ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY SOCIETY. 191 



is: "I have laid 23 rods of stone drain, depth of trench 2^ feet, 

 width at the top 3 feet, at the bottom 2 feet; laid stones at the 

 Bides and at the bottom, then laid stone covering on same, making 

 a course for water about 12 inches by 6 inches. The drain is on 

 land with very little descent. Should it prove sufficient to keep 

 the drain passage always open, no doubt great benefit will be 

 derived therefrom. This drain cost for digging, $11.50; laying 

 stones and filling, $11.50; hauling stones, $17.00; total, $40.00; 

 being $1.73 per rod." 



John Goss' statement : " I have completed sixteen rods of under- 

 drain on a wet, springy piece of land. Depth of trench 3 feet, 

 width at top 2 feet, at bottom 1| feet, filled with small stones, the 

 largest being placed at the bottom. They were thrown in promis- 

 cuously, to the depth of 1| feet, then covered with small brush 

 and straw, and then completed by filling with the dirt from the 

 ditch. Whole cost $12 50, being 78 cents per rod." 



D. J. Briggs says: " I have dug 40 rods of underdrain, depth 3 

 feet, width 3 feet at the top, and 2 feet at the bottom. The drain 

 was made by laying stones at the sides of the trench, at the bot- 

 tom, and then covering them with flat stones, so as to form a 

 course or duct six inches square. Whole cost $28.50, being 71 

 cents per rod." This drain will, we think, do good service, being 

 on land of a hard subsoil, and having a slope sufficient to insure a 

 free passage of water, a very important consideration in success- 

 ful drainage. 



We also visited the farm of G. H. Dillingham of North Auburn, 

 one of the competitors on orcharding. We were shown a number 

 of young apple trees (State of Maine growth) that had been 

 planted for an orchard. They were well cared for, and were set 

 upon underdrained and good orchard land. We cannot give an 

 account of Mr. Dillingham's method of setting and caring for his 

 trees, as the committee have not received a statement from him, a 

 circumstance that we much regret. 



Your committee are of the opinion that underdraining is practi- 

 cable, and should be encouraged only where the difference in the 

 value of the crops grown on lands drained and underdrained will 

 compensate for the cost of drainage. This can be done on much of 

 the lami in our county. In many fields where the surplus stones 

 have accumulated since their first plowing, and where low and wet 

 places exist, trenches can be dug into which these stones should 

 be placed, and when properly covered up will make a very efficient 



