The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-01-28
FARM, FIELD And ORCHARD.
Reasons For Draining Lands.

i Reasons For Draining Lands.
A Canadian monthly called "Farm-
Ing" publishes the following from Mr..
Mungo McNabb, of Ontario, who has
laid oyer eight miles of drains on his
own farm, with constant improve
ment in the crops yielded as the conse-
quence:
At the present period in our agricul-
tural history, when we are all studying
how bsst to produce a larger quantity
and a better quality of farm products,
if we were to ask ourselves what are
the essentials necessary to the Success
full production Of crops, we should GER
tainly answer; Drainage, tillage and
| manuring."
The first place, however, must be
given to drainage, for every one will
admit that in order to grow crows sue
cessfully, we must have dry soil.
There are people who will still assert
that draining heavy clays will injure
them; and to any one who is unac-
quainted with the effect of draining, it
appears to be a contradiction to state
that drained land is drier in wet wealth
er and more moist in dry weather than
undrained land; but experience proves
this to be the case. The object in drain
ing is not to get the water off the land,
but to get it to pass through the land.
This is i'm order that the soil may have
the opportunity of catching hold of and
retaining what fertilizing constituents
of the water the soil does require may
not pass off with the water through the
drains.
Also, when the water passes through
the soil it leaves perforations or chan
nels through which the air is enabled
to penetrate the soil and act upon the
vegetable matter contained therein,
and render it available for plant food.
On the other hand, in undrained land
the water is stagnant and fills up. all
the pores of the soil, and the land re-
mains cold; also the heat which is in
the atmosphere above cannot get into
the soil until the water in the soil is
evaporated; hence, we find that the
temperature of undrained soils is lower
than that of drained soils. Careful ex-
periments conducted in England have
shown that there is difference of seven
degrees of temperature in favor of the
drained land.
The advantages we gain from drain
ms are the following:
l. It enables us to work our land
much earlier in the spring. The bene-
fit which is to be gained from early
seeding is evident to every one in this
country of short seasons. Experiments
have shown that the crop obtained
when the seeding is done early is very
considerably greater than that obtained
when the seeding is done ten. days
later.
2. After heavy rains in summer our
land dries more rapidly when drained
than when undrained, and this allows
our hoed crops to be cultivated more
thoroughly, and causes our grain crops
not to be liable to rust or blight.
3. Our crops are less liable to be in
jured by summer frosts.
4. We obtain an earlier harvest and
better quality of grain.
5. When we grow fall wheat it is
not so liable to be heaved by the action
of the frost; also we are more likely to
secure a catch of clover, and the liabil-
ity of the clover to heave is almost en-
tirely overcome.
6. On heavy clay soils tillage is rem
dered much easier, as nothing is more
| injurious to these soils than to work
| them while they are in wet condition.
7. On drained soils manure gives
much better results than on undrained
soils; it can be applied on the surface,
and its fertilizing constituents are
washed down into the soil by rain.
8. If our land is drained, we can
have greater comfort in all our farm
operations than we can have if our land
is undrained, and therefore in wet
| weather heavier and more sodden, and
| in dry weather harder and more i'm
pacted, than it ought to be. For SINH
lar reason the health of all our farm
animals and also of ourselves is better
on drained than on undrained land.