STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 89 



water fix to eight months of the year. A large proportion of that which is not satur- 

 ated, is kept damp and cold from the pr< sence of stagnant water in the tight sub soil. 

 Hence it is, that under our present system of cultivation, not one cubic foot in live of 

 our unrivalled soil, can even practically be made available for the purposes of Agricul- 

 ture or Horticulture. 



llenee it is too, that we now gather 15, 20 and o0 bushels of corn per acre, where with 

 Less labor and more certainty, we might as well grow 80 to 80 and 100 bushels. 



Here too, we lind the true source of many of the diseases that sweep through our 

 orchards and vineyards, and blast the long cherished hopes of the Horticulturist. 



And to what source shall we look for relief from these great draw-backs to our indi- 

 vidual Slate and national prosperity? My answer is that we shall lind it, to a large 

 extent in the adoption and execution, as fast as time and menus will permit, of a thor- 

 ough system of tile-draining in conjunction with deep and thorough culture. 



Draw off the cold and stagnant waters ; check the immense draught from the warmth 

 of the soil by the process of evaporation ; set in motion and keep in motion, the bright 

 Steel clipper, the roller, the harrow, the cultivator iti its multitudinous forms ; and the 

 ungainly suit soiler ; send the richly laden rain-water, the warm and well freighted 

 atmosphere, and the hfe-giving dew, coursing down through the soil to the utmost 

 depths to which the roots of vegetation can penetrate; let in every element from the 

 surface that can serve to hasten on the chemical decompositions and combinations, by 

 which the elements in- air and in earth become available for the support of plant life ; 

 let nature have free course, and do her ligitimate work, and results will be witnessed 

 here on these prairies, in the grain field, the meadow, the orchard, tin; vineyard, that 

 will astonish the world, and that will gladden the hearts of the tillers of the soil, and 

 of the worshipers at the shrine of Horticulture. 



2. Another reason why the subject of Tile Draining should be pressed upon the atten- 

 tion of our people. La found in the fact that the character of our soil and sub-soil ia such, 

 as to greatly facilitate the work of laying down tile drains. The expense of excavating 

 drains four feet deep on these prairies, is not probably more than one half what it is in a 

 soil where stone and gravel abound. Whole townships may be drained without once 

 calling a pick into requisition. While it is true, that stone and rocks will be encountered 

 in some localities, it is also true that thousands of miles of drains can be excavated four 

 to live feet deep in our best prairie lands without encountering one single stone as large 

 as an acorn. 



In -Mm.- Localities, as in my own grounds at Onarga, sand veins abound in the clay sub- 

 soil which, in a wet time, increase very materially the labor and difficulty of the work. 

 But these are exceptional cases. Over a Large portion of the State a clay subsoil extends, 

 ranging from One to three and four fee: below the surface. When moist, this clay is 

 quite -.ill and pliable. A groove of a si/.e suitable to receive the tiles is readily made in 

 the clay at the bottom of the drain, with an implement constructed for the purpose. 

 Into this groove the tiles are laid with care, end to end. The tiles rest so BUUgly in this 

 beautiful Clay bed, the joints being covered with the same material, that tin' necessity 

 for the use of collars is entirely obviated. Tiles laid in this way will silently do their 

 work forages withonf getting out of place, and without, becoming obstructed. 



I have thus, Mr. President, in a very hurried and Imperfect manner, glanced at some 



few of the considerations going to show, that whether we have regard to the importance 

 and urgency of the work, OI to our remarkable facilities for executing it, the subject of 



