THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



330 



Then yon take charge of the work and see to it that 

 the trench is cut to the gradient, made smooth and 

 even in the bottom, tile laid true without shouldering, 

 turning tile this or that way to make the closest joint 

 possible, and in refilling trench hold tile in place un- 

 til earth is compacted on both sides to half their height 

 so that there may be no danger of bad shouldering. by 

 the ends of the tile being pushed this way and that 

 way, or by the unequal settling of loose earth. The 

 cost of the drain will be more but remember you are 

 doing work not for today only, but for all coming 

 time. 



A tile drain should be of sufficient capacity to 

 carry away one-half of an ordinary rainfall, the soil 

 being supposed to absorb the other half. No land 

 holder can afford to tile drain against a cloud burst or 

 down pour of rain of two or more inches of water 

 per hour. Whatever mistakes you may make, do not 

 let the putting in of tile too small to do the work 

 be one of them. Our mothers used to sweeten goose- 

 berry pies by putting in sugar, pound for pound, then 

 shut their eyes and put in more sugar to be sure to 

 have pies sweet. . Be liberal in determining the size 

 of tile for. any drain, and then add an inch or two 

 to the diameter to be sure to have the tile large 

 enough to do the work expected of it. The writer be- 

 gan in 1858 to level for box drains to carry the water 

 of the historic gopher ditcher to an outlet ; then leveled 

 for box drains in their own right, then he leveled 

 for crude, high priced tile with the apathy of the 

 farmer against him. It is enough to say that the 

 writer, on account of the high price of tile and poor 

 at that, the apathy and ignorance of the farmer of 

 the utility of tile drainage, and other troubles over 

 which he had no control, looks back to county ditches, 

 the construction of which he superintended, where the 

 tile should have been once and a half or twice as large. 

 Today tile are every way better made, much larger 

 sizes, from three to forty-two inches internal diameters, 

 of two, two and a half and three feet lengths. This 

 being so, the farmers are taking up about all the tile 

 in some of my first ditches, moving the tile up the 

 ditch to points where the capacity of tile can do the 

 work, and putting in larger tile in its stead. Say a 

 15 or 18-inch instead of a 12-inch. You can get splen- 

 did 15-inch tile now for $1.90 per rod. At first we 

 paid $2.00, $2.25 and $2.50 for 12-inch tile of foot 

 lengths, of every mathematical shape of cross section, 

 and some shapes that mathematics knows nothing of. 



Put in tile large enough and you will not regret 

 it. Any one desiring to supply himself with an ex- 

 haustless store of information to draw upon, let him 

 make John C. Trautwine's engineer's pocket book a 

 member of his library. 



Once more while laying tile lay it deep, deep. 

 All costs are the same except deeper digging and more 

 back filling. Remember, if you put your tile down 

 two and a half feet you have your field drained to a 

 certain extent, but if you put it down five feet deep 

 you drain another field underlying the first, so the 

 roots and rootlets of your crops have two fields, one 

 above the other, from which to elaborate their plant 

 food. 



An exchange says : "All the human race is yet 

 in the rudimentary stage of moral development." How 

 that can be when the editor has advanced far enough 

 to find it out is one of our social mysteries. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Fred Bond, state engineer of Wyoming, departed 

 this life on August 14, last, after an illness of seven 

 weeks of typhoid fever, at his home in Cheyenne. 



Mr. Bond's death came as a public calamity, and in 

 the words of the governor of Wyoming, "his loss will 

 be felt by the entire state, and it will be difficult, in- 

 deed, to replace him." 



Quiet and unassuming, he possessed those unusual 

 qualities which endear one to hearts of all, and he was 

 one of the most generally beloved men in the entire 

 state. Kind and indulgent, courteous, and, withal, a 



FRED BOND, LATE STATE ENGINEER, 

 CHEYENNE, \VYO. 



true gentleman, he counted his friends by scores and 

 had no enemies. To meet him was to be his friend, and 

 his death will be mourned throughout the length and 

 breadth of the commonwealth. 



The deceased leaves a widow and three children, 

 Warwick, Kenneth and Fred Bond, Jr. His brothers, 

 Frank and H. L. Bond, are here. A mother is still liv- 

 ing at Iowa City, Iowa. 



We knew Mr. Bond personally and well, and 

 join with his friends in deploring his loss and extending 

 sympathy to his family. 



Mr. Clarence T. Johnston, recently assistant chief 

 irrigation investigations, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, has just been appointed state engineer of 

 "Wyoming, to fill the position made vacant bv the demise 

 of Mr. Fred Bond. 



We notice in some of our agricultural exchanges 

 that "apples" are recommended in the manufacture of 

 cider. It is believed that this fruit will add "body" 

 to the usual pine wood shavings, liquorice, and pond 

 water decoction commonly sold under the name of 

 "cider." 



