Seventy-Third Annual Report 1185 



chased by the Province from tlie Consolidated Reserve Fund. The 

 money is repaid by the borrower in twenty years at the rate of 

 $7.;30 ])er year per $!()() of loan. Such loan constitutes a first 

 lien aoainst the land. This aiii(»nnts essentiallv to a lone'-time 

 loan financed by the farmer and passed upon by the township 

 council which acts in an expci't advisory capacity. 



In New York it may be questioned whether we have not similar 

 possibilities for aid. As pointed out above, when several persona 

 join in the organization of a drainage district the cost of the 

 improvement is assessed against the land by the court-appointed 

 commission in proportion to benefit. This benefit is recognized 

 as a pidilic (»no to the extent that the touai or other public corpo- 

 rate body is authorized to issue its bonds and use its credit facili- 

 ties and privilege for the aid of the improvement. The bonds 

 may bo refunded from time to time until the obligation is met in 

 the usual channel. Essentially the township extends its credit to 

 the persons or lands involved in the improvement. 



The (]n( stion may be raised whether any single individual who 

 seeks to drain his land and invokes the cooperation of a regular 

 drainage commission and accepts their assessment, may not fairly 

 be entitled lo the same guarantee of the need, reliability and prob- 

 able results of the drainage improvements, and thereby receive 

 the aid of this public, long-time credit. 



There is one further need which is very evident to one studying 

 the legal machinery of our state with reference to drainage. There 

 are civil engineers and lawyers to guide one through their respec- 

 tive paths. But drainage for agricultural purposes is essentially 

 a matter of soil improvement in niosit eases. It involves the effect 

 of drainage on the soil and the relative need of soils and structural 

 conditions of the land for artificial drainage. An engineer may 

 be able to l)uiM a channel or a conduit, l)ut it has been shown that 

 he often does not have the requisite agricultural knowledge to 

 know what constitutes adequate drainage for difi'erent soil and 

 crop conditions. 



Hence there is need to encourage the establishment of more 

 experts in soil drainage and the attendant engineering matters. 

 To a degree it is a matter of education and public guidance. On 

 one hand we would encourage the establishment of drainage 



