Land Drainage and Soil Efficiency 1833 



to let him have a ri<^ht of way to a suitable outlet for drainage water. 

 The person benefited must of course pay the cost of construction in order 

 to secure the outlet. In these cases, where a large area of land embodied 

 in several farms is involved, cooperative action is essential. 



There are two provisions in the law of New York for the drainage of 

 wet land for agricultural purposes. The first of these is under the Agri- 

 cultural Drainage Statute, Consolidated Laws of the State of New York, 

 chapter 15, as amended by chapter 624 of the Laws of 19 10. The second 

 provision is contained in the act establishing the State Conservation 

 Commission, Consolidated Laws, chapter 65, article 8. The general 

 procedure is the same under both acts, and the cost of securing the right of 

 way and constructing the drainage ditch is assessed against the land 

 benefited. These laws usually deal with the large outlet canals, but are 

 applicable in securing an outlet for the drain from a single farm. 



In a general way, advantage may be taken of the natural fall of the land 

 in establishing an outlet for a drainage system, and adjoining property 

 owners must provide for the drainage water so discharged as surface water. 

 As yet no such obligation is recognized to apply to water collected and 

 discharged by tile drains except as it reaches the adjoining property as 

 surface water in a natural drainage course. There are very few cases of 

 drainage that are not provided for in the existing drainage laws of the 

 State. 



ADVANCED READING 



The Reading-Course lessons are designed merely to introduce the sub- 

 ject ; they are elementary and brief, and are intended to arouse a desire 

 for more complete knowledge along particular lines. The study of Reading- 

 Course lessons should be introductory to the study of standard agricultural 

 books, and of bulletins of the United vStates Department of Agriculture and 

 the state experiment stations. The Supervisor of the Reading-Course 

 will suggest, as far as possible, agricultural literature to meet the needs 

 of any reader. Particular books or bulletins are recommended because 

 they are thought to be of special interest to the reader in his individual 

 study, not because they are considered superior to others on the same 

 subject. The following is a list of books in which the data presented 

 in this lesson are much amplified and to which the student will naturally 

 turn for more complete information : 



Engineering for land drainage. By Charles G. Elliott. John Wiley 

 and Sons. 1912. $1.25. 



Physics of agriculture. (Chapters XII-XV.) By F. H. King. Pub- 

 lished by the author, Madison, Wisconsin. 1907. $1.40. 



Land draining; a handbook for farmers. By Manley Miles. Orange 

 Judd Company. 1892. $1. 



