EXPERIENCE IN DRAINING SWAMPS. 299 



I have two acres of naturally very strong, rich soil, resting 

 on a clay-bottom with a gradual slope, which, before being 

 underdrained, was very wet, and could only be cultivated 

 late in the season : one half of this is underdrained, and the 

 other half not. Last March, when the frost was out about 

 four inches, I sowed oats (the land having been ploughed in 

 the fall), and dragged them in. As the spring advanced, the 

 oats were up two inches high on the part thorough drained, 

 before they made an appearance on the undrained portion ; 

 making an interesting and valuable experiment. 



Instead of advancing theories, I have endeavored to de- 

 scribe the actual results of reclaiming swamp-lands of entire- 

 ly different character, and by different methods well adapted 

 to the different conditions ; all of which are shown to be 

 very profitable improvements as investments of capital in 

 farming operations. And, what is of vastly more importance, 

 an unheal th} r , miasmatic, unsightly portion of the farm can 

 be converted into life-sustaining and beautiful fields by a 

 system of thorough drainage. No one questions the pro- 

 priety of placing sufficient authority in the Boards of Health 

 in cities and towns to abate sources of disease by drainage 

 or otherwise. At the "West, county commissioners have 

 power to lay out and build public drains in fever-and-ague 

 districts, for sanitary and agricultural purposes. How soon 

 Boards of Health may be required to step outside the limits 

 of cities and towns, and require such improved conditions, 

 remains to be seen. 



When, as has been shown, the farmer's pecuniary interest 

 is so surely promoted, and the sanitary condition of his farm 

 and neighborhood may be so evidently improved, it would 

 seem that duty to himself and family imperatively demands 

 of him who owns such swamp-lands, that such improvements 

 should be made. My experience in draining, and observa- 

 tion of the experience of others, have established in my own 

 mind the following principles or maxims, which may be of 

 value to others. The best and most durable and economi- 

 cal drains are made with tile laid four feet deep and forty 

 feet apart. Let no one, however, refrain from draining if 

 the outlet cannot be made low enough for tins depth. I 

 have had profitable results with drains laid only fifteen 

 inches deep. The round tile with sockets are the best ; sole- 



