Huntsville gazette., 1889-01-26
DRAINAGE OF LANDS.
An Improvement for Which More
Claimed Than Is Reasonable.


Claimed Than Is Reasonable.
II may be said in general that the
drainage of land that is at any time too
vet for any farm operation is beneficial
to it. But, at the same time. there are
things which are beneficial that are
not expedient or judicious to be done.
Drainage is costly work, and the pre-
vailing "craze." we will say, for drain
ing has unquestionable led to a great
amount of borrowing, which, as the
proyerb AYERS, leads to sorrowing.
Drainage is one of those works which
should be thought of thrice before it
is undertaken, and the cost and profit
of it should be well considered before
It is begun, and when it is done it
should be well done.
The principal considerations in the
work of draining are the depth of the
drains and the size of the tiles. These
are the chief items in the cost. The
third foot in depth of a drain costs
twice as much as the first, and the
fourth foot half as much more than
the third. The first foot may be
plowed out, and the second foot may
be loosened by the plow SO as to be
quickly and easily thrown out by the
shovel. The third foot is dug with a
spade, and if a fourth foot is exca-
waited this must be so narrow that spe-
cial tools will be required and the word
will lbe very slow, or the whole ditch
must be widened. The business Of
drainage has gradually got into the
hands of the manufacturers of the drain
tiles in the Western States, and as the
greater part OF the money spent goes
into their hands, it is obviously desir-
able to them to increase the cost of the
work as much as possible. 1t is not
strange, therefore, that farmers are
recommended to putntheir drains down
four feet, Notwithstanding the doubled
expense, on the ground that the crops
grown upon land SO drained will be in
creased fully fifty per cent. This is an
instance, supposing the claim to be
well founded and the alleged increase
certain, of result that may be bene-
fetal, but which is by no means expedi-
ent, for the increased cost will scarcely
be repaid by the enlarged product, and
in truth, this enlarged product will in
many cases be illusory. There are
very rare cases in which four-foot
drains are necessary. Such deep
drainage has been declared failure in
England, where the land requires to
be drained much more than is needed
In our drier climate, and where the
evaporation from the soil is very
slight.
More is claimed for the drainage Of
land than is reasonable or certain.
The warming of the soil by the en-
trance of air into it through the drains
is one of these very questionable
claims. Very little air ever passes
into the soil in this way, and it has
never been observed that any current
OF air is ever apparent passing in or
out of the drains. The writer has
made many trials to discover this
alleged circulation, of air in drains.
but without ever detecting the slightest
movement. A flame Or smoke made
In the outlOts has never shown the
slightest indication of any current at
any time of the day or night in any
season. No doubt when the soil is
filled with water after a heavy rain,
and this water flows off through the
drains, air will gradually enter the in
terstices of the soil. and occupy the
vacant spaces, and, as far as this may
go, the effect will be to raise the tenn
perature of the soil in the summer, but
1t will have contrary effect in the
winter, when the soil is warmer than
the air. This aeration, however, is Of
very little account, for the roots do
not absorb the air, nor do they, as far
as is known, take in any carbonic acid
from the air, and if they take up any
carbon in this way at all the soil al
ways has larger supply of it derived
from the decay of organic matter than
it can ever obtain from the air.
Unless in exceptional cases drains
need not be made deeper than three
feet. 1t is true that four-foot drains
may be placed further apart than three
foot drains and dry the soil equally
well, but for all purposes the depth OF
three feet is ample. The distance be-
tween the drains depends wholly upon
the character of the land. If it is low
and receives a large quantity of water
from adjacent higher ground and the
soil is of clay the drains may be needed
at sixty-six feet apart, otherwise one
hundred feet will not be too much. In
such cases as this much benefit NAV
result from cutting a drain at the
head, across the land on the level, to
cut off the inflow from the higher
ground, and leading this water of
through the laterals to the main drain
at the foot Indeed, the writer has
known one in which a large tract OF
very wet land at the foot OF an extern
sive slope has been wholly drained by
one main drain at the foot of the slope,
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