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Today ' s of the New Land Will -days Conditions Make be

14th October 1939
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Page 32, 14th October 1939 — Today ' s of the New Land Will -days Conditions Make be
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Good for Cultivation Only if it be Properly Drained, and Mole-draining Vital Tractors Suitably Equipped

Can do this Job Cheaply.

r-r-HE agricultural tractor will be 1 hard pressed, this autumn, in ploughing up new land needed for the increase of arable crops in 1940, and preparing, by cultivation, for spring sowing.

Much of the land to be broken up is in quite good condition for the purpose and may be regarded, given favourable weather, as certain to produce satisfactory results. On the other hand, there is much equally good land that, if merely broken up, cultivated and sown, will not produce equally good results. This is because some land requires more, at the start, than mere ploughing. It needs draining.

Such land may not be badly waterlogged, but it will not give a satisfactory yield because drainage water is not efficiently carried off.

To put all our waterlogged land on a productive basis is, at the present time, too big a job, and one that could be undertaken only on a national scaleā€”a problem for the future. Apart from this, there is a Jot of good land that should receive some attention, by way of draining, before it is ploughed up. It should be dealt with by means of the moledraining plough. This, with the tractor, is a cheap and comparatively easy Method of draining land, and, in many ways, it is most effective.

530 Wherever mole draining can be practised, from now on, it will mean a big saving in seeds and manures, and will give better yields. Mole draining is a matter of great urgency.

Between February, 1924, and January, 1932, 53 mole-draining demonstrations were carried out in 34 counties of England and Wales. In most instances, land so drained has been examined at intervals by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The drains laid during the demonstrations were intended to last for periods of three to 10 years. The demonstrations were successful, but the results of the work done were not uniformly satisfactory, owing to the fact that they were held in public and had to be carried out to time, often under the most unfavourable weather conditions.

This may be one of the reasons why the past few years have been characterized by a diminution of interest in this subject. Private undertakings of this kind have been more satisfactory, because they could be carried out under more suitable conditions and with appliances suitable to the soil.

It must be fully borne in mind that the primary object of the,dernonstrabons was to show methods and equipment, the lasting effects of the work done being dependent upon the weather and soil conditions it the time and upon the suitability of the

equipment to the particular soil upon which it was demonstrated.

A tractor-drawn mole, run through a waterlogged field, will show immediate results at a demonstration, in the flow of drainage water from the outlet, but the lasting effect is likely to be poor, in comparison with work carried out under the best conditions and with the most suitable equipment.

The choice of equipment is important. There can be no doubt that some appliances produce better results than others and that different

conditions require different mole equipment.

Apart from particular equipment, wet soil conditions not only mean that the field is liable to be cut up, but that adhesion is made more difficult for the tractors, often leading to easing of draught anddiminishing of depth.

The greatest and most widespread cause of mole drains not being so effective or lasting so long as they should is, without doubt, neglect on the part of the farmer. Mole draining can be of lasting benefit only if

the main be completed with a proper outfall, and outlet pipes be fitted to the emptying mouths of the mole drains. The III-mentioned is most necessary where the mole drains empty into a ditch, and the length of pipe should not be less than 2 ft. or 3 ft. The ditch must be kept cleaned out and fenced against livestock.

The system offers an Opportunity for all farmers whose land needs draining, where such is not dependent upon wider systems to take off the drainage water. At the present time, it is imperative that the best use should be made of all land, of cultivations and fertilizers. This is not possible if the land needs draining.

Mole drainage by direct tractor haulage is cheap. The cost of main and outf all piping, fencing-off, outlets and keeping the ditch clean, is well repaid in superior crops, in addition to which the system, once set up in the manner outlined, will continue to function effectively for periods probably amounting to many years.

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Organisations: Ministry of Agriculture
People: Job Cheaply

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