302 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ure, for the year 1877. From the tables for rainfall we see that showers 

 exceeding one inch are rare, but that about one-fourth of our rain falls in 

 these heavy showers. From that it is safe to conclude that if the drains are 

 capable of conveying away the water that reaches them during the next 24 

 hours after a rainfall of one inch, little or no surface water will remain on the 

 land during any portion of the year. The amount of discharge as compared 

 with the rainfall depends upon so many conditions that it cannot be accurately 

 stated, but probably will seldom or never exceed fifty per cent of the rainfall 

 during the next 24 hours under any conditions. 



One inch of rainfall produces 3.630 cubic feet per acre, consequently our 

 drains, to produce under all conditions thorough drainage, should be able to 

 convey 1,815 cubic feet of water for each acre drained. 



Now I am assuming the proposition that we drain the land thorough enotigh 

 to defend ourselves against any loss on the above theory of rainfall on flat clay 

 loam lands, the kind predominating in our county. We will take for con- 

 venience of illustration a field of ten acres, forty rods square. We assume 

 that one main drain of four inch tiles will carry off all the water of such a 

 rainfall as we have described if it can be reached before any injury can obtain 

 to any vegetation commonly cultivated by the farmer. 



We further assume that lateral drains constructed of two inch tiles and laid 

 in such a manner as to properly discharge themselves in the main drain once 

 in four rods will furnish such an escape. 



Now if this theory is true, the cost of draining ten acres would be as follows, 



at the present price of tiles and labor: 



Forty rods 4-inch tile 30 cents per rod at factory fl2 00 



Four hundred rods 2-inch tile, 15 cents per rod at factory 60 00 



Digging and covering 440 rods at 20 cents 88 00 



Drawing tile from factory and boarding help to do work 20 00 



Total $180 00 



Which would be, as you will see, an average of $18.00 per acre. The invest- 

 ment of so much per acre at first thought, Mr. President, seems to be great; 

 but I firmly believe that the farmer that fails to make it where the necessities 

 require it, renders the possibilities of a uniformly good crop an impossibility. 

 The average price of the lands of Macomb county as equalized by the Board 

 of Supervisors for the year 1881 were a fraction over $35.00 per acre. Add to 

 this our estimate of the cost of draining and we increase the cost of the lands 

 to $53.00 per acre, but we increase their absolute agricultural value, making 

 them worth nearer $70.00 per acre for practical use. 



It is no uncommon thing for farms at the present time, in this county to 

 change hands at prices ranging from $50.00 to $70.00 per acre, but you will 

 invariably find that nature has made a happy provision for ridding them of 

 these surplus waters, or that man has supplied the deficiency by artificial 

 drainage. 



So that considered from that standpoint, the investment is a safe and 

 profitable one, sure to return the original investment with an increased value 

 of at least 25 per cent if you wish to sell. It also makes the possibility of 

 uniformly good crops so certain that it is a gain on the investment of at least 

 •50 per cent in that respect, in my estimation. 



V(e do not wish to be understood, Mr. President, as ignoring the great 

 benefits arising from that element so necessary to vegetable growth, and to 

 our existence ; but we wish so to control it as to receive its greatest benefits at 

 all times, and as an illustration of our idea of the benefits to be received. 



