Show Poor Soil Drainage Is Serious Symptom Too Few Legumes May Aggravate the Problem If It your once well drained soil i is clogged up dont don't put all ali the blame blamen on n your drain tile system The poor drainage may be due to damaged soil structure and loss of organic matter caused by Too many grain crops year after year and too few rooted deep legumes leg umes in the rotation have slowed drainage down to a walk on thousands thou sands of farms Failure to return plant nutrients manure and crop residues to the soil have aggravated the problem On such land the cushiony soil sal i structure has been broken down oo y DRAINAGE SOIL On F-On GOOD 4 V- V Soil particles are arc jammed into a ahard ahard ahard hard compact mass instead of clustering clustering clus together in loose granules Circulation of air and moisture is cut off oIL Water ponds on the surface instead of soaking In Roots are up against a concrete floor that stops them from stretching out for needed nutrients Crop yields are low For unclogging poorly drained soils rooted deep-rooted legumes such as alfalfa and sweet clover are particularly particularly particularly par par- important The tap-roots tap open up tightly-packed tightly soil and let water soak in faster When well fed with phosphate and potash the roots put mineralized organic matter deep into the subsoil The organic matter added by roots and tops of legumes manure and crop residues contains compounds that stick soil particles together in clusters That makes good and anda a loose well-drained well soil The organic matter helps the soil hold more water longer Roots find it easy to get at moisture and plant nutrients Crop yields increase |