The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1920-04-29
Paper Read Before Pisr;on Chos

l5%%lHE TIDE of emigration which
Iraf&I caused most of our fore-fathers
9@dNSH westward and north-westward in
tl&.N search of agricultural lands took
no note of the vast agricultural possibilities
of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Mich
igan. One reason for this is that these sec
tons were heavily forested and that they
presented some peculiar difficulties which
caused the pioneer farmer to be rather diff
fdent about attacking them. The fact re-
mains that the cut over lands of these three
states with excellent soil and climatic condi-
tons for many farm crops and for stock
raising, remain as yet comparatively unset
tied and open for development. Let us dis
cuss one of the difficulties, which with proper
state aid can easily be overcome, that is hold
ing back farming in northern Minnesota,
namely soil drainage.
We are accustomed to think of soil as
just dirt, but when we study it carefully we
find that it is one of natures most complex
Laboratories, teeming with microscopic plant
and animal life. A normally fertile soil is
composed of fine parts, mineral matter,
which is really finely divided rock particles
worn small by the different agencies of wea-
thering; organic matter, which is composed
of decayed and decaying plants and animals;
soil air; soil water; and soil bacteria, which
are the microscopic plants which bring about
chemical changes in the soil and render the
plant food soluble and available for the use
of the plants. For soil to be productive all
of these constituents must be present in some
degree.
This brings us to the subject of drain
age and why it is necessary. All soil to be
productive must be drained of its surplus
water. Sometimes this is done by Nature
where the surplus water in the surface soil
is drained off by underground movements so
that plants can thrive. But where this is
not done we naturally must do it artifcially.
We will try to give you briefly the reasons
this is necessary.
In the first place the soil water, which
envelopes each soil particle with tiny film
of water and keeps the soil moist, should
not be confused with the surplus water. The
latter is carried in the spaces between the
soil particles and hence is of no use to the
growing plant 1t occupies the space in the
soil which should be occupied by soil air
and thus prevents the soil from being pro-
perly ventilated.
A wet soil is always cold soil and
therefore is the last to warm up in the spring
and the first to feel frost in the fall. I
have found, by actual experiment, IL de-
grees difference in the temperature six in
ches below the surface, in drained and UNI
drained soil in the same field in the month
of September.
The surplus water in soil prevents the
growth and activity of the soil bacteria
which are necessary to bring about chemical
changes and for the decay of vegetable mat
ter such as roots, stems and leaves of plants
which are plowed under, or the barn yard
manure which has been spread upon the
field and plowed under.
These bacteria also develop and multi
ply much more rapidly in a warm than in a
cod soil, which gives us another argument
in favor of drainage. Many of you are
doubtless familiar with the immense peat
beds and muskeg swamps so plentiful in this
state. These are formed solely because they
are too wet to decay and they never will de-
cay until they are underdrained so that the
decay bacteria can work.
The draining of low and wet spots in
the land allows the farmer to make his fields
more uniform and regular in shape and size,
thus enabling him to do his work more
economically. ALI of the farm can be worked
instead of only the high spots and the farm
will not be cut up by strips Of wet land
which can not be cultivated.
Land that is thoroughly drained can be
worked much earlier in the spring, as it drys
out quicker and gets in good physical con-
dition earlier. This enables the farmer to
get his crops in earlier and lengthens the
growing season which is very important
item in Minnesota.