FARMEKS' INSTITUTES. 181 



face, would cultivate it until all subsidence of the surface ceased, keeping a 

 careful record of the depth of the muck originally, and of the amount of the 

 subsidence of the surface each year, you would be doing much toward solving 

 one of the most perplexing questions connected with this subject of swamp 

 laud drainage. 



Of course for such an experiment to be valuable the natural condition of the 

 muck, that is, whether much or little rotted, must be carefully noted and 

 known. 



In conclusion, Mr. President, these lands, occupying as they do the valleys 

 and basins of the country, the soluble elements of fertility from the highlands 

 have been washed away and carried down into them by the water for ages; 

 and it seems to me that the true course to pursue is to drain and reclaim them 

 and then plant upon them the coarse grains, grasses and roots they are so ad- 

 mirably calculated to produce; and, as I said in a paper read to your club, I 

 believe that the ideal model farm of the future will be composed of one-half 

 swamp and one-half upland ; upon the first will be raised enormous crops of 

 coarse grains, hay and roots, which will be fed to stock upon the farm, and 

 the manure spread upon the uplands will give the necessary fertility to raise 

 the fifty to seventy-five bushels of wheat to the acre, which is to make farming 

 profitable and the farmer rich and prosperous. 



Mr. J. N. Smith, of Bath, gave an unwritten address on the drainage of 

 swamp lands, which was discussed as follows : 



r. A. Gulley. — How do you lay tile on the muck? 



J. N. Smith. — Do not have any trouble if the ditch is not stirred beyond the 

 required depth. I use blue clay to protect the joints. 



J. P. Thompson. — How deep should the tiles be laid? 



J. N. Smith. — At least three feet. I think we use altogether too large tile. 

 I believe, roughly speaking, a two-inch tile will drain 20 acres. 



Prof. Carpenter. — Did you ever drain 20 acres with a two-inch tile? 



J. N. Smith. — Yes, sir. 



Prof. Gulley. — What does it cost per rod to dig a ditch in muck 31 feet deep? 



J. N. Smith. — One good man would dig 15 rods a day. 



Prof. Carpenter. — I believe Mr. Smith to be much mistaken in regard to 

 the capacity of tile drains. We have in one place at the College a four-inch 

 drain in good order that does not satisfactorily drain 20 acres. The rule for 

 area given by the drainage engineers of Indiana is that a tile will drain as many 

 acres as the square of its diameter in inches. By that rough rule a two-inch 

 tile will drain four acres, a three-inch tile nine acres, and a four-inch tile six- 

 teen acres, and this will give as a general thing a satisfactory result. I have 

 been over some of the drains put in by Mr. Smith, and have as a general thing 

 found tiles whose size is roughly approximated to the area to be drained by the 

 above rule. I would like to ask Mr. Smith if the 20 acre area drained by 

 two-inch tile is not gravelly or sandy ? 



Mr. Smith. — It is quite gravelly and very porous. 



Eesolutions of thanks to those who had participated in the Institute were 

 unanimously adopted, and the Institute declared adjourned. 



