184 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



I do not see why the longing for perfection which is presumed 

 to be natural to most minds, is not satisfied by your system, nor do 

 I see why you may not now say, " what more can I do in my vine- 

 yard, that has not been done in it ? " 



Yours Respectfully. 



E. R MAINE. 



In explanation of the above our readers need hardly be told 

 that its author is one of several who began work under our sys- 

 tem. Mr. Maine has done his work in a way to insure success. 

 His thoroughness in the matter of manuring, will secure returns 

 the ensuing year. Had he manured less at the outset, it would 

 have required a year or two longer to show the effects of the 

 system, but time has been gained and that is an important con- 

 sideration. 



The following communication was addressed by Mr. Maine to 



the Editor of The Farm Journal : 



MAINSBURG, PA., Sept., 21, 1885. 

 Mr. W. Atkinson, 



DEAR SIR : Having seen the working model of Mr. Cole's new 

 system of irrigation at Wellsville, Allegany County, N. Y., I was so 

 favorably impressed as to induce me to fit a small piece of land, 

 intending fully and fairly to test its merits. So far I can only 

 report upon the cost. 



To fit an acre as I have done for horticulture, takes eighty rods 

 of trench, and sixteen rods for drain. I enclose diagram of one 

 acre, 8 x 20 rods. First trench lengthwise one rod from side of 

 the plat ; the next, two rods below the first, making in all four 

 trenches twenty rods long, and two rods apart. The cross drains 

 are eight rods apart in the middle, and four rods from the ends. 



The maximum cost for digging the trenches in any soil, 3| ft. 

 deep and 2 ft. wide is 75 cents per rod, and the cross drains 35 

 cents, making $65.60 per acre. (See diagram on following page.) 



