190 ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY SOCIETY. 



Our President, Dr. A. Garcelon, delivered an address before the 

 Society on Thursday A. M., at 10 o'clock, which was listened to 

 attentively by all present. Its design was to show that agricul- 

 tural pursuits stand at the foundation of true prosperity. 



In our fairs we need the united cooperation of all farmers, man- 

 ufacturers and tradesmen : — then we may not fear hard times, as 

 mother earth is as ready as ever to reward our toils and grant good 

 harvests, proper attention being paid to good cultivation. 



Report of Committee on Underdraining. 



There were four competitors on drainage and two on orcharding 

 and fruit tree planting, viz: W. R. Wright, Lewiston, J. II. Jor- 

 dan, Webster, D. J. Briggs, Turner, and John Goss, Lewiston, on 

 drainage; G, H. Dillingham, North Auburn, and Z. A. Gilbert, 

 Greene, on orchards. 



Your committee, on the 22d day of last June, visited the prem- 

 ises of W. R. Wright and examined his land, which had been 

 drained by him. It is naturally a wet, clayey soil, but at the time 

 of our visit it was dry enough for a healthy growth of vegetables. 

 I give his account of drainage. Mr. Wright says: "I commenced 

 work in the latter part of October, 1815, in my garden, which is a 

 clayey loam, quite retentive of moisture, yet with no springs of 

 water, and dug seven trenches 12 feet apart and nearly 100 feet in 

 length ; also a depth of 2| feet, going 1^ feet into the solid sub- 

 soil. I also dug a cross drain 200 feet in length, which, with the 

 covering, &c., cost me $17.85 ; the tile and freight, $19.36 ; plank 

 for cross drain, 200 feet, for receiving upright drain, $3 00; allow- 

 ing for my own work, $10.00; total, $50.21 ; which is the whole 

 cost for 700 feet of tile drain and 200 feet of plank drain. After 

 the trenches were dug, in six of them I laid two inch tile, and in 

 one of them three inch tile, making about 700 feet, and covered 

 joints with birch bark and strips of oil cloth, covered with straw 

 and then soil. The receiving cross drain 200 feet of wood for the 

 time being, into which the seven upright drains entered, was eight 

 inches square. The heads of the upright drains were left open so 

 that a current of air is passing at all times, and in May, 1876, my 

 garden was as dry and suitable for working as any other except 

 sandy soil. These facts give conclusive evidence that drainage 

 pays." 



We next went to Mr. J. 11. Jordan's, and were shown his field 

 through which he had completed an underdrain. Tlis statement 



