66 



THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



was flooded every winter and often till late in the spring, but 

 these drains have relieved it of water so that now it grows 

 good crops and can be plowed as early in the spring as the re- 

 mainder of the field, which is rolling, with good natural sur- 

 face drainage. My nearest line of tile is about forty feet from 

 the edge of it, and considerably more than one hundred from 

 the center of it. There are two more laterals parallel with the 

 one mentioned and thirty-three and sixty-six feet farther away 

 from the line between me and my neighbor, as I put in three 

 parallel lines running to the main ditch. These drains, although 

 laid much shallower than is usually recommended, have removed 

 the surplus water from a strip fully double the distance that 

 most of our writers recommend. In my own judgment the 

 cases are rare where it would be necessary to lay the laterals 

 nearer than one hundred feet. 



The Outlet. The first consideration in drainage is the 

 outlet. The English call it the " outfall," which name is very 

 appropriate as there must be a fall to carry away the water and 

 keep the mouth clear or the drain will not long continue to do 

 good work. More drains are ruined from lack of a good outlet 

 at the start or from neglect to properly finish the mouth of 

 the ditch than from all other causes combined. Whatever 

 the expense, necessary drains must be opened and a way pro- 

 vided for the water to flow 

 from the mouth of the tile 

 with perfect freedom, or the 

 drain will fail to give satisfac- 

 tion and will be in danger of 

 becoming worthless. I have 

 often seen drains so located 

 that an outlay of from three to 

 five dollars would have opened a clear way for the water to es- 

 cape, but instead of doing this, a barrel or box had been sunk, 

 and so arranged that the water had to rise a foot or more above 

 the tile and then flow off. Now if the fall were six inches to 

 the hundred feet, this would back the water two hundred feet 

 up the tile, not only raising the water line to a level with the 



A FAULTY OUTLET. 



