198 STATE BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. 



I liave said very little about cost and methods. Mr. French, in his American 

 Earni Drainage, estimates that witli labor at $1 per day, and tile (12-inch) at 

 $10 per thousand, drains can be put down in soils that do not require the use of 

 a pick, at a cost not exceeding fifty cents per rod, and varying from twenty 

 cents to that, on a majority of soils that want drainage. Drains at intervals of 

 forty feet will be near enough, and if they can be put down at forty cents, it 

 will cost 126 40 to drain an acre, or about $25, if not too hard digging. There 

 are many fields that would not require over half this amount expended to 

 increase the production one-fourth, and as most farmers have men hired by the 

 month, and sometimes at less Avages than one dollar per day, their drains would 

 cost them even less than these figures I have named. 



Before I conclude, let me mention a few of the more immediate advantages 

 of draining ; and first let me mention the pulverization of tlic soil so as to be 

 much lighter to work, as the farmer calls it ; and if properly drained, he has 

 not to wait more than forty-eight hours after severe storms before he can go on 

 witli his work. It also prevents surface washing, and causes the filtration of 

 the substance of the mauure through the soil, and is then taken up by it. In 

 proof of this, let any farmer take a section of soil twelve inches deep, and filter 

 a quart or two quarts of liquid manure through it, and note the difference in 

 the color of the liquid before and after the filtration. The soil takes hold of 

 all the ammoniacal salts and ingredients it stands in need of, and lets the rest 

 go. 2d. It lengthens the season for cultivation, and in the corn crop alone Avho 

 can tell how often we may have seasons when ten days' difference in the growth 

 of a crop may decide its ripeness aiid hence its wortli? 3d. In fields sown with 

 wheat it prevents tlie freezing out in spring. 4th. It is much better for hauling 

 loads oif and on in spring, or in a wet time. 5th. It will pay to drain land in 

 the ease and greater comfort of working it; and as has been said, "he Avho 

 makes two spears of grass grow where but one grew before is a public benefac- 

 tor," then we may all become public benefactors. We Avill find, I think, that 

 it pays to limit our work in area, and do it thoroughly. 



DISCUSSION. 



Wm. Graves of Palmyra. — What the gentleman has said I believe to be true. 

 I have received great benefit from tile draining. I have not drained quite as 

 deep as the gentleman has recommended, but I think I have received pay for 

 my trouble and expense every two years. I Avould recommend tiling to all our 

 lowland farmers. 



C. A. Jewell of Hudson. — I have had some experience in tile draining. I do 

 not pretend to knoAV everything about it, but there is one thing tliat the farmer 

 should know: and that is that his tile are properly laid. I have about 35 rods 

 of drain that I shall be obliged to take up. The man who laid it put it doAvn 

 by the rod, and made bad work. Tliis drain became obstructed, and I dug 

 down and found that the tiles had lapped by each other, and the crabs had 

 worked in and filled up one of the tile. I replaced it, but the whole drain must 

 be dug up and relaid. There can be no better advice given to farmers than 

 this : that they superintend the laying of their own tile. 



Horace Sayles of Palmyra. — I can say that I have been benefited very largely 

 by tile draining. It has cost me $10 per acre to drain my farm. I have had 

 very little difficulty with my tile not w^orking properly. I laid a string of tile 

 once near an elm tree, and tlie drain became obstructed. I dug down and 

 found tliat tlie roots of the tree had penetrated a soft tile and filled it to a great 



