212 [AssEMBLir 



piece of drained ground on my farm last spring, in company with 

 a neighbor, who expressed his surprise at the condition of the 

 piece ; " it was so dry," said he ; " you have made this what it is 

 now, for it was good for nothing l>efore you drained it, and now 

 you can raise just what you please here, let the season be viet or 

 dry.*' 



• 



3. The result, in all cases operated upon, is very favorable ; there 

 has not been a failure yet with me ; I have not cropped any that 

 was operated upon the past year but a small portion of one piece 

 mentioned in this statement; but judging this by preceding oper- 

 ations, I think that no outlay of money on the farm, of like sum, 

 will be as beneficial and lasting as this. 



In doing what I have done, about $20 per acre has been ex- 

 pended as an average. The last piece mentioned in this state- 

 ment is not yet fully drained, although what was commenced is- 

 oomplete ; but more drains will be necessary to a thorough drain- 

 ing of the soil ; and as I have done the most of what I have done 

 on the parallel system, more can be done a-s opportunity shall 

 oifer; I think w^hen it is completed, that |50 per acre will? 

 not be too high to estimate the increased value of the last piece 

 mentioned in this statement, and that §25 or $30 will be abou^ 

 the increased value of the two first pieces per acre ; although a 

 few years of cropping will better test the correctness of the esti- 

 mate of the increase in value of all of them. 



I will here state, that my draining the past year was about 

 equally divided between stone and tile, as to number of rods of 

 each, using the stone where the ground was firm, and the subsoil 

 free from quicksand and quite hard, as I think a stone drain more 

 likely to fill in a. porous subsoil than tile, and then become use- 

 less, thereby disappointing the expectations of the operator, and 

 becoming a hindrance to any farther experiments in draining. 



I think that when the subject of draining is better understood 

 in this State, that all the operations in that line will be better 

 performed, and, as a consequence, will pay better on the invest- 

 ment, as in very many instances at present it costs more than it 

 need to perform the work ; for instance, many work at it too late- 



