CHAPTER V. 



DRAINAGE. 



DRAINING WITH TILES. 



To condense within the limits of a few pages even a tolerably 

 complete description of the construction and mode of operation 

 of tile-drains, and to give a clear statment of the theory of under- 

 drainage in general, is no easy task, and it would probably be of 

 little use for me to attempt to do it more satisfactorily than by 

 making the following extracts from what I have already written 

 on the subject.* 



The following articles on the subject, which I have at various 

 times furnished for the Evening Post^ properly bear upon this branch 

 of it: — 



WHAT IS UNDERDRAINING ? 



It is an axiom of good farming that all land should be thoroughly 

 underdrained : underdrained, of course, either naturally or arti- 

 ficially. 



There is nothing mysterious either in the operation or in its effect. 

 The ability to plow and plant early in the spring, the perfect 

 germination of seeds, the rapid and luxuriant growth of healthy 

 plants, the ability to plow and otherwise cultivate growing crops, 



*I. An Essay on "Tile Draining," in the American Agricultural Annual for 1867. 

 New York : Orange Judd & Co. 



a. "Draining for Profit and Draining for Health," published by the same house. {1867.) 



3. A Chapter on "Tile Draining," in the Farmers and Mechanics' Manual. New 

 York : E. B. Treat & Co. (1868.) 



4. Various Communications to the American Agriculturist and to the Ne-w Tori 

 Evening Post on the same subject. 



