ply the beginning of an era of skillful
clay working, which would not only add greatly to the fertility of the
soil, but to the means of the beauty and endurance in numerous forms of
building. Of the statistics of the business, he said the latest
information is that there are in the State 600 factories, built at an
average cost of $3,000 each, employing about 5,400 men seven months each
year, who receive about $250,000 and their board. The total annual
capacity of these factories he estimates at 56,100 miles annually. He
estimates the amount invested in the industry, including the value of
tile already laid, at $5,000,000, and the increased value of land
drained at $10,000,000.

The Secretary's report gave the general condition of the society. In
1879 it was composed of forty-five members; in 1880, of thirty-five; in
1881, of twenty-eight; in 1882, fifty-three; in 1883, of eighty-three,
and in 1884, of eighty-six. The first meetings of the association were
necessarily crude, the programme having been prepared after the
association met. Now, however, they were in working harness, and met
with a regularly prepared programme. The proceedings of the meetings and
a summary of the papers read and discussed, are now published in the
report of the State Board of Agriculture.

The treasurer, John McCabe, Esq., of Rushville, made his report of which
the following is the summary:

Amount on hand at last report $29 35
Received from members last year 82 00
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$111 35
Paid out last year 87 50
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Balance in the treasury $ 23 85

These reports were followed by an essay by Mr. C. G. Elliott, which is
of so much merit that we give it in full deferring a further report of
proceedings until next week.

MISTAKES IN DRAINAGE.

To speak of our successes rather than our mistakes, is far more
agreeable to ourselves and also to others. We all take pride in giving
our experience in any work when we have been successful, but our errors
and mistakes we often carefully hide from public gaze. The transactions
of our industrial conventions are largely made up of the successful
parts of the experiences of members. Our tile manufacturers fail to
speak of their losses in correcting mistakes the number of kilns