194 STATE BOAED OF AGEICULTUEE. 



is no place for remarks ii])on the choice of any particular line of culture, of 

 course, but the best of judgment should be brought to bear upon the subject, 

 and the decision should be .final as far as mortal powers can make it. 



Now do not look upon these suggestions, 'however crude they are, as mere 

 chimera, or as useless conjectures. Turn them over till a sensible side is seen, 

 and then make them as much better as is possible ; for by such thought upon 

 the difficulties of our life and toil, human invention finds the true remedy. 

 The facts certaiuly establish our necessity ; it is for us to seek the supply, and 

 every contribution, however slight, the world should welcome. 



Mr. Ingersoll, foreman of the college farm, was next called upon, who gave 

 the following lecture on 



FAEM DEAINAGE. 



To the uninitiated, the mysteries of anything unknown have a peculiar charm ; 

 but Avhen once known it immediately loses all its novelty, and we become but 

 passive listeners to that Avhich once we grasped for so eagerly. So, if in the 

 course of my few remarks I fail to elicit anything new or mysterious, I beg leave 

 to have you give a liberal share of indulgence while I call, for a few moments, 

 your attention to the economic advantage of farm drainage. 



To the farmers of this State this question has not presented itself in very 

 strong light as yet, for the reason that if one has not land enough to work with- 

 out draining, he has bought more and let his wet lands lie, or pastured them ; 

 or he has sold and bought again, where he would have more arable land. But 

 the day is not far distant when the advice, ''Go west, young man ! go west !" 

 will be changed into the adnce, "Stay where you are, young man, and improve 

 what you have !" 



It would hardly be necessary to dwell on the advantages of better and more 

 thorough cultivation ; it is a fact patent to almost every one that farmers might 

 do much more than they now do, on the same number of acres. Pliny, in his 

 day, recognized this, when he gave his advice to brother Koman farmers, 

 "Plow less and plow more;" i. e., less in acreage and more times for a crop. 



Drainage is either natural or artificial ; and fortunate that man who has a 

 farm with good natural drainage, by having an undulating surface with proper 

 slope, and subsoil of that character that takes off surplus water efficiently and 

 rapidly, without the need of ditches and drains. 



But all have not, nor indeed could they have such farms if they wished, as in 

 the general make-up of this, our world, it takes all kinds of soil and in every 

 variety of condition. There is also this advantage of having lands that require 

 drainage, viz. : they are largely among the best and strongest lands, and when 

 once drained properly are the most productive lands Ave have. 



What Lands llequire Drainage^ 



It does not take a wise man to answer this question. Every farmer can tell 

 what land of his farm would be improved by draining. But the point on which 

 most would differ is the adequate means for accomplishing the result. The first 

 farmer, perhaps, would think that an open ditch along one side of a field 

 that AYOuld take off most of the surface water would be enough. A second 

 would want more open drains, — j^Grhaps one or two, — scattered over the 

 field, and in the vicinity of these would succeed in obtaining a reasonable 

 degree of drainage, and largely increase his crops. A third would ridge up his 

 and, psrliaps, and let the surplus water stand in the dead furrows, and slowly 



