St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1920-08-21

Wet Soils Will Not Grow
Crops or Stand Long
Dry Weather.
WHAT DRAINAGE DID
FOR CALCASIEU PAR.
v;c,.-President of Calcasieu
National Bank Tells
About 1t.
Naed of Air in the Soil.

rbere are fiat lands and heavy
,,ovs where a system OF tile dra -ns
!. ~ more value than any other
treatment that can be given them.
such soils hold water within them
4 form that has been designate 1
j fraa water, or graVitational water
thai is. water that is free to move
nndar the influence of gravity. Sucl
On acts like a dish or other YES
sel There are several disadvan.-
ooes o1 injurious consequences re-
sulting from having soil SO hll3d
with water. There can be no circu'
l.tion of air within the SOIL. Tue
oxygen of the air s. necessary IL
soils for the direct use OF plants.
Their roots cannot grow and eXtend
into the soil to find water and tood
constituents except in the presence
II oxygen. Seeds can not germi-
nate in the absence of oxygen. Mi
croscopic organisms, which are so es-
sent al in properly maintaining the
fertility of soils, require oxygen JUS
as higher organisms do. The decay
"A organic matter in the soil IN the
nresence of oxygen is of such char
acter that its products are usually
favorable to plant growth. Nitrates'
generally the most important ele-
ment of plant food, are produced IN
the presence Of free oxygen only.
Disadvantage of Wet Soils.
The entrance of this essential
oxygen of the air into soils is him
derel when the pores of the soil are
filed with water. Such soils cannot
Be worked until late i'm the spring
because of being too wet. This de-
lays Elanting.. Wet soils are cold, be-
cause the water as well as the soil
must be heated, and water warns Up
mach more slowly than soil. The
removal OF the excess Of water by
draining permits the heat OF the SUI
to warm the soils earlier to a proper
degree for the germinat on. OF seeds
Clay soils, when too wet, run t''
gether, and become plastic and dlt-
fcultly permeable by water, air, anu
the roots of plants. When they dry
out by the later heat OF summer
they bake and become hard and
cloddy, are difficult to till, and are
in every way unsuited for cropping
II they be pIowei when too wet the,
become still more puddled, and II
reuui,es protracted Weathering tc
bring them into fair condition again
Moreover, these wet soils, both clays
and loucks, often contain nOXlous
Substances, which interfere with the
growth of the most valuable farn
crops. These noXious substances
are doubtless mainly organic, but
nav also be mineral. If the excess
! Of water be removed by drains, these
noxious substances are washed ou'
or the. are oxidized by the r tha'
finds access to the soil and by thf
growth of bacteria. Through the
] Eeather.ng process that goes on l.
drained soils, they become less pIat'
Tic and less consolidated, so ina
drainage becomes more perfect ane
{ the friable root bed is deepened
Crops on these drained soils endure
/ drought better than they Id before
In the early part Of the growing sea
son, while plants are establlshlnS
/ the root system, the undrained SOIL
are full of water near the surface
Plants can not send their roots INT
this stagnant water, and hence ar
shallow rooted. Later, If dry Weatn
or comes on, the upper soil dries out
and the roots, being near the sur
lace in tbs dry upper soil, can no
supply sufficient water for the need
Of good crop.
AL heavy and mucky soils are BET
ter for being thoroughly drained.
not naturally so, whether tile
should be laid or whether opeI
drains will be effective must be Gle
tefmined by inspection in each par
aeular case.