TILE DRAINAGE. 121 



PERSONAL LETTERS OF ADVICE. 



Do not ask them. I am a pretty good-natured man, but an 

 extremely busy one. I presume most farmers have little 

 idea how heavy a mail such writers as Mr. Terry, Mr. Gould, 

 Mr. Brown, and myself, have. I find that" I can answer 

 personal letters from strangers only with great brevity, and 

 only when a postal card or prepaid envelope, or stamp, at 

 least, is inclosed for reply. If the letters are of general 

 interest I can reply through The Ohio Farmer, if so request- 

 ed. But as to questions of drainage, I have tried in this 

 little book to tell all I know that is necessary for you to know 

 about its principles and practice. If I have failed in the six 

 weeks or so of hard work put upon it, for liberal pay from 

 the publisher, I shall surely fail in the few moments I can 

 afford to donate to you on a postal-card reply. If you have a 

 really difficult problem of drainage, employ a competent 

 engineer, or at least an experienced ditcher, a real expert at 

 the work. I could not advise wisely except by seeing the 

 land. 



WHERE TO HrV TILES. 



In particular, do not ask me this. I can not tell you, in 

 your locality. Consult the advertisements in your best agri- 

 cultural and local papers ; ask your local freight agent, and 

 write to manufacturers for carload rates delivered at your 

 station, if they are not made near enough to haul with teams. 

 Use your eyes and pen and the mails, or even advertise in 

 your agricultural paper, something like this : 



WANTED. Carload rates on tile, delivered at Station, 



(m the Railroad. 



Then club with a few neighbors, if you do not want a car- 

 load yourself. Begin and tile a few acres near the barn, and 

 then till it u as well as you know how or can learn how; " and 

 as your income increases from that investment, use the 

 surplus funds in draining a littl more each year, thoroughly, 



