Mr. CORNISH. We have these reports come to our office every month. We have never had a person take one out of the office. I would not like to be understood as saying anything derogatory to them. I believe the speaker of the evening very properly called attention to that publication. It is one of those things that ought to be inquired after. Our State Reports have been neglected in the same way. I have seen bundles and bundles of them going to the paper mills, just as I have seen copies of these crop reports going there. We neglect our opportunities as American farmers. We ought to use those things more.

Mr. KIRKHAM. As the reporter for Hartford County, I have not been quite as well favored as the reporter for Litchfield County; I do not get but four copies. I am glad to make this discovery. But I presume Mr. Gold gets an extra copy as Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture.

Mr. OLCOTT. What do you do with your four copies ?

Mr. KIRKHAM. I send three of them to my correspondents, who are very glad to get them. I read the fourth one and then I lend it. I do not give it away, I cannot spare it, but I keep it circulating. I take it to the Farmers' Club and to the Grange, and read extracts from it, all I have time to, and in that way the information is extended. If there is anything very important I call the attention of the editor of the daily paper to it, and he generally prints it.

I rose for the purpose, however, of emphasizing the importance of these monthly reports to the farmers of this country. I think if there was more attention paid to them there would be more of the organizations of which Dr. Bowen has spoken. Farmers would see that it was possible, perhaps, to defend themselves against a great overplus of any one crop. There are several in my neighborhood who have availed themselves of the information I have furnished them through these reports with regard to the very large potato crop this fall, and have sold out clean, because they found that the largest crop of potatoes has been raised this year that was ever raised in this country, and the largest per cent., according to the

area planted, but one in our history since these statistics commenced. Consequently, our shrewd farmers have sold out, seed and all. They are going to buy their seed next spring from their neighbors who did not know that fact. Adjourned to Wednesday, at 9.30 a. M.

SECOND DAY.

The Convention met soon after the appointed hour, VicePresident Day in the chair.

The CHAIRMAN. The exercises this morning will be opened by singing "Nearer my God to Thee," and the audience are invited to rise and join in the singing.

The familiar hymn was very beautifully and impressively sung, Mr. and Mrs. Cornish leading.

The CHAIRMAN. The first paper in the course this morning is one upon Practical Results in Tile Draining, by Mr. Theodore A. Stanley, whom I now present to the audience.

PRACTICAL RESULTS OF TILE DRAINAGE.
By T. A. STANLEY.

Mr. President, Members of the Board, Ladies and Gentlemen:

The only apology I have to make for my presence here this morning is that I fully believe that if the proper drainage of land and the benefits derived therefrom were more fully known and realized, the agricultural value of a vast amount of land in New England would be more than doubled, to say nothing of the consequent increase in products. In order, therefore, to provoke a discussion upon this topic and learn of others' experiences, I venture to speak upon draining in general, briefly to describe my methods, and the practical results arising therefrom.

Soil drainage may be defined to be that process by which all surplus of stagnant water is removed from within or upon the soil. The art of draining was known to the ancients, and its great value was fully set forth by Walter Bligh as early as 1650. The English from an early date have extensively practiced tile draining, but in this country the use of tile is of recent origin.

In order that a seed may germinate three conditions are essential heat, moisture, and air. These in proper proportion are what the seed must have; too much heat, too much moisture, seriously retard or stop entirely the proper development of the seed. The soil is composed of minute particles of earth, which are so irregular in shape that they cannot lie so closely together but that there are spaces between. Now a properly drained soil is one in which these particles are filled with moisture and the spaces between with air. An improperly drained soil is one in which the whole, particles and spaces, are full of water. When nature cannot properly control these conditions of heat and moisture, then man with his ingenuity seeks their control.

By proper drainage we in a measure have control over these conditions. Most farmers will admit that continually wet, soggy lands are benefited by drainage, but very few are ready to accept the fact that heavy clay soils that are occasionally too wet to work are greatly benefited thereby. You cannot so drain a soil that it will be too dry for seed germination. Such dryness comes from evap. oration caused by the sun's heat, and not by drains. What soils then do need draining?

We often see a plowed field have a continued appearance of dampness, showing that as fast as evaporation goes on at the surface, water from below is forced up. Such land needs draining. Twenty-four hours after an ordinary shower, if there should be standing water in the field, or if a hole dug three feet deep collects water, such land surely needs draining in order that paying crops may be raised. Land that bakes and cracks is often benefited by thorough drainage. Growing crops hang out the sign of the need of draining, such as the curling leaves of corn, the premature ripeness of grass, the stunted growth of trees. Land may be drained in many ways. The common open ditch or dead furrow is the most primitive. This style of drain is not to be recommended save in cases where there is now and then a heavy flow of surface water. They may be easy to put in, but there is a large waste of land, not only by the original opening of the ditch, but by the gradual wearing away of the sides. On stony land the stone drain is now very common. Living on a farm that has many of these stone drains, and having put in one myself as an experiment, I have observed the favorable and unfavorable results therefrom. The only point in favor of stone drains is that

they enable the possessor of a stony farm to clear the fields and use the stone to some advantage, and yet I doubt the economy of this practice.

expense.

The objections to stone drains are many, the greatest being the For every rod of ditch there must be removed about 125 cubic feet of earth; and after the ditch is dug to the proper grade, the laying of the stone is a very slow operation, few men laying over five rods a day, and with good stone to work with. In this style of drain the water conduit is about four to six inches square, with a soil bottom. In a short time the small stream of water that most of the time runs through the drains wears a zigzag course in the bottom, and the more zigzag it becomes the slower is the flow of water. Through the large spaces left between the stones a great amount of silt or fine sand works into the drain, very seriously affecting its capacity for removing water. Surface water often works a good-sized hole through the ground to these drains, and during heavy showers the water pours down these openings, carrying with it large quantities of silt, fine gravel, sticks, and rubbish of all sorts, which sooner or later entirely choke the drains. All these evils working together shorten the active life of a stone drain to from five to eight years, some becoming entirely useless by the third year.

The best kind of drain now in use is the tile drain. The tile used are of various shapes. The horse-shoe tile, once quite popu. lar, has been found wanting in many respects, and is now dis carded entirely. The sole tile are used quite extensively, and in some places have advantage over any other form. But for most purposes the round tile are the best, as the water running through them flows over the least amount of surface, and they are easier to lay.

Size of tile: One of the first questions to be considered in the draining of a field is the size of tile to be used. For economic reasons the smallest tile that will answer the purpose should be used, and yet for certain other reasons care must be used not to put in too small tile. The carrying capacity of a line of tile depends upon the fall, the area of cross section, the length, and the straightness with which the tile are laid. The size of tile to be used varies with the amount of land drained, and very complete tables have been worked out showing size of tile to a given rate of fall and a given number of acres. From my own experience I

find that to drain a six-acre field a four-inch main, with a fall of 7 inches in 100 feet, with 2 or 3-inch laterals with a fall of 4 inches in 100, answers the purpose admirably.

Laying out the drain: In laying out a system of drains the first point to determine upon is the outlet to the main drain. This should be at the lowest side of the field, and the main drain should run through the lowest valley in the field. A small piece of ma.. sonry should protect the outlet, and over the opening of the last tile iron rods should be placed to prevent the entrance of rats, woodchucks, and other animals.

Having constructed the main drain, laterals should be so placed as to run down the line of steepest descent. The distance between the laterals should vary with the depth. Prof. Mapes' rule states that the 3-foot drains should be placed 20 feet apart, and for each additional foot in depth the distance between may be doubled. This holds true in all ordinary cases, but in stiff clays a smaller distance, at least for deeper drains, is advisable.

All drains should have a continuous rate of fall from beginning to end; but if it is necessary to make much of a change in the grade, it is advisable to put in a silt basin at this point, for if there be any sediment in the tile it will lodge at this point of change in grade; and a silt basin serves not only to catch this sediment or silt, but also as a means of examining the working of the drain. They are often placed so as to receive several laterals and empty them into one main drain.

A silt basin is a small well, constructed of brick from about 18 inches below the main to within 2 feet of the surface, and capped with an 18-inch glazed cement sewer pipe. The laterals are made to enter through the brick work about 3 inches above the main outlet. A cover placed on top of the brick work and one on top of the cement pipe effectually prevents freezing in winter.

Staking out and digging the trenches: For my own work I use a surveyor's level, bought for the purpose. Having determined upon the line of drain, I take readings of the level on stakes driven to the ground surface at intervals of 4 rods. From these readings I readily find the amount of fall I can give the drain, and keep the tile on an average of 3 feet deep. Then I mark on these stakes the exact depth the tile must be at these points, and set the men to digging by the rod.

To get the bottom at the right depth and have the grade per