as compared with the same quantity
passing off from a hardened, smooth
surface. --7
The effect of deep underdrainsi is very
different from that of large and numer-
open drains. These last do help
the water to run off rapidly, while the
underdrain retards it. The draining of
a bog or swamp where there is no out
let except as water dries out may some
times cut off the source of a springs;
but, if it does, the remedy is easily ~.
piled. Dig a deep hole o well in the
line of the underdrainw which it may run
through. This will hold a reservoir of
much better waterthan can be got from
the bog. and as good as from any
spring that finds its source in it. At
all events we car not afford to main.
tain swamps, with their %unhealthful
malaria, as a e of keeping up our
water supply.-M. Y. Independent.