412 RURAL MIL! Ilia AN 



lines and specifications than that which was pro- 

 posed.^ The Michi«j-an draina<,'-e law is also criti- 

 cized becansc of a lack of provision for adequate and 

 definite estimates of cost in advance of construction. 

 There is often a lack of competent engineering ad- 

 vice before construction is uiylertaken, resulting in 

 ineffective drains produced at nigh cost. The method 

 of cleaning out drains is criticized as needlessly 

 cumbersome; it is suggested that an annual main- 

 tenance tax for this work should simplify the process 

 and insure better results. The present law is criti- 

 cized because it fails to provide for access to an exist- 

 ing drain by a laud-owner whose land is not tra- 

 versed by it, save by resort to the detailed pro- 

 cedure laid down for the original construction of a 

 project. Projects involving outlets of considerable 

 extent, draining wet lands that can produce nothing 

 until such outlets are established, sufi'er from the lack 

 of provision for the issue of bonds by drainage dis- 

 tricts whereby the expenditure can be deferred until 

 production is instituted on the drained lands. 



It will appear from the preceding paragraph that 

 .the county is the unit for drainage and reclamation 

 operations in Michigan. There are drainage pro- 

 jects, however, which greatly transcend county boun- 

 daries and financial resources for their accomplish- 

 ment. An example is the Saginaw basin and the dis- 

 trict tributary to the Taquemon River of the Upper 

 Peninsula. In the case of the Saginaw, evidently the 

 drain commissioner of no one county is competent to 

 'lUd., 52. 



