1874.-] 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
251 
cheaper than tiles, and it is be'ter than stones. 
In making stone drains there is a preference 
in favor of using broken or small stones rather 
than to lay what is called a “ French ” drain, 
or a drain with an eye, because the latter re¬ 
quires the water to flow over an earth-floor, 
which it washes more or less according to the 
character of the soil, often undermining and 
displacing the stones which form the eye, or 
washing earth away from one place to deposit 
it in another to form an obstruction. Further¬ 
more, surface water often breaks through from 
the top of the drain, carries dirt and rubbish 
into the channel to choke it, and helps to dis¬ 
arrange the stones. In using any other material 
than tiles, it is better to have a drain through 
which the water will trickle, than one through 
which it will run in a copious stream. This is 
the reason why a drain made with gravel or 
small stones is better than one made with large 
stones. It is better because less liable to become 
disturbed and made useless. One obstruction 
makes all the drain above it useless—often 
worse than useless—from the water accumu¬ 
lated in the upper part of the drain breaking to 
the surface at the obstructed point, and making 
a considerable tract springy and unfit for the 
production of good crops. 
Another point connected with the draining 
of land often receives less attention than it 
merits. So much is said and thought about 
under-draining that there is too much disregard 
of the less important surface draining. Some 
soils are so tenacious that, no matter how well 
they may be underdrained, they will not allow 
the water of heavy or long-continued rains to 
pass through them so rapidly as it should do. 
In all such cases there should be surface gutters 
—more or less wide—to allow surface waste to 
pass off at once. These gutters should be al¬ 
ways kept in grass, in order that the ground 
may not be worn away by the current 
It may be accepted as a principle that all 
farming land should be freed from the presence 
of excessive moisture beneath, and of surface 
water at the top. This is absolutely necessary 
to the economical cultivation of anything but 
rice and cranberries. At the same time, the 
work may be done much more cheaply than is 
usually supposed, and the exercise of a little 
common-sense will show that the desired result 
may be obtained more directly, more simply, 
and more cheaply than by the course often 
adopted. Many think that they must skirmish 
with soil water, coax it to run where it is not 
inclined to, circumvent it, attack it with “ her¬ 
ring-bone ” drains or “ gridiron ” drains, or ap¬ 
ply some other “ scientific ” means to get rid 
of it. In draining, as in everything else, the 
scientific way is the simple, straightforward, 
practical way. The end to be accomplished is 
to take water from where it does harm, and 
lead it to where it can do no harm, and the 
natural law on which the whole process is 
based is this: Water runs down hill, and straight 
down the steepest slope of the hill. Conse¬ 
quently, if we wish to remove the water from 
a certain tract, we should not carry it diagon¬ 
ally, nor indirectly across the slope of the 
ground, but straight down the steepest descent, 
just where it would run had it its own choice. 
It is often required to collect the water of a 
number of lateral drains and lead it toward a 
convenient outlet, and to do this by following 
a line diagonal to the slope of the land, but the 
laterals themselves—the real drains—should run 
in the direction in which the water itself would 
run were it flowing over the surface. The 
reason for this is that this is the natural way 
for it to flow, and that if the drain is laid in 
this direction, the tendency of the water will be 
to follow it—while if another direction is taken, 
the tendency of the water will be to leave the 
drain and seek the more direct fall. If the 
land is made wet by a spring, the proper plan 
is, not to go around Robin Hood’s bam to cut 
the spring off*but to “hit him straight in the 
eye.” Take the spring where it is and as it is, 
and tap it at the point where it accumulates all 
its water—then its entire removal will be cer¬ 
tain. Any other course will be more expensive 
and less effective. Springy hill-sides must be 
treated on the same principle: strike straight 
and deep into the water-bearing stratum, and 
give the water an easier and lower vent than it 
finds at the surface, then carry it by the most 
direct route to the bottom of the hill. 
To drain a wet place of a few rods, it is not 
necessary to underlay it with a cobweb of 
drains; one drain cut quite across the whole 
width of the wet ground will often prove suffi¬ 
cient. It is one of the sources of expense in 
draining that too many drains are made. As 
a rule, if the complete and thorough drainage 
of the whole land is not needed (and often it is 
not), and if it is the chief object to bring the 
soil into good grass-bearing condition, the best 
course will be to drain the wet spots by as few 
drains as will do the work, to tap all springs 
which it is desired to get rid of, and to arrange 
for the complete removal of all surface water. 
Of course, the complete and thorough drainage 
of the whole land often is necessary. It was 
necessary at Ogden Farm, and the whole place 
is underlaid with tile drains, four feet deep, and 
forty feet apart; there are over thirteen miles 
of them. When work is to be done on this 
scale, the owner will take more comprehensive 
advice than could be given in a newspaper 
article; but it seemed probable that a few hints 
for men who do their own engineering, and 
much of their own work, would be as useful 
as anything that the past month and its letters 
have suggested. 
The cost of tile draining—which for many 
reasons is the best wherever it is practicable— 
can not be exactly stated, for much, of course, 
depends on the character of the soil and on 
prices. In fair, solid clay, where not more 
than one-half the earth has to be loosened with 
the pick, a first-class tile-drainer, with proper 
tools, will dig, lay, and back-fill five rods per 
day, 4 ft. deep, 14 inches wide at the surface, 
and from 2 to 3 inches wide at the bottom, 
lie takes out 45 cubic feet of earth for each rod 
of drain. An ordinary laborer would insist on 
a much greater width of ditch, (with ordinary 
tools he would need it), and if the drain were 
to be made with stones, a greater width would 
be necessary. Such a workman making a ditch 
for stones, say 4 feet deep, 24 inches wide at 
the surface, and 16 inches wide at the bottom, 
would throw out 110 cubic feet of earth for 
each rod of drain. The cost of twice handling 
the extra 65 feet of earth would be generally 
enough to pay for tiles, unless the location were 
very remote from a factory; it would often be 
much more than enough. The relative differ¬ 
ence is equally great in making drains only 
3 feet deep. 
One other matter in which it is common to 
make a mistake, is in the size of tiles used. If 
of good form, and with well-fitting collars, 1J- 
inch tiles, laid with a fall of six inches in 100 
feet, are ample for the removal of the rain-fall 
on an acre of land, and—to skip intermediate 
details—6-inch tile is sufficient for 40 acres. Of 
course, spring water (which is the rain-fall on 
other land brought underground to ours) will 
affect this rule, but less than is often supposed. 
Now and then, by way of cncoura , ment, I 
look back over the history of some of our Jer¬ 
sey cattle investments, and trace the directions 
in which particular strains of blood have been 
disseminated. Here is an instance: In the 
winter of 1867-8 we bought from Mr. Hartman 
Kuhu, of Philadelphia—together with some 
others—a young heifer to come in the next 
summer with her first calf. The price paid 
was $350. She arrived here safely, an;’ did 
well. Her first calf was a bull, and in those 
days we did not consider a bull calf worth 
raising. The next (1869) was a heifer, Nora; 
the next (1870) a bull, Nebuska, used here as a 
yearling, then sold for $200, and went to Mis¬ 
sissippi. In August of that year Nelly was sold 
for $750, and went to Massachusetts. In 1871 
Nora had a heifer calf, Noreina; in 1872 a bull, 
Norajah, sold for $100, and went to Connec¬ 
ticut ; in 1873 a heifer, Donora, sold for $175, 
and went to Tennessee; in 1874 a heifer, Bel- 
nora. In 1873 Noreina had a bull calf, Belnor, 
sold for $100, and went to Jefferson County, 
N. Y. She will be due to calve again in a few 
days. Nelly, Nora, and Noreina have always 
been very profitable from the time of first 
calving. The sales named above amount to 
$1,325, and we have still on hand Nora, 
Noreina, and Belnora. This result, in a little 
more than six years, from an investment of 
$350, is satisfactory. We have others whose 
report would be quite as favorable. 
This number will reach its readers too late 
for the beginning of the haying—too late for 
the bulk of it, where farmers understand their 
best interests—but there will still be a great 
breadth to be cut, and it is not too late for the 
repetition of an oft-made suggestion—which I. 
repeat, because my own experience has con¬ 
vinced me of its great value. There is but one 
best way of doing anything, and the best way 
to make hay is the following, or if it is not, 
pray let us have information as to abetter one: 
1. Start the mowing machine after five o’clock 
in the afternoon, and do no cutting after the 
dew is off of the grass in the morning. 2. On 
the first clear morning after the cutting, but 
not until the dew is well off, start the hay-ted¬ 
ding machines—as many of them as can be got 
hold of—and keep them going without unnec¬ 
essary intermission until the last lock is hauled 
into the barn, or until the dew begins to fall in 
the evening. The more constantly the hay is 
stirred the better it will cure. 3. Begin haul¬ 
ing early enough on this same day to get all 
that has been cut safely into the barn or stack. 
By this process the crop will be put in in the 
best possible condition, and though it may look 
too green it will be quite safe to keep (if it has 
been well stirred), and will “ spread ” better than 
if made by any longer process. Should rain 
follow the evening cutting, no harm will be 
done, for the grass will not have its nutritious 
parts leached out until it has first been wilted. 
Carriage and Pigeon House. 
“A Subscriber” asks fora plan fora car¬ 
riage-house with an apartment ab we for fancy 
pigeons. We give herewith a plan with eleva¬ 
tion of a building adapted for these purposes. 
Fig. 1 shows the deration of the building 
which has a carriage-house and stable fo.* two 
horses belo'w, a hay-loft above, and a pigeon- 
house above the loft. An alighting board runs 
