442 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



may not only 'bottle up' one, but a whole line of progressive farmer- 

 above him. The drainage laws of Iowa do not at all fit our present con- 

 ditions. They must and they will be remedied. Water has to run down 

 hill. The man below may legally injure himself and injure the entire 

 slope above him. The water will accumulate to his damage, and it will 

 be retarded to the damage of all above him. Our law should be reme- 

 died. The common sense of the people of Iowa will not tolerate any 

 other thought. It is a constitutional question and we must be patien'^ 

 until we can remedy it." 



Mr. J. Z. Adams, of Harrison county: -'I live in the flooded districts 

 of Harrison. We have been patient for five years out there and our chil 

 dren have been living on tadpoles for a long time, and we have got to 

 "the place where patience ceases to be a virfue. Is it possible that tho 

 people of Iowa can not take hold of this and bring about a little bit of 

 legislation and ditch the State? Out in the western part of the State our 

 drainage district is quite different. We have to take care of water 

 which runs from the high land down upon us. A good old farmer sai;^ 

 to me upon the train today, 'We have got to go to work and get somo 

 laws through the legislature to remedy these laws, or we have got to 



make the d lawyers keep their mouths shut.' We have got to do 



something. We must do it." 



Lawyer Clarence Baker, of Centerville: "I want to say you cant 

 keep the lawyers' mouths shut. The only constitutional question whici 

 our legislature will run up against this winter in the drainage question 

 is obtaining the right of way of these ditches. These ditches can b-^ 

 built if we only make the assessment greater on some of the lands. Thv^ 

 legislature can this winter change the drainage laws. They have go^ 

 to be pushed." 



Mr. J. T. Drug, of Stratford: "I find that in drainage engineerin.'i 

 work that they are attempting to establish, when people get to under- 

 stand one proposition more thoroughly, results are obtained moro 

 quickly. If my land is located below a large swamp, and the "water from 

 the swamp passes over my land, when those lands are drained I will 

 have less water to take care of. When we are putting a pipe line through 

 a man's land we are not taking any of his land; he can cultivate over 

 it. We can not build an open ditch without taking land. It is when you 

 have to build an open ditch that you have to take land away. Wheu- 

 ever you drain large swampy areas above, there will be less water to 

 pass through the land below after they are drained than before, and con 

 sequently less damage than before. Pipe lines can be run when open 

 ditches would not be permitted without expensive law suits.*' 



By vote of the house, the chairman was instructed to defer further 

 discussion until the program of the evening session was completed. Prof. 

 Anson Marston, professor of civil engineering, Iowa State College, was 

 then introduced, and gave a very practical paper on "Drainage En- 

 gineering." 



"Drainage Engineering Notes." a neat, attractive booklet, prepared 

 by Professor Marston, giving valuable statistical engineering informa- 

 tion, was distributed through the audience while Professor Marstop 

 read the following address: 



