Mole drainage is an inexpensive form of drainage particularly suited to clay soils. / Mole drainage is approved by Le Conseil des Productions Vegetales du Quebec to drain clay soils with low hydraulic conductivity. A few known trials on this technique of drainage have been done in Ontario and Alberta. In England and New Zealand, this technique is widely used. The large surface of heavy clay soil cultivated in Abitibi-Temiscamingue makes this region an excellent choice for trying this technique. / Two sites established on two soil series (Palmarolle, Roquemaure) have been moled in Abitibi-Temiscamingue. These soils represent 21% of the cultivated land in this region. Twelve plots have been moled at varied depths, spaces and lengths. Physical and chemical soil properties have been measured to identify their influence on mole drainage stability. Water table, rainfall and the stability of the mole drains were monitored for three summers. Mole drain stability was observed with a borescope. Maturity growth and yield of a hay crop, and three types of cereals were measured. / The mole drainage technique is satisfactory in heavy clay. The organic matter (${>2 %}$), the water content of the soil (${>40 %}$) at moling time and a small amount of rainfall (${<6}$ mm) in the first week after moling positively influenced the stability of the mole drains. Some mole drains have kept 75% of their initial opening after three years of life. The water table was lower on one mole drained site. The yield of the hay and the three cereals were higher on the moled parcels. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68249 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Rivard, Pierre J. |
| Contributors | Madramootoo, C. A. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Agricultural Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001386316, proquestno: AAIMM94507, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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