72 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



you add the cost of tile, you will know the cost per rod of the 

 work. Mr. Billingsley estimates the cost per acre, with the lat- 

 erals, from sixty to one hundred feet apart, at from fifteen to 

 twenty dollars, and a field may often be sufficiently drained at 

 a much less expense. 



There are localities where there is, at a depth which can be 

 reached, a strata of gravel, and by digging till this is reached 

 the surface water will sink. This is called perpendicular drainage. 



Surface drainage should receive attention on all farms, 

 whether underdrained or not. Heavy crops of wheat are often 

 grown on flat land by plowing in narrow lands and opening the 

 dead furrows so that the water can escape. More or less wheat 

 is winter-killed annually because the water is allowed to stand 

 on it. Hilly pastures are gullied and ruined also for the want 

 of a little care in dividing the water so that it will pass off in 

 several small streams, instead of allowing it to gather in the low 

 places and form a torrent. Every thing connected with the re- 

 moval of the surplus water from the farm calls for prompt and 

 intelligent action. 



