114 



THE IKKIGATION AGE. 



we may obey the injunction of the old adage, "Cut off 

 your losses and let your profits run on." 



But returning to consider the necessity of looking 

 further in drainage matters than the immediate needs 

 of the hour, it may be observed that tile manufacturers 

 should consider the probable demands in the near fu- 

 ture for tiles of large size as the development of drainage 

 work proceeds, lleference has been made to the special 

 enactments of Indiana regarding the use of large drain- 

 tile. In a late number of the "Drainage Journal," an 

 engineer, writing from Christian County, 111., says: 



"We have for the past several years been laying 

 large drain-tile for principal outlets upon drainage dis- 

 tricts in this locality, using twenty-eight, twenty-seven 

 and twenty-four-inch tile and sewer pipe for the work, 

 and of course maintaining a portion of the old channel 

 to carry away overflow, with adjacent lands fairly well 

 underdrained. One district comprises 2,850 acres, hav- 

 ing a twenty-eight-inch tile outlet for a mile, then 

 reducing in size, and with branches radiating therefrom 

 and comprising fourteen and eight-tenths miles of main 

 and principal branches, besides almost hundreds of 

 miles of field branches. The main line has a gradient 

 of but three and two-tenths feet fall per mile. During 

 the unprecedented flood in the first week of July the 

 overflow from the lands continued but thirty hours, and 

 no damage was done to the growing crops. Upon the 

 other systems, most of which have a better gradient, 

 no damage was suffered by reason of the surplus water, 

 and we regard this sort of a system of drainage as being 

 eminently the proper kind. Where tile or sewer pipe 

 will serve the purpose, and the drainage area is not too 

 great, I have of late years used tile upon my drainage 

 . work." 



Iowa has every condition of land requiring drain- 

 age, from the rolling portions which drain themselves 

 into sloughs and draws, to extensive levels, vast swamps 

 and overflowed bottoms. All will be drained in time, 

 because the land is fertile and well worth the labor and 

 expense. Scarcely a condition found elsewhere in the 

 Middle West can not be duplicated here. No more 

 important advice could be rendered to any locality where 

 adequate drainage of land is contemplated than to 

 definitely define and describe the natural boundaries of 

 the areas to be treated and to outline the main drainage 

 which should be provided for them. This is a simple 

 process, but is frequently omitted until a large amount 

 of interior drainage has been executed, and complica- 

 tions of a vexatious and serious nature begin to rise. 

 "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at 

 the flood, leads on to fortune." Iowa is at that point 

 in the development of her agricultural resources. The 

 nanufacturers of drain-tile must seize upon the opening 

 now afforded by the unusual interest which is being 

 shown in this state in the development of her lands. 

 The 290,000,000 bushels of corn produced in the state 

 in the year 1902, though large and satisfactory under 

 present conditions, represents but one-half of what she 

 may produce eight years hence, if her lands are wisely 

 developed and properly cultivated. In accomplishing 

 this, however, a fair amount must be invested in drain- 

 age improvements, of an extended and comprehensive 

 character, in which those who furnish the material and 

 execute the work will be materially interested and 

 should be party of the second part in the transaction. 



In carrying out this work in a comprehensive way 

 the aid of the engineer should be secured in the begin- 

 ning of every proposed work. Too frequently this mat- 



ter is deferred until some serious difficulty is encoun- 

 tered from which he is expected to extricate the land- 

 owner, public officer or contractor. The engineer should 

 be a man of good information and experience in his 

 particular line of work. Many who are in other respects 

 accomplished engineers do not have the qualifications 

 for the efficient planning of drainage work. This asso- 

 ciation would confer a benefit upon the land interests 

 of the state if it would sanction the work of the com- 

 petent engineer and even go so far as to recommend 

 that drainage work be placed in charge of those who are 

 professionally fitted to direct and advise. This should 

 be done, not for the purpose of adding another expense, 

 but to secure better results in the end at less cost. Tile 

 manufacturers are in a position to do much in the 

 interest of thorough work if they choose. As purchasers 

 of machines often ask the seller about the work they 

 will perform and how they should be set up and oper- 

 ated, so have purchasers of drain-tile, in time past at 

 least, inquired of manufacturers concerning their use, 

 where skillful labor may be secured, and for much other 

 gratuitous information. 



Let us turn for a moment from the consideration 

 of matters of conquest, that is, the reclamation and im- 

 provement of property, the labor and vexation connected 

 with the work, and the vicissitudes of business in the 

 acquirement of a competency, to the results which may 

 be expected to be enjoyed. No titled owner of estates 

 in foreign countries can appreciate the feelings of the 

 American landowner who, by his own well-directed 

 efforts, has made himself a home, and looks out upon 

 the fruitful fields which are his by title acquired through 

 intelligent labor. He may well forget for the time 

 being the trials only made pleasurable by the thought 

 of future success, and enjoy the afternoon of life sur- 

 rounded by the amenities of a peaceful home. It is 

 not all of life to overcome the physical difficulties along 

 its pathway. It is not quite enough to know that he 

 has succeeded in a business way. The building up of 

 character, the cultivation of higher sentiments and the 

 commendable discharge of obligations to his associates 

 in business and to his immediate family should in 

 reality be the ultimate end sought. He who, though in 

 the garb of his daily work, can exhibit the higher ele- 

 ments of citizenship and manhood is most worthy the 

 name of a successful man. There are no more inviting 

 fields for the establishment and development of rural 

 homes than may be found in the state whose clay manu- 

 facturing interests you represent. Without your work, 

 which is both honorable and remunerative, the state will 

 fail to point off upon the dial of progress these suc- 

 cessive periods which characterize our age and define 

 our position among industrial people. Her rural citi- 

 zens may take a commendable pride in the towers and 

 minarets which adorn her cities, and boast of their part 

 in the direction of the affairs of state, but after all they 

 turn with greatest satisfaction to the acres which they 

 have improved and adorned as their own most valued 

 heritage, and the state's choicest possessions. 



WHY? 



Tess "You and Miss Sere don't seem to be good 

 friends. What's the matter?" 



Jess "Why, she remarked that she was twenty-four 

 years old and 



Tess "And you doubted it?" 



Jess "Not at all. I merely said, 'Of course, but 

 when?" Philadelphia Press. 



