Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-01-04
ADVANTAGES OF TILE DRAINING

ADVANTAGES OF TILE DRAINING.
Paper Read Before the Farmers In
stituts Dec. 9th. 1882, by j. II.
Harrison, Esq., Of SciO, Ohio.
The advantages of tile drsiring have
Heyer been fully appreciated by most
Of the farmers of this country. Al
though nearly half a century has elapsed
since drain tile was first talked of, yet il
b only very recently that they have
become to be extensively used. The low
price of land and the vast unoccupied
bsrritory in the west made 1t the object
ef most of our farmers TO farm on an
excessive scale-that 10 TO run over q
large amount of land and secure half
or oftener . fourth Of crop. Agricul-
eare is now becoming intensive. Farm
ers are now trying TO make one acre pro-
duce as much rs two or three formerly
produced. They are trying to make two
blades of grass grow where one grew
before. And besides this they are be-
ginnihg to reclaim all the waste places
On the farm. In mauy instances 1t is
% much trouble TO work around small
or swampy place in q field as il is To
farm the swamp when farming the bal
ance Of the field. Besides this the wet
place when drained becomes she best
part of the field. Intensive agriculture
means the best possible use OF every
acre of the farm. Farmers are beginning
10 learn that 1t pays better to 60 down
to the subsoil and find . new farm un :
der the old one, than 10 waste their en-
ergies and their capital In vain efforts
to buy all the land that joins them.
Tiles are the most durable material, be
cause the recent discoveries in the an
eient landmarks of mankind seem to
prove that burnt clay will last longer
than marble or stone. The Hon. ID. &.
Richmond brought from Egypt piece
Of tile which centuries OF time failed t.
destroy. There are over ten thousand
bricks in the hands of the British Nu
scum, on which whole volumes Of valu
able ancient literature are written. We
feel iafe in saying that well burned tile
will make drain that will last forever.
Tiles are the cheapest because it re-
ouires less than half the labor to dig the
ditch. No other material can be used
and make good drain for the same
money that will buy tile. When two
inch tile can be purchased at nine dol
lars per thousand, two and one-half inch
at twelve, and three inch at fifteen, and
other sizes in proportion, it will not
take long to convince any man who uses
them that they are very profitable In
h., f,,l
where no other material can. We have
laid tile when we only had barely an
inch OF fall In hundred feet. The
smooth, round pipe, throws the sedi
ment, If there is any, into one point,
and that is where the current
of water has the most force, and if the
tile are properly laid there is no danger
of them filling up with dirt. 1t is esti-
mated that water will flow four times
as fast in tile drain as in an open ditch
for the same grade. 1t has been said by
practical men that an eight inch tile
will carry as much water as an open
ditch four feet wide and two feet deep.
A farmer should be careful to use tile
that are large enosgh. No amount Of
pressure or suction will make the Mis-
sissippi river run through goose-quill.
1t is a great annoyance to put in tile
drain and have 1t too small. l wonld
rather have it large enough if 1t costs
double the amount A tile drain is
not liable to be injured in any way.
If put in right they will be away below
the effects of frost. The stone drains
which my father and grandfather put in
from 20 to 80 years ago were nearly all
worthless in less than ten years after
they were put in. Muskrats. ground
hogs, crawfish. and all other kinds of
vermin, find lodging in them, while our
HIe drains ara perfectly free from all
these guests.
The advantages Of tile draining are
vsry clearly shown by glance at the
agriculture at England. II left to her
own resources she could now support
fsur times the population under Ed
ward III, eight times the population al
the period of the Norman Conquest, ana
sixteen people for everyone Julius
Caesar found on the Island. Improved
methods OF farming and the draining of
her soil has made it possible to grow
over si1t, bushels of wheat per acre.
The average per acre in England has
been about forty bushels. In 1866 the
average in Ohio was only 8 bushels per
acre. Now we think we have an enor
NOUS crop when we average sixteen
bushels per acre. The political eceno-
tuists of England have shown that as
the farmers increased in intelligence
aad In the efficiency of their work, and
"a tLo land became more thoroughly
drained the land owner received larger
amount from . constantly decreasing
share. The land owners share fell from
half to third, yet the third was more
th.n the half 1t fell from third to a
fourth, yet the fourth was more than the
third. The land owners share fell to
even fifth, yet the fifth was more than
the whole crop had once been. A farm
or of this country who was travelling i'll
England short time ago saw men
draining hop field with main drains
of four inch tile forty feet apart and lat
erals of two inch tile ten feet apart. The
tile were put four feet deep. Will such
draining as this pay here? We might
experiment. on the garden and truck
patch. 1 am sure it would not pay if ev-
cry farmer would, grumblingly, haul
load or two of coarse, half-rotted ma
nure and throw it over the fence, and
leave his wife to spade, plant. and hoe
the garden, besides doing her homework.
believe it would pay every farmer to
drain piece of land for special crop as
thoroughly as that hop field. 1t will not
nav unless farmers are willing to give
up their digger Indian habits and bask
in the sunlight of modern science. 1t
will not pay to thoroughly drain our
farms unless we are fully up to the
times in the use of agricultural imple-
ments. twill not pay if we keep PEN
pyroya cattle and seaIawag sheep. I'll