122 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



torn liviuls. 111 these soils drains may be cut very deep, as they are often quite 

 porous and sometimes very deep. They also by working settle and become 

 lirmcr, so that a few years after a drain is cut if it be dug uj) it will be appar- 

 ently not as deep as originally dug. 



I liave seen advertised very strong and costly ditching machines which do the 

 work of many men with groat ease and accuracy. I have also read of various 

 curiously shaped implements to be used by hand for digging ditch and laying 

 tile, etc. The machines do very well for those who can afford them, the hand 

 implements act as good money-getters to the manufacturer; but it seems to 

 me the best ditching ajiparatus for the common farmer is a good, strong, 

 round-pointed, long-liandled shovel, and a good sharp spade in the hands of a 

 strong active man, fortified three times a day with pork and beans. The bot- 

 tom of a drain should be as uniformly graded as possible, for if there are 

 some places where the current is very slow, the sediment tiiat may be in the 

 water is likely to stop and form a stoppage in the drain. A good way to get 

 an even grade in the bottom is to set two stakes in the drain not far from each 

 other, and stretch a strong cord from one to the other directly over the middle 

 of the drain. By the use of a level determine the proper fall for tlie drain to 

 have and give the cord the same fall and draw it tight. Get a stick that will 

 reach from the cord to the bottom of the ditch, and by measuring it at differ- 

 ent points the drain may be made with a fall exactly uniform, and exactly the 

 same as the fall shown by the cord. For example, if the cord is four rods 

 long and the drain is to have a fall of one inch per rod, one end of the cord 

 should be four inches higher than the other end. In laying tile be particular 

 to make close joints, not leaving any places for the water to get in, that will 

 take care of itself. Begin at the lower end of the drain to dig, but at the 

 upper end to lay the tile so that no dirt can wash into it as the work proceeds. 



The health of the family is also an item worth considering in this connec- 

 tion. Many a man has paid out more for the services of a physician to cure 

 diseases caused directly or indirectly by his neglect to construct sufficient cel- 

 lar or smk drains than many times the cost of such drains. No family can 

 enjoy the highest degree of health for a long series of years if they must con- 

 tinually inhale the odors of the unsightly slops that are constantly collecting 

 and being thrown out from the kitchen. If these (as is too often the case) 

 are thrown upon the ground near the door, there is constantly emanating 

 therefrom the germs of disease which are often inhaled by the occupants of 

 the house, and often (if they do not actually shorten) cripple their lives and 

 render them unable to enjoy the good things which they have. The cellar 

 may be the receptacle into which is drained the surplus water in its vicinity, 

 where it will remain a long time and continually send up vapors loaded with 

 deadly poison, to be introduced through the lungs to the blood, and may inau- 

 gurate a long train of diseases sometimes ending in death. This may be obvi- 

 ated and should be by supplying an outlet. The well should also receive some 

 attention. This may be so located as to receive the dregs of the barnyard or 

 the soakings from the kitchen slops ; and indeed many times when we suppose 

 we are drinking pure water, could we be enabled to see what the microscope could 

 reveal, should we be shocked with its impurities and filth. It can need uo 

 argument to convince any thinking man that to imbibe poison as often as we 

 drink (be the quantity ever so small) will, in time, have a most dangerous in- 

 fluence upon the health. It seems to me were the practice continued through 

 a long series of years the strongest constitution must succumb to its influence. 

 I have uo doubt that many of the fevers of which we hear are directly caused 



