The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1891-06-26

from soil and subsoil, by means O
open or closed drains. The term
drains being generally understood tc
apply to closed drains. Scientific in
vestigations are scarcely necessary tc
determine whether or not soil needs
drainage, as the requisition is plair
when land is seen to be filled with wa.
! ter which has no natural outlet OF
other way of removal except by evap.
Grafton. This process of removing
water is slow indeed, and becomes
slower as evaporation goes on, as the
receding water is greatly sheltered by
the surface of the soil from the drying
action of the sun and wind.
| When air is allowed free access to
the roots of plants the o. Of the at
mosphere acts upon the organic mat
ter, thus placing within easy reach OF
the roots an abundance of food. Nc
two things can occupy the same space
at the same time; when land is in a
saturated condition air and other
gases, necessary for plant growth must
in virtue of the above law be excluded
Warm rains that would give much
| heat if allowed to percolate through
the soil, is prevented from so doing by
the poor conductivity of the cold wa
ter as we'll as the diminished specific
gravity or weight of the warmer For
instance, water at 400 having posses
sion of retentive soil in spring will
not change its position in consequence
of the fall of warm rains in summer.
Unless removed by evaporation it will
remain stagnant during the summer
and will only give place to winter rains
that supply colder and heavier water
than itself. Not only are soluble in
gradients Of plant food to a great ex-
tent carried away by the surface wa
that are left are in such dilute solu-
tion that the plant must extract a
great quantity of it or remain scantily
nourished, very much like drinking a
vast amount of water to get a little
coffee. When ground is saturated
with water, manures, whether natural
or artificial, undergo decomposition
very slowly, as it is impossible that O.
can enter to combine with c. to form
CO., and instead of being broken up
into the requisit constituents of food,
acids are formed which are very per-
nicious to the health of plants. SO it.
appears that insufficient drainage,
therefore, deprives the roots of proper
nourishment, subjects them to chilling
temperature, and forces them to alb
sorb poisonous fluid. A few of the
advocated points in favor of drainage
are: l. The absorptive power of the
soil is increased. By this we mean
the capacity of the soil to absorb or
imbibe moisture, caused by the multi
plication of cracks or capillary tubes.
In low undrained lands, during the
warm summer months, when evapor-
alton takes place most rapidly, large
cracks are formed sometimes extend
ing to a depth of two or three feet, oc-
casioned by the shrinking of the land
as consequence of the sudden ex-
traction of water. When the next
rains come these cracks are filled up
somewhat by what we call the swelling
of the ground, until again by expos
ure to the sun and wind, cracks SINH
lar to those of the former season ap-
pear. The principle, that if small
cracks are good why not larger ones
better, will hardly apply here, mas
much as these SO called cracks repre-
sent the capillary tubes of the soil,
and, as capillary elevations and de-
pressions, when all other circum-
stances are the same, are inversely
proportional to the diameter of the
tubes, or, in other words, within cer-
tain limits the less the diameter of the
tube the higher the water will rise; by
capillary attraction it stands to rea-
son that the greater the cracks or
tubes to a less height will the water
be drawn. These tubes can be SO
large that scarcely any rise of the wa
ter is perceptible, and, on the other
extreme they can be SO small as to
prevent the passage of water. AS
Prof. Johnson says "Just as the
strands of wicking in a lamp must fit
neither too tightly or too loosely in
the socket" in order to the best capil-
larv action, so in the soil there is
certain degree of porosity which is
best suited to the lifting of water.