286 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
placed right side up, and after the cleats are placed and top 
board laid on, nail with 10’s through top board and cleat, and 
then saw off each end of the board tile square. There will be 
an open space of one-half of an inch between the top board and 
sides, but the weight of earth will close this except near the 
bearings, and those small spaces will materially help the drain¬ 
age. Care should be taken not to use unsound or sappy lum¬ 
ber, as it will soon decay. Place a flat stone on each side 
where the ends come together to hold the joints even, and 
cover with straw and fill with dirt. 
Stone Drains .—When made of stone the drains should be dug 
at least twelve inches wide on the bottom, and more if the stone 
are large. Place a row of narrow or small round stone on each 
side, and cover with large stone. The cover should be so 
made as to keep out the dirt by filling in small stone in the 
crevices, taking care to keep the channel for the drain perfect. 
For slate, or very thin stone, dig the drain ten or twelve inches 
\ 
wide on the bottom, and set one tier of stone leaning against 
the bank, and then another tier leaning still more against those, 
and so on, until the drain is full one foot deep. Drains may 
be made of small fence rails, free from bark and sap, that will 
do considerable service. Brush and willow are sometimes 
used, but they are of short duration. A farm can be drained 
with a small capital in a term of years, if the farmer after 
making a few drains will only apply the increased production 
to the payment for making more drains annually. The mak¬ 
ing of a good farm is often the work of a lifetime, and the 
profits of farming are often very small, but money expended 
judiciously in draining a farm will pay better than if invested 
in an increase of acres. In fact, the farmer has several farms 
lying under each other, if he will drain off the water andTet 
in the air, plow deeper and till the soil well. In this method, 
with a proper rotation of crops, with clover, plaster and other 
fertilizers, with a good supply of stock, a farm will continue 
to increase in production and profit; so that the farmer, after 
long years of toil, can sit down under his own vine, and reflect 
