SELL WHEN FIT FOR MARKET. 49 



ORCHARD. 

 I must not forget the orchard ; this contains one hundred 

 apple trees of the standard varieties for this latitude, with a 

 good supply of other fruits raised in Central Illinois. The 

 orchard is a sacred spot, and is not profaned by the tread of a 

 horse or a cow. 



DRAINAGE. 



My experience in underground drainage is of recent date. 

 The drains are three feet deep ; large hickory poles about five 

 inches in diameter are laid in the bottom of the ditch, one on 

 each side, then split slabs of timber two inches thick and 

 twenty inches long are laid across on these poles, leaving a drain 

 five by ten inches. This kind of drain has lasted in this 

 neighborhood fifteen to twenty years. Leading into these drains 

 I shall run a number of tile and mole drains, which will 

 thoroughly drain the land. The drains so constructed keep con- 

 stantly running until the last of July; and while previously the 

 land was wet on either side of them, now it is in fine condi- 

 tion for cultivation, the corn yielding twice as much as on the 

 high but undrained land. 



THOMAS A. POTTINGER, 



PERU, LASALLE COUNTY. 



He Sold Wheyiever a Crop was Fit for Market — Believes in 

 Good Shelter for Stock — The Windmill an Absolute Neces- 

 sity — lile Drainage the Best Investmeyit a Farmer Can Make 

 — A Cheap Plan for Laying Tile — A Fortune and a Happy 

 Home. 



I was born on the 14th day of February, 1842, in Cheshire, 

 England. Came to America in February, 1849. Owing to 

 circumstances bej'ond my control, I was placed in the Roches- 

 ter Orphan Asylum, and it was there I was taught those habits 

 of industry that have laid the foundation to a success, which, 

 as a farmer and stock raiser, I think will (considering the limit' 

 4 



