498 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



ine drains is considerable. Generally it is necessary to provide bot- 

 toms to prevent them from becoming choked with sand or mud. The 

 boards forming the bottoms are separated from the sides by pieces 

 of one-half inch lath, which makes an opening for the entrance of 

 water on each side of the box. All other parts of the box are made 

 tight. So soft is the ground in many cases that it becomes necessary 

 to surround the box with gravel to prevent the entrance of mud 

 through the openings in the boxes, small though they may be. The 

 boxes are made in lengths convenient for use, and vary from 8 feet to 

 16 feet. Their use should not be discouraged excejDt where the more 

 lasting drain tiles can be obtained at reasonable cost. Lumber is 

 not durable except where it is constantly saturated. This condition 

 exists where some drains are used, but not in others, so that it is wise 

 to secure hard-burned drain tile for this work wherever it is pos- 

 sible to do so. The larger sizes only are required in this kind of 

 work, which fact adds largely to the cost of the drain if the tiles are 

 shipped from a distance, and often induces the drainer to use pipes 

 that are too small. 



COOPERATIVE DRAINAGE. 



The successful drainage of the field and ranch has developed the 

 necessit}^ of more extended work to secure outlets which are adequate 

 to receive the water from the several farms. Irrigated land has few, 

 if any, watercourses, so that drainage water must be delivered 

 through artificial ditches, usuallv to the same stream from which the 

 water was originallv diverted. The construction of such outlet 

 drains requires the coojDeration of the owners of land which is to be 

 benefited. This is secured under the provisions of the State drainage 

 laws, which j^ermit owners of land to form a corporate district and 

 distribute the cost of the work among the several owners in propor- 

 tion to the benefit each will receive. The assessments so apportioned 

 are collected as taxes and the proceeds apj^lied to pay for the cost of 

 such work as has been agreed upon. Each landowner within the 

 district then has a right to use the outlets and participate in all of 

 the benefits which will accrue from the work. 



It is quite often the case that little or no field drainage can be 

 successfully done until outlets have been made. Districts of tliis 

 character containing 10,000 acres or more have been inaugurated in 

 the States of Washington, Utah, and Colorado, but none has as yet 

 been completed. This feature of drainage, which has but recently 

 been forced upon the people in certain sections, is new and brings 

 up some troublesome questions concerning the location of such drains 

 as will prove of common utility, and also concerning the equitable 



