The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1911-02-09

my VOICE 10 lEIOSG VIM uAN NAiNNpNSA
ing by wise and efficient methods to
impress upon the farmers of these
three great states of North and South
Dakota and Minnesota the great bene-
fits to be derived from better farming
methods.
/ am almost an old timer in North
Dakota, having come here In 1899 and
during the past twelve years have seen
the Red river valley lands increase
from a value of SIS to $40 per acre,
to from $50 to 800 per acre, and
within the next twelve years eX-
pect to see them reach a value OF
from $125 to $3.50 per acre.
But even better than this, l ex-
pect to see lands that are now held
at a low price for lack of proper drain
age become among the most valuable
because they viii be properly drained
and farmed.
II seems that what have to say on
drainage has already been said and re-
peated and published so many times
that IT is almost useless to use my
voice in this direction, but you know
that while we learn something from
the experience of others, we learn
the most from our own experience,
and whether man is an engineer, law
yer, farmer, physician or of any trade
or profession, the majority of us OBJ
tain the greater part of our educa-
ton through our own experience and
labors, and il takes much talk and
preaching from our friends and neigh
bors to convince us that our methods
Of doing are not as good as their
methods. So II Is in this matter of
drainage You farmers as a rule are
conservative. and might tell you that
by doing more drainage work or doing
1T better you could increase your an
nual yield per acre to such an extent
that 1t would in one season pay for
ithe entire cost Of the drain construc-
stion, you would not believe me. But
If your neighbor had drained his land
in a thorough manner and had &C
complished the result just stated and
YOU had seen with your own eyes that
It was true, then you would be led
to do likewise There are many known
instances where the increased crop
yield for one season on drained land
has more than paid for the cost of
draining
From statistics gathered from re-
liable sources it is shown that we
have had seasons in the Red river
valley, on the North Dakota side
alone, when the loss incurred by
the farmers owing to improperly
drained land has been 100000, while
the estimated cost of good and suf
ficient drainage system for the lands
on which the loss was incurred would
be about 100000. But this refers to
the valley as a whole and not to the
individual farmer. Some of our farm
ers have a mistaken idea that if we
drain the land that really needs it
we are taking moisture away from
the land that the crop will need later
on should there happen to be a dry
period in the growing season, or in
other words, he thinks the water that
should be drained off. to enable him to
work his land better, somehow sinks
into the soil to be utilized by the
plants. This is fallacy that has long
since been exploded. When we see
water lying on top Of the soil in
pools, in a nearly level field that is
being cropped, We may be sure that the
"oLCA NGbAC 10 vel hASl anu lllcI TIE
plant growth is being retarded; the
water standing in this field gives evil
dence that at the level of this water
in other parts of the field we may ex-
pect to find the soil completely satur-
ated and as the grain roots cannot
go below the water table they neces-
sarily cannot obtain as much plant
food as though the water table were
lower. So then, the draining of the
land lowers the water table and there
fore increases the store Of plant food
which can be drawn upon. Further
more, when the level of the ground
water is lowered, then the plant roots
penetrate lower, and their decay causes
network of channels extending to the
surface through which the air circu-
lates, which channels carry fertilizing
gases and furnish oxygen to the roots
of the plants Of the next crop. This
fertilizing Of the soil makes it capable
of retaining more capillary water, thus
creating a storage of water that can
be used in times of drouth.
The experiment station at the agri-
cultural college has experimental
along this line and has found that
the capacity for holding water of the
the first three feet of typical Red river
valley soil, is siXty-five and e-tenths
per cent of it's volume, but also find
that in the condition most favorable
To plant growth it should contain only
thirty-two per cent of it 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
1t can be taken away more rapidly by
drainage system than by evaporation,
1t follows that the land that is drained
can be worked much earlier in the
spring.
An Example Cited.
c. G. Elliott, chief of drainage in
vestigations in the United States de-
partment of agriculture, in his book
entitled, Engineering for Land Drain
age cites the following example to show
the direct money value to drained lands
as we'll as the increased healthfulness
TO the community when drainage has
reclaimed all the waste land: "The In
diana bureau of statistics made an in
vestigation of the influence of tile
drainage on health and crop, selecting
single township in the state where
drainage was one Of the marked i'm
proVements, and taking period of five
years before drainage began and five
Years after most of the township had
been tile drained. BY consulting farm
ers who lived in the township during
both periods, they found that the av-
erage crop of wheat in the FIVE years
before drainage, was nine and one
half bushels per acre. The same land
after drainage for FIVE consecutive years
produced an average of nineteen and
one quarter bushels per acre"
THE aNerapn WELD Of nnrr IL, a. !.