f the water shed
instead of at the lower part or outlet. They discharge improperly and
fail to fit into a more thorough system, where plans for better drainage
are laid out.

To avoid this error, begin at the outlet and work with reference to
ultimately draining the whole section naturally sloping toward this
outlet. If a surface ditch is necessary, make it. If tile can be used,
lay them, even if only a fraction of the entire work is done each year.
Drain laterally toward the main as it is carried upward. The outlay at
first, rod for rod, will be greater, but the final cost will be less,
and yearly profits greater.

I have in mind several cases of unsatisfactory drainage growing out of a
desire to avoid difficulty and expense in making a sufficient outlet.
Among them may be named the following: Putting a drain across one side
of a pond because sufficient depth can not be had to admit of its being
run through the center. Placing drains each side of a slough, parallel
to its center line, leaving the center undrained. Draining cultivated
fields and allowing the water to discharge upon land occupying a lower
level. All of these are make-shifts for the purpose of avoiding the
expense of a good outlet.

There is in this connection a difficulty which can not be overlooked,
one which is beyond the control of the individual farmer, and that is,
when the drainage section is owned by two or more parties. The
adjustment of such cases has occupied the attention of our legislators,
and some progress has been made in framing laws to meet the case, yet
many difficulties remain unprovided for. If all parties agree to accept
such awards and assessments as a commission may make, then the matter of
drainage outlets can be satisfactorily adjusted, but if any party is
disposed to resist, the desired drainage can be practically defeated. I
may, at present, be justified in saying that where only a few neighbors
are concerned, it is a mistake to attempt to use the law at all. Arrange
the matter by mutual agreement or by leaving it to disinterested men to
decide.

MISTAKE NO. 4--TOO SMALL TILE.

No mistake has become apparent sooner than this. The following
observations will account for this, and also aid in correcting it. The
whole area of land which naturally discharges toward the drain is not
always taken into account. It is generally thought that land lying at
some distance from the drain, though sloping toward it, does not affect
t