The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-06-12
Drainage.

Writing us from the Southern part of
Illinois Il correspondent asks US how to
drain ten acres which he wishes to convert
into market garden and TO tell him the
reasons why drainage benefits land. Anoth-
er correspondent also asks US to give an
article on drainage. We can answer both
correspondents at this time. Crops cannot
grow on soil that is constantly saturated
with water. Soil needs TO be moist, but
nothing more. If it is wet the air and sun.
shine cannot operate upon it and in II TO
causes necessary chemical changes, and
this prevents the deepening of the soil.
Wet land too, is cold and in that condition
cannot grow crops This leads us to notice
that drainage lengthens the season. Ia the
spring we must wait until the sun has
evaporated The water in low wet land. 1t
is Of no use to plant until that is done,
and hence we must wait for such land to
get into proper condition weeks after crops
have started up on high or artticially drain
ed lands; and when they start they may be
caught by the summers drOuths or the
falls frOsts and thus Utterly fail. Land
should be in such condition that the sun
will have nothing to do but 10 warm the
soil. 1t should not be burdened with the
IiSh vi V'uS VI NhlVl' 80 any
one who reads what tile drainers say will
readily see, there is wide difference in
practice and with some general rules upon
the subject, each one must be left TO eXer.
else his own best judgme Mt as 10 the size OF
tile, number of tile, depth at which 1t
should be laid, etc. If there is steep fall,
for instance, larger tile will be needed
than If the fall is slight. Tile that is laid
deep heed not be as large as le that Is
laid shallow, for it will not carry 50 much
water at the same time. Then again tile
ought as rule TO be laid at least three feet
deep but circumstances may make m eX-
ception We should aim To get below the
frost line, but this varies in different sec
tons, and the character of soil may be such
as not to make it practicable to go 50 deep
as the rule laid down suggests.
AS to the size, one of our most recent and
experienced writer on the subject, says that
| for drains not over five hundred feet long
a two inch tile will drain two acres; a three
inch tile five acres; if il is not longer than
one thousand feet, fouriach tile Will
drain twelve acres: five-inch tile Will
drain twenty-fi five acres, siX.inch tile will
drain forty acres and seven-inch tile Will
drain sixty acres. The reader will under
stand that this refers To mains and the cal
culations are made upon the supposition
that the Ind is fiat with fall OF three
! inches to the hundred feet and the tile Is
! laid three feet deep. Ii will he readily
suggested that the size may diminish to
wards the end and also that the longer the
line is the larger the tile should be. The
greater the fall, too, the larger must be the
Tile. A word Of caution, however, viii be
very useful at this point. II is TO be care
full and not lay tile that is too small II il
evidently better to have it too large than to'
small Many have had cause TO regret tina
they did not adopt larger size Of tile. We
should never advise the use OF tile that i
/ smaller than three inches.
Surprising you wish 10 drain. Do not dc
| II recklessly. IL is matter That should b'
carefully planned beforehand. If there il
sufficient fall Ia show which way the drain
should be laid, any body can devise sys
TEN. But if the land is seemingly perfect