LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 103 



In some places it miglit seem that open ditches are hardly worth our atten- 

 tion, but no one acquainted with the present needs of the Huron peninsula 

 will think the time has yet arrived when open ditches can be dispensed with. 

 Farmers can not yet afford to pay for tiles large enough to take their 

 places and open ditches must ever demand a good deal of attention to be kept 

 as suitable outlets for the network of tile drains which, sooner or later, must be 

 the crowning effort in making every acre of land to produce valuable crops. 



In all drains no parts need more careful attention than the outlets. Then 

 let us in a general way consider the iinal outlets of our drains. The whole 

 peninsula is flat and the streams for the most part sluggish. Black river has 

 places (and I am told it is true of the Cass) where the fall is considerable, 

 and were it dredged out or cleaned in some way so as to make the stream 

 deeper and free from obstructions, it would have a fair current the entire 

 length and we should have secured the first requisite of any ditch depending 

 on this stream for an outlet. As it now is, marslies near the stream are so 

 near the water level that thorough drainage is utterly impossible. In 

 Wheatland township, Sanilac county, I took levels on a drain, where a 

 stake forty-four rods west of Black river was lower than the stake at the pro- 

 posed outlet, and less than two and one-half feet above the river bed. About 

 a mile beyond, on the same drain, after passing a slight ridge of gravel and 

 clay, there is another marsh about seven feet above the first, and nearly level 

 in itself. Beyond this, less than a mile, is another about three feet higher 

 than the last, and in itself about level. Thus it goes, till the highest point of 

 the water-shed, between Black and Cass rivers, is reached. The two latter 

 marshes can readily be drained onto the former, but acres of land along the 

 river will be made wetter instead of drier by such a ditch. I mention this 

 because I think it a typical case, not only on the Black river but on the Cass 

 and other streams, and shows forcibly the need of improving these natural 

 outlets. This is not farm drainage, but it is the first requisite, and the power 

 lies with the farmers to see that this improvement is made when they want it 

 sufficiently bad. 



In laying out open ditches to drain these marshes, many things should be 

 considered that are quite often overlooked. First, find the cause of the marsh. 

 Is a direct fall of rain and snow compelled to remain there till evaporated? 

 Is it flooded by visible streams ? By surface water from adjacent hills? Is it 

 fed by springs? Or, as is likely to be the case, some two or more of these 

 causes combined. Should the water come from adjacent highlands, either 

 from the surface or as springs, do not open a big ditch through the centre as 

 is often done, but rather keep near the highland with a ditch on each side, 

 and arrest the water as soon as it strikes the marsh. If it is fed by visible 

 streams, conduct them away in the most direct manner possible. The direc- 

 tion of the drains will best be determined by taking a few preliminary levels. 

 That simple precaution will often save many dollars. The eye is a poor 

 guide. 



If the ditch is to be cut from a swamp through a ridge of clay or gravel, 

 care must be taken to cut deep enough on the ridge to allow for settling of the 

 marsh after it becomes drier. Many ditches in Michigan are of little value 

 because of this oversight. The hard laud will not settle and the result is a 

 level ditch or one with the fall the wrong way : either of which is bad enough.. 



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