Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-02-25
STATE ENGINEER
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capillary water thus creating a stor
age of water that cnn be used in time
of drought The experiment static'
at the agricultural cNllege has eX
norimented along this line and ha!
found that the capacity for holding
water of the first three feet of typi
cal Red river valley soil is sixty-five
and five-tenths per cent Of its vol
ume, hut also find that in the condi
ton most favorable to plant growth
it should contain only thirty-two pei
cent of it's volume.
Soils that are completely saturated
with moisture do not warm up in the
spring until the water is taken away
by drainage or evaporation and since
it can be taken away more rapidly by
a drainage system than by evapora-
ton, it follows that the land that is
drained can be worked much earlier
in the spring.
C. G. Elliott, chief of drainage in
vestigation, United States depart
ment Of agriculture, in his book en-
titled Engineering for Land Drain
age" cites the following example to
show the direct money value to drain
ed land as well as the increased
healthfulness to the community
where drainage has reclaimed all the
waste land "The Indiana bureau of
statistics made an investigation of
the influence of tile drainage on
health and crops, selecting single
township in the state where drainage
was one Of the marked improvements
and taking period Of five years be-
fore drainage began, and five years
after most of the township had been
tile drained. BY consulting farmers
who live in the township during both
periods, they found that the average
ero2 Of wheat In the five years before
drainage was nine ard one-half BUSH
els per acre, the same land after
drainage for five consecutive years
produced an average of nineteen and
one-duarter bushels per acre The
average yield Of corn in the first five
years was thirty-one and one-quar-
ter bushels per acre, in the five years
after drainage the average yield was
per acre. The physicians who answer
ed calls in the township were re-
quested to report from their books,
and it was found that IN the first
five years there had been 1,48O cases
Of malarial diseases; in the second
period there had been only four hun
dred ninety cases of malarial d.
sease."
Having such statistics before us it
does not seem that there is any
further need of argument to convince
the most skeptical that drainage
does pay, not only in Increased wealth
but also in increased health and
happiness to our citizens.
Now, as to the knowledge and ex-
perience necessary in the design and
construction Of efficient drainage sys-
TENS. One Of the greatest reasons
why more drainage work has not
been an accomplished fact in North
Dakota is that most of our earlier
designed bitches were either design
ed too small or not properly located
to carry away the surplus water and
also to the fact thai after the main
ditch was constructe~ many of the
farmers did not realize that it was
necessary to construct farm laterals
to the main ditch.
In the early attempts to drain our
valley lands the highway bitches
were depended upon to carry off the
surface water with the result that
as the grading of highways were ex-
tended west to the sleeper western
slope the water was fastened down
on to the lower, more level land of
the valley and the highway bitches
0eing insufficient to carry it, spread
out over these low lands causing
much damage. Many of the farm
ers to prevent their lands from being
flooded by water from their neigh
bors higher land diked their own
causing the neighbors land to be
Hooded by back wa%er and instances
nave been known where culverts
have been willfully blocked which
accomplished the same results, viz:
a suit at law with it's heavy costs and
with the drainage problem still un-
solved.
1t is hard for some of our farmers
to understand why they should be
called upon to help pay for ditch
which takes away water from their
land that was brought on to their
land from their neighbors by reason
of the neighbors' land being higher
than theirs. This brings up the much
discussed question of assessment of
benefits and costs.
This is a very delicate matter to
deal with in cO.onerat tive drama 90
since there are so many different
opinions among interested land own
ers as to the proper distribution of
costs; frequently these opinions be-
ing biased by personal considerations.
Moreover, there is some truth that
the assessment Of benefits and costs,