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THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



PHILLIPS, Wis., Dec. 22nd, 1902. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL, 



Dear Sirs : I have been observing closely for about three 

 years past, the effects of drainage on our swamps in Price 

 county, Wisconsin. Have tried to ascertain what it costs 

 tc clear these low-lands of timber and prepare for crops. 

 .Cost of ditching per rod of different sized ditches. How 

 near the ditches should be to each other and how deep. 

 How long after draining before the land was ready for 

 crop, etc. Have also tried to ascertain the relative values of 

 upland and low land after having been put into crop. 

 Effects of excessive rains or drouth upon same. Durability 

 of soil. What fertilizer is best. What profits per acre 

 are received from raising hay upon same, and the tons per 

 acre taken from these low lands. It is only this year that 

 I began, actual experiments upon these marsh lands. Have 

 a peat marsh of 200 acres on the main highway, two miles 

 sodffi of the city of Phillips. Began clearing last fall and 

 have now 18 acres cleared, and 10 acres is ditched and 

 partly into crop. This swamp is surrounded by improved 

 farms. The farmers had no faith in the marsh, claiming it 

 was sour and made sport of us as we prepared to put in a 

 crop. Have a pretty little garden now in the center of the 

 swamp and near the road which crosses it. Have a variety 

 of vegetables in it, which are doing splendidly. I might 

 write you a short article occasionally, upon the results of 

 my investigations. I am more and more convinced that the 

 swamps of the north are a gold mine to those who buy early 

 and put into tame hay. 



Yours very truly, 



DEWlTT VAN OSTRAND. 



HOUSTON, TEX., January 10, 1903. 

 EDITOR OF THE IRRIGATION AGE: , .. 



Chicago, 111. 



Dear Sir: We beg to advise you of the formation of 

 the firm of Maxcy & Anderson, civil and mechanical engin- 

 eers, to do a general consulting engineer business, and es- 

 pecially the engineering of irrigating plants, of which there 

 are a great many being built in Texas and Louisiana. 



The members of this firm are Mr. John W. Maxcy, who 

 ;has had charge of much of the important engineering work 

 in this section, and Mr. William E. Anderson, who was, 

 for a number of years, mechanical engineer for the Ameri- 

 can Cotton Company. 



Very respectfully, 



MAXCY & ANDERSON. 



KEOTA, IOWA, Jan. 2, 1903. 

 IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL: 



Dear Sirs : Enclosed please find draft for $2.00 to pay 

 subscription for your journal for the years 1902 and 1903. 

 I have always considered your journal one of the indis- 

 pensable helps in our business. The past year has been a 

 very prosperous one in our business. We have not been able 

 to supply the demand. The 25th of last September I bought 

 Mr. j. C. Clarke's interest in the works. I now own the 

 works alone. I have recently contracted for a new 60 H. P. 

 boiler and expect to add another building to my works 

 in the spring. Wishing the journal a happy new year, I re- 

 main, Very truly. 



S. K. LEACOX. 



CAREY, OHIO, Jan. 5th, 1903. 

 IRRIGATION AGE AND DRAINAGE JOURNAL: 

 Indianapolis, Ind. 



We have just effected a consolidation with the Heck 

 & Marvin Co., of Findlay, O. The company will be known 

 as The Van Buren, Heck & Marvin Co., and with a capital 

 and facilities at least four times as great as has the present 

 company. 



We will be pleased to send you copy for our ad as 

 soon as we possibly can. 



Thanking you for past favors, we are 



Very truly yours, 

 S. C. VAN BUREN'S SON & Co. 



THE TILE WORKS AT CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS. 



One of the oldest drain-tile factories in central 

 Illinois is that of S. H. Record at Charleston. Mr. 

 Record began business in 1877 with a horsepower mill 

 and one small kiln. He dried his tile in an open 

 shed, as was the universal custom in the earlier days 

 of the clay business. When drying tile with steam 

 heat was first proposed, it was regarded as an inno- 

 vation which should be adopted with caution. It was 

 found, in many cases, that rapid drying made the tile 

 crack and in thai way occasioned considerable loss. 

 Drying in the open air, however, was entirely too slow 

 to keep pace with the growing demand for drain tile, 

 as was also the molding of them by the horsepower 

 mill. These primitive methods gave place to the steam 

 power mill and to sheds equipped with steam pipes 

 the manipulation of clays, the regulation of artificial 

 heat for the dry shed, and the art of burning the ware 

 were gradually learned by dear experience. Competi- 

 tion in the tile business became disastrously sharp by 

 reason of the multiplication of factories. Our veteran 

 clay workers dwell upon this phase of the business with 

 special bitterness in recounting the early trials of the 

 tilemaker. The reduction of selling prices below the 

 cost of manufacture forced many out of business, and 

 nearly ruined others, if we may believe the reminiscences 

 related by the veteran tilemakers. Many expensive 



Renew your subscriptions to the IRRIGATION AGE 

 for 1903. Send us in Post Office or Express money 

 order for $1.00. 



TILE WORKS, S H. RECORD, CHARLESTON, ILL. 



mistakes were made in developing the business, and, 

 take it all in all, there were ups and downs in the 

 career of the manufacturing of drain tile, which the 

 purchaser knew nothing of. 



Now that the condition of the trade is such that 

 there is good demand for tije and fair prices are realized, 

 the feeling is better and tilemakers prosecute their work 

 with energy, having confidence in the future of the 

 business. Many of the older factories show the suc- 

 cessive steps of enlargement which have been made 

 necessary by the steady advancment of drainage inter- 

 ests. Air. Record's shed was extended, after which an 

 L constructed of hollow building blocks was put up in 

 a substantial manner. Both are two-stories high, have 

 slated floors and are heated by a complete system of 

 steam pipes. The clay used is tender and considerable 

 care in handling the heat is required or the tile will 

 crack badly in drying. The tile mill and clay dump 

 are located in the angle of the L formed by the two 

 dry-sheds, from which both sheds can be filled with 

 equal facility. The clay is hauled to the dump with 



