Agriculture for beginners . ise man was once asked, What is the most valuableimprovement ever made in agriculture? He answered, Drainage. Often soils unfit for crop-production becausethey contain too much water are by drainage rendered themost valuable of farming lands. Drainage benefits land in the following ways : 1. It deepens the subsoil by removing unnecessary waterfrom the spaces between the soil particles. This admits the oxygen which is in the air, by aiding decay, pre-pares plant food for vegetation. 2. It makes the surface soil, or topsoil, deeper. It standsto reason that th
Agriculture for beginners . ise man was once asked, What is the most valuableimprovement ever made in agriculture? He answered, Drainage. Often soils unfit for crop-production becausethey contain too much water are by drainage rendered themost valuable of farming lands. Drainage benefits land in the following ways : 1. It deepens the subsoil by removing unnecessary waterfrom the spaces between the soil particles. This admits the oxygen which is in the air, by aiding decay, pre-pares plant food for vegetation. 2. It makes the surface soil, or topsoil, deeper. It standsto reason that the deeper the soil the more plant food be-comes available for plant use. THE SOIL 15 3. It improves the texture of the soil. Wet soil is makes this sticky soil crumble and fall apart. 4. It prevents \\-ashing. 5. It increases the porosit)- of soils and permits roots togo deeper into the soil for food and moisture. 6. It increases the warmth of the soil. 7. It oermits earlier working in spring and after Fig. 9. Laying .\ Tile Dr.\ix 8. It favors the growth of germs which change theunavailable nitrogen of the soil into nitrates; that is, intothe form of nitrogen most useful to plants. 9. It enables plants to resist drought better because theroots go into the ground deeper early in the season. A soil that is hard and wet will not grow good nitrogen-gathering crops will store the greatest quan-tit}- of nitrogen in the soil when the soil is open to the free i6 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGIXXERS circulation of the air. These \:aluable crops cannot do thiswhen the soil is wet and cold. Sandy soils viith sand} subsoils do not often needdrainage; such soils are natiu^ally drained. With claj soilsit is different. It is ven* important to remove the stagnantwater in them and to let the air in. \\hen land has been properly drained the other steps inimprovement are easily taken. After soil has been dried and
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