The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-20
FARM DRAINAGE
OF VAST IMPORTANCE
The Planning of a Drainage System
Should be Done With the Same Care
fufness That is Bestowed on an Other
Permanent Improvement on the Farm.
Rx IOHN II RT.
BY John T. STEWAR

By JOHN i. STEW ARI.
The intelligence of the inhabitants and
the prosperity Of the country, in an agTi-
cultural region, are measured by the
character Of the works wherein Indus
trial Art has joined hands with Nature to
beautify and make fertile the Land, and
to adorn it with structures both pleasing
to the eye and giving evidence OF thelf
adaptedness to the purposes Tor Which
thew we're designed. If the buildings are
neat and attractive, lawns and shade-trees
well cared for, the fences straight ana
free from weeds, and the fields properly
cultivated, the passersby will speak OF
the country as being we'll improved; Dy
which it is understood that the people
are intelligent and thrifty, the soil pro-
ductive and the market good. But !: the
buildings are small and poorly built. the
yards and vacant places grown up, IN
weeds, the fences unsightly, and much OF
the land not cultivated, it is understood
to mean either that the country IS com
parativeiy new, the inhabitants lazy anu
thriftless, the soil unproductiye, or the
market poor. AS one or the other of these
sets of conditions prevails, the market
value of the land is high Or low. Every
where comfort. convenience and beauty
command a high price, as indicating pro-
ductive value in the lands and q reason
able income from their cultivation.
Desirable and attractive however as
may be these improvements they are by
no means the most important. There arc
others, prominent among which is the
drainage of wet lands, which add more
to r the f"ctdps enefzon Of the draihage i'm
LIN
provements are the location, initial cost,
probable permanence, and cost Of main
tenance. If the ditch could be located on
the other mans land, and the other man
required to pay for it, opposition TO
drainage would cease, and it would go
ahead regardless Of cost, and along the
lines of greatest permanence.
1t is not an uncommon thing for a
landowner to fight a drainage assess
ment, on land which has a market
value of from $40 to $50 per aere, and
at almost the same time buy another
tract of similar land, at the marked price.
His desire is to acquire more acres, under
the false idea that his prosperity will be
denoted by the amount of land in his
possession. He does not realize that che
acre of thoroughly-drained land may
bring him a greater income, with half the
acres. of the undrained land; or that it
could be acquired at one-third to one
half the cost of the newly-bought acres.
The kind, size and completeness Of The
drainage works needed in q given local
1ty, the methods of doing the work and
adjusting the costs. must be determined
practice in one place may not be practic-
able in another. The character Of the
ground, surface slopes. crops raised, end
value of land. all have a bearing on the
subject. In any locality the first consid-
Grafton is an outlet or channel by which
the water may be carried away. In some
outlet. In others, it may be necessary for
several landowners to band together and
construct a channel, of sufficient size
ana depth to serve as the main outlet
of a network of bitches which will give
reIlef during wet years. In many places
where such outlets exist or are already
completed, crops have suffered from an
excess OF water in the Immediate vicinity.
Tor the reason that the water from the
cultivated fields could not readily escape.
Consequently for complete drainage. it
Is necessary to have. on the individual
farm a thorough system for collecting
the water as it falls and carrying it to
the main outlet.
The size of tile to be used is depend-
eht on surface conditions. grade or fail
per 100 feet, area drained, and the out
LET.
An area from which all the water
must be removed by the under-drain will
require larger tile than one which l.;
thoroughly surface drained.
Natural conditions render it necessary
10 lay tile on such grade or fall. per 100
Ieet, as Is available. Tile have been laid
on grade as low as half ane inch per 100
feet. and occasional short sections have
been put in level; the depth Of the flox
line of the tile below the surface being
ne head which caused he flow. The
ilgher he grade, he larger he lie r
quird o drain a eivn ara.
Calves Sucking Ears.
one OF the most difficult habits to
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