LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 305 



marsh thoroughly, bat in going around the head of the marsh for about 

 fifteen rods, I found a sort of quicksand, of such a nature that it would not 

 cave while digging, but soon after the air and water struck it it would dis- 

 solve and cave in. About two feet deep the water oozed out slowly all around 

 the head of the marsh, and when I laid the tile and filled the ditch with the 

 dirt that came out, it would pack so that the water could not get into the tile. 

 The water would come to the surface. I have laid three courses of tile within 

 a rod of each other, yet it is not well drained. 



I would like the experience of different individuals in draining soils of that 

 nature. In nearly all kinds of soil water will find the tile. I have tile that 

 has been laid ten years that does its work as well now as when it was first put 

 down. 



In draining marsh or quicksand, it will require boards to be first laid in the 

 bottom of the ditch, then lay the tile on the boards, otherwise the tile will 

 settle out of line and soon fill with dirt and stop the water course. 



In draining marshes, or more particularly what is termed cat holes, there 

 cannot be too much care taken in securing a good outlet and a heavy fall just 

 where your ditch strikes the mucky bottom between the marsh and hard land, 

 as this mucky land, of which most of the marshes are composed, will settle 

 when thoroughly drained, more or less, sometimes even as much as a foot, 

 thereby throwing the tile out of line and opening the joints so that they 

 quickly fill with dirt, and the drain will not carry off the water. I prefer 

 where it is practicable to ditch around a marsh just far enough into it to secure 

 a hard bottom to receive the tile. In most of the marshes or cat holes the 

 water comes from springs located around the outer edge of them, and this 

 ditching around cuts the water off at its head. But in some instances we find 

 springs in the center of low, wet lands ; in that case it will require a ditch 

 direct to the spring, or to the source from where the water comes to the sur- 

 face. In draining clay lands or other soils where there is a good, hard bottom 

 for the ditch you do not have to guard so much against the tile settling out of 

 place. First secure a good outlet, then make the bottom of the ditch on a 

 true line with the incline or fall that you have. Dig the ditch not less than 

 three feet deep and put them near enough together to thoroughly drain the 

 land, and if good tile is used, properly laid, and ditch well filled, it will do 

 its work for a long term of years. I have given a few general principles on 

 drainage which may be practicably applied in underdraining laud, but there is 

 such a diversity of soils and of marshes, and the lay and situation of the lands 

 to be drained, and the material that can be best obtained, that it is impossible 

 to adopt a system of drainage that will apply to all sections, localities, and to 

 the different soils. 



The best method to ascertain the most practical, economical, and thorough 

 system of drainage is through organization and cooperation by the farmers and 

 agriculturists in forming agricultural societies, farmers' institutes, farmers' 

 clubs, and thorough organization in the Grange. Through these different 

 organizations discussions will bring out new ideas. A general interchange of 

 thought, of experiments and experiences will be had, from which new thoughts 

 and ideas will spring into existence. Practical knowledge and information 

 disseminated among the farmers in this way will be of tenfold more value and 

 accomplish more towards reclaiming the unproductive lands of Michigan than, 

 the best treatise written on drainage. It is this general dissemination of 

 knowledge by association and cooperation which will do more to educate and 



39 



