VOL. XXII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, DEC. 24,1887.
~~
C-,%?  NO. 52
°Uru	
TILE DBAINAGE.
Its Effect on the Soil in Drouth and Wet
Annual Meeting of the State Association,
Indiana is the best organized State in tbe
Union on the matter of tile drainage, and
the meetings of the State Association have
been of great value in bringing about a
widesystem of farm drainage, and like the
dispersion from Jerusalem, tbis association has carried'the gospel of tile drainage
to our neighboring States, which are now
also thoroughly organizing. The annual
meeting of our State Association, held last
week in this city, was well attended, there
being a number present from Ohio, Illinois and other States.
Thomas E. Chandler,
president, in cjilling
the association to order, briefly congratulated the members on
the excellent work al-
ready accomplished,
and on the bright future for them.
Dr. R. T. Brown, of
this city,addressed the
body on "Tile Drainage as connected with
Progress in Agriculture." The Doctor said
in that part of his address relating to the
immediate effects of
tile drainage, that the
water which saturates
the earth must get out
in one of two ways.
It must either percolate through to the underground water ways
or evaporate from the
surface. Evaporation
reduces the temperature of the ground
very often to a point
below what is necessary for the vegeta-
tion. Farmers can
very readily see the
advisability of draining swamp land, but
draining uplands is
more difficult to understand. A olay subsoil will keep the
ground saturated to
within a few inches of
thesurface,»*ven when
thegroiindis'juite undulating. The chief
objection to the saturation of the soil is
that it excludes the
air,which is necessary
to ihe healthy growth
of plants. Plants die
from drowning as well
as animals, though
they die more slowly.
Air exerts both chemical and median ical
action on the soil. These actions are found
to increase from year to year in tiled
lands. Tile drains are more efficient after
20 years' use than they were at first. The
drainage has removed the unsightly ponds
and swamps formerly so common in this
region, but its miss on is just begun. It
will yet improve our water supply, teach
us to make better roads, and add to the
prosperity of the rural population in ways
now unthought of.
TILE DRAINAUE IS DROUTH.
Mr. T. A. Randall, of the Clay Worker,
read a paper on "The effects of Tile Drainage in Seasons of Drouth," in which he
said that the surface of the earth consisted
of 73 percent water and 27 percentland. He
maintained that the principal part of the
rainfall must   necessarily come   from the
oceans, and therefore tile drainage could
have very little effect on the amount of
rainfall. During the drouth of the past
season it was shown conclusively that the
best crops were raised on tile-drained
lands. The corn grew rapidly and vigorously on such lands, when on adjoining
undrained lands it scorched, and was severely injured, if not entirely destroyed.
In fact.under-drainage prevents the effects
of drouth because the roots of plants are
enabled by it to penetrate to a depth at
which the moisture of the earth cannot be
exhausted by the dry air. Under-drain-
age also lengthens the growing season for
a week or ten days by permitting the air
to permeate the ground and warm it. A
number of those present took part in the
discussion of   this   paper, and   every one
a little longer time to burn, but the tile
are more evenly and thoroughly burned.
He used to pay $7 a kiln for wood burning. Gas burning cost but <3 a kiln, there
being much less work and much less
watching required.
LESSONS OF THE IIOI'R.
Mr. J. J. W. Billingsley, of the Drainage Journal, read a timely paper on this
topic which was well received, in view of
the prevalent misconceptions of a few, of
the matter discussed. He said that during the continuance of the drouth the
capillary How of moisture from the greater
depths underlying the surface soil brings
up the soluble elements of fertility and
depositB them at the surface.for the future
supply of plant food. The water line of
the under earth  being carried to a greater
PUTTING IN THK TIL
Mr. F. L. Knight, of Fort Wayne, discussed the methods of laying tile in the
ditches. He said that the proper way to
tile a piece of land was to have an engineer
lay off the work and let the farmer put
the tile in at his leisure. If it is not put
in properly it will not work well, and a
customer may be lost. If put in properly
it will do its work well and a customer
will be secured. It wouid be well for tile
men and engineers to unite in local meetings to consider their mutual interests.
Mr. J. W. Everal,of Westerville.said that
the ditches should be dug about three feet
deep, sloping from the top to th« bottom.
Long-handled tools should be used, and
the workmen should never stand in the
bottom of the ditch. The tile should then
be lifted in with hooka
and placed carefully
in line. They need
not be fitted closely
in heavy clay soils if
the drain has a good
fall. In laying a drain
one should begin at
the mouth and work
back to the head.
The officers elected
for the year were as
follows:
President-G. S.Pol-
lock, of Sullivan.
Vice-president—Hiram Hinds, Noblesville.
Treasurer—M. G.
Liee, Crawfordsville.
Secretary—J. J. W.
Billingsley, Indianapolis.
The society passed a
resolution indorsing
the resolutions of the
State Horticultural
Society in regard to
the State Library, and
appointing Mr. J. J.
W. Billingsley a delegate to co-operate in
putting the matter before the Legislature.
The society then adjourned to the second
Tuesday in December,
1888.
■llvrv *""*». •
who gave any statement of experience during the last summer testified that crops,
especially corn, did better on tiled ground
than on that which was not drained. One
member told of a tract in which the corn
immediately over the drains was much
larger and better than the remainder of
the field.
BURNING WITH NATURAL GAS.
"Burning Tile with Natural Gas" was
the subject of an excellent paper by Mr.
Samuel Cowgill, of Summitville, Ind.
When beginning to use natural gas he did
not understand it. He tried "mixers,"
but found they would not do. The plan
he now used was to turn on the gas pure
with plenty of draft. It used to take
three weeks to dry for the kiln, but with
gas he could do it in three days, and with
leas loss than by the old  method.   It took
■-sa   t-r .!«,,■*-
depth admits of circulation of air through
the subsoils aud clays beneath, effecting
chemical combinations of the utmost im-
portance -in the growth of crops in the
succeeding years. The dtouth has also
demonstrated that the deeper drains have
proved beneficial in protecting the crops
against damage from drouths, which is
effected by the circulation of the air
through the lines of the drains and undersoils which are at a temperature sufficiently low to <--use the deposit of moisture
upon the particles of soil. A moisture is
always present in the air in greiiter or less
quantities, affording a supply to the growing crops. Again, the deeper drainage
makes the earth open and porous to a
greater depth, allowing the roots of crops
to go deeper for supplies of both food and
moisture.
Reports come from
China of a great dis-
aster occasioned by
the Yellow river overflowing its banks and
sweeping over a vast
tract of country.
The extent of ground
swept by the flood
is estimated at 7,000
s q u a i e miles, and
has rendered 270,000
people homeless. The
loss of life is incalculable.
SANTA CLAUS AT HOKE.
Here sits the kind hearted generous old
Santa, surrounded by the toys and trinkets with which he delights to make good
children happy. A word about the old
gentleman's history is in place here. In
the middle ages Santa Claus meant the
child Jesus. Claus was the word for child
and Santa, holy. He was the Holy Child.
But in later years he became to the German people the kindly old gentleman
that he ia known to as. It seemed
trivial and out of place for the Christ
child to bring sweetmeats and toys for
the children, and so the duty was put
on the jolly, little old man who was allowed to bear the same sacred name,
and so let him go down to generations
of children to come, an innocent and
blessed myth.