80 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



when needed was tmderdrained and some of the pastures were 

 reclaimed and made fine plow land. 



To the man with capital who has an extensive job of drain- 

 ing to do, the only advice I have to give is to procure a practical 

 engineer, have the levels taken, and the entire system laid out. 

 To begin with, buj' tile by the carload, for where the labor is 

 taken into account the tile will be as cheap in the end and will 

 be found less likely to clog and need repairs. Then put on a 

 force of laborers and complete the job as soon as possible aud 

 enjoy the satisfaction of having caused two good blades of grass 

 to grow where but one poor one grew before. 



But most of the farmers of Vermont are at work with a 

 small capital, and to those like myself who wish to put in per- 

 manent improvements with a small cash outlay, I am willing to 

 give some of my experience which may be of benefit 

 to them. Farm draining, if thoroughly done, is a permanent 

 improvement which no rise or fall in stocks will cause 

 to pass a dividend, and no thief can carry away. 



Before I had ever read a book upon farm drainage I had 

 served an extended apprenticeship with a pick and spade. But 

 I would recommend any one before beginning to drain to obtain 

 a work upon drainage and familiarize himself with the subject. 

 Most of the works upon this matter are from English sources or 

 compiled from them by some cute Yankee. The climate of En- 

 gland is so different from our own that allowance must be made 

 for that, England has what is called a wet climate and New 

 England a dry one, but more rain falls here than there. These 

 rains are of frequent occurance but small in quantity ; no such 

 heavy downpuros are known as frequently are seen here. There- 

 fore it is wise to use larger tiles than are recommended in the 

 books. From one to three inches was formerly recommended 

 by the English authorities although I think it is now conseded 

 that one inch is too small for any drain, as not enough water can 

 flow through there to wash away the sediment that will collect ; 

 a two inch tile or a four inch stone drain is as small as I would 

 ever use on branch ditches and for main lines considerably larger 

 than these. A stone drain owing to the rough surface which it 

 presents should be made larger than a pipe or tile to carry off 

 the same amount of water. In deciding the size of our drains we 

 should remember that pipes will convey water acording to the 

 squares of their diameters, a two inch tile will carry four times 

 as much water as one but one inch in diameter and one four 

 inches in diameter four times as much as one only two inches. 

 In practice I think the proportion will be ever greater than this 

 as the friction will be less in the larger pipe. Most of my drains 

 are of stone which have worked fairly well but tile are more 

 satisfactory because they are less likely to clog and in many cases 



