Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-02-15
STATE ASSOCIATION DOES NOT
LIKE COMMISSIONS RECON-. .
MENpArIoNs.
CONSULTING ENGINEER
GIVEN TOO GREAT POWER
Association Appoints Committee to
Confer With Waterway Commission
and Formulate Recommend atoms
For Law chanss-Drainass and lts
Relation 70 Soils Discussed.
pecial to Times-Republican.


Mason City. Feb. 15.-An exceedingly
interesting program marked the OPEN
ing of the annual meeting Of the Iowa
State Drainage Association. It reached
the department Of soil at the state agri.
cultural college Of Ames, read the rec
ommendation Of the state drainage,
waterways and conservation commits
sion. He was a member of that COM
mission but some Of the members of the
state drainage association jumped on
some parts Of the recommendation with
both feet. so to speak.
One Of the recommendations is that
the governor appoint a drainage and
waterway commissioner. whose services
shall be available to supervise free OF
charge, when he is thus employed. This
advice and decision shall be adopted by
the board" 1t is this in quotations
which aroused the discussion. w. H.
Killpack. an attorney Of Council Bluffs.
characterizes the declaration as manda-
tory and making his will supreme re-
gardless Of the wishes Of the supervis-
ors, which would result according to
the attorneys opinion in supervisors
refusing to call him even in consulta-
ton.
J. NJ. Blake was against another fea-
ture Of the recommendation. and that
was to have the county or state stand
behind the credit of the drainage dis
trict. He had been up against the real
proposition and said that the reason
why drainage bonds were not selling
better on the market was from the fact
that farmers prefer to pay them up in
five years and not let them run for fiji
teen. In his county they could have
sold fifteen year bonds for 5 per cent
but they preferred five year bonds at
per cent.
To Consult Commission.
The state legislature will be called
upon to pass measures OF the kind the
commission desired that this associa-
ton, the one most intimately connected
with the project. endorse. 1t Is quite
evident that there will be a modification
Of some OF them. Messrs. Nelson. HUFF
man, Pettibone, Plat and Lyford were
appointed to consult with the commits
sion in regard to these recommends
tions.
Visitors From Other States.
While this is an Iowa convention 1t
is drawing here Interested listeners and
participants from Illinois, Nebraska.
Minnesota and the Dakotas. Engineers,
manufacturers. supervisors. tile farm
ers. tile layers are here to learn and to
be in the spirit.
Engineer James A. King, in an adj
dress, inspired the association with the
necessity Of q more general publicity
Of the drainage problems, urging the
agricultural papers and even suggest
ing to the secular press, the advisable
ity Of featuring drainage questions. be-
lieving that from financial point OF
view it Is paramount to any other
question that arises on the farm. BY 4
vote Of the association a publicity bu-
reau was named, including James A.
King. Of Charles City: G. B. Plat, OF
Van Meter. and Prof. ]. B. Davidson. of
the State Agricultural College.
George NJ. Thompson, Of Grand
Junction, read a paper on history OF
drainage, claiming that 1t was used in
the first century OF the christian era.
In 1928 1t was first used in America. In
1885 in New York state. Illinois was
the pioneer state OF the west, but Iowa
was today the leader in the work.
Must Know Your Soil.
The fact was emphasized by several
OIL lIl0 SpSSNcTS SlIdS AA4 OANc1 W 01 oiAi
intelligently you have to know your
SOIL Illinois conditions and Iowa con-
ditions were not the same. The north
and the south part Of the state Of Iowa
were not the same but the hills Of
southern Iowa as well as the fiat lands
Of the north needed drainage. The hills
needed the drain to hold the soil and
keep 1t from washing away. The
sloughs needed it in order for cultiva-
ton.
The question Of whether drain tile
should be ventilated was left unsettled.
some believing that where you drained
the land it left it porus 80 that air cir
culated while others thought that to
get the best use Of the tile 1t should
have ventilation. Some of the expert
engineer have even abandoned putting
In manholes for the reason of their
abuse in filling with stuff that would
retard the usefulness Of the drain.
Last night Professor Marston. Of
Ames; Jacob A. Hartman, Of Peoria. ILL.,.
and Senator John Hammill occupied
the three hours very profitably.
Double Dose For BARNARD.