The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-07-03
Through Drainage.

| kind of practical drainage, seems 10 nave
been of recent origin, Although the Idea
of drainage no doubt has existed for hun.
dreds of years. the universal adoption and
use of drain tile has been left to those that
| live in the afternoon of the 18th century
Of all the great, good and wonderful I'm
proyements that have been made, the great
er part of them have been made In this
century. One great process In the civiliz
ing and refining of earth by the economy
of nature cannot go far beyond another. All
improvements have been made In their
proper time, and will be for all time to come.
Calico was ordered to be put TO death by
the Pope of Rome fer disco' ering that the
earth was round and revolved on Its axis.
Daguerra made the discovery OF taking
pictures on sensitive plate by the rays OF
light as soon as the minds of the people
were in condition to receive such light
and was even then threatened with impris-
onment In lunatic asylum. Fulton made
the discovery of the application OF steam TO
power, and Morse the discovery OF the tele.
graph, as soon as safe for them TO do so. l
will not diverge too far from my subject, but
| might say that since liberty and liberal
views spread their beneticent arms around
the globe, many great discoveries have
been made, among which was that OF
drainage" and the manufacture of tile,
which, in magnitude of benefit of mankind,
surpasses all others. Some of you that have
not thought much on this subject may
think that | am putting II rather strong
when say that drainage is the greatest I'M
proyemept of modern times, but let us look
and see When travelling through Illinois,
Indiana and Ohio, forty five years ago, l
saw swamps of stagnant water the air pois
oned with malaria and at least half of the
people down with the chills and fever, sick
ness, discomfort and death on all sides, land
that was then worth fifty cents to five dol
lars per acre Is now worth from fifty to one
hundred dollars. Places that then looked
| like desolation and starvation are now Gov
cred with the most grand and rich agricu-
tural beauty. Drainage has changed this
chaos to order, wealth and beauty fine resi-
dences, we'll improved farms, and, in fact,
prosperity, wealth and adornment, is seen
on every we'll drained, properly managed
| farm. What little drainage has so far been
done has made wonderful change for the
better, and, as whole, we have only com
menced to drain. That grand word Drain
age" commenced in the centre and Is now
spreading TO the borders; II has reached the
| fair cline of the sunny South, ii is talked
of all over Louisiana, it has already reached
into Alabama, Florida, and many other
states in the South. This means more and
better sugar and cotton plantations, and
health and wealth for the SwamPy lCcali
ties. Although many of those lands lie on
level with the sea and cannot be drained,
the most of them can and will be. This
means Punishment of the yellow fever to
great extent; it means for the coming gener
alton better and more intellectual race of
people. Ponds of stagnant water are dan
gerous things The hot sun drin ks up the
water and concentrates the poison ana
MAMA floats from the reeking soil, scorch-
ed by MONDAY sun, up into the air where
the evening breezes may watt IT into your
window and give 1t resting place In the
mortal form of one you love better than
life. But put tile drains through those
swamps and the miasma dies, fort the poison
that It fed upon before has now no exist
ence, and in few years these poisonous
swamps will glow with beauty and abound
with wealth, and the farmer will rejoice In
gathering large crops of beautiful ripe
grain, where before was produced only SICK
ness and death. People everywhere are
becoming enlightened on this subject. 1t
will finally tr Itch its long and beneficent
arms across the briny ocean, even to the
coral strands of India and that part OF the
Ganges that is on level with the sea will
be drained with tile, and then the Baccaea
of cholera will die, and this dread disease
will exist no more, as evolution rolls on
with all its progressive force, refining and
purifying the earth. All these things must
and will take place.
Farmers intending to drain their land,
should in the first place, get all the knowl-
edge they can in regard to drainage, They
are too apt to think drainage is such sim
pie thing that any one can make drains II
is simple enough when understood. There
are a great many drains that have been put
down that are not doing half the good they
would do, if done in proper manner.
So far, and at present, the great mind has
been directed to the drainage of swales,
swamps, and all mismatic places; and this
is as it should be, for such place not only
holds within itself Sickness and death if not
drained, bat If drained il holds within IT,
self the base of all agriculture, the fat of
the land the health, wealth, and prosperity
of the nation. Every optimist and phMan-
thropist reioices TO see this work go on, but
is sorry for 20 many badly made drains that
cannot do the work they should; therefore
the great necessity of gett NJ all the knowl-
edge in regard to the matter before under
taking it. The signs of the time are favor
able. A few years since man wasconsid,
cred little cranky if he made the general
depth of his drains four feet, All consent
ed with few exceptions that two feet was
plenty deep enough, but today majority
OF those that have drained consider that
four feet is shallow enough, and the tend
ency is to drain deeper. If you put tile
drains all over your farm ten feet apart and
not deep enough, your farm is not thorough
ly drained have talked with a great
many farmers who have put down few
strings of tile through their swales and
swamps, and they say they have increased
the production of their land five fold, and
these are facts; they have done it, and they
also say their farms are well drained when
they have merely made commencement.
The earth is living existence. Not only
the nimals the birds, the reptiles, the fish
es, the insects the trees, the vegetation, the
grain is alive and male and female, but
the great mountains the deep valleys, the
rocks, the marble and granite, and not.only
all these but the minerals, the iron, the gold
and silver, the lead, the salt and even the