man's pos ession, and the farmer unhesitatingly offered him $1,500 to relinquish his title to it; and when this was unhesitatingly refused, e offered $2,000, which was accepted. "The young man's account stood thus Half proceeds of oats and straw, first year.. Half of second crops of clover, including seed, second year... 135 00 15 00 690 00 2,000 00 $3,142 50 Half of crops of corn, pumpkins and potatoes, third year... To labo given to farmer, $16 per month, 36 months.... 576 00-1,376 OC Balarce in his favor..... .$1,766 50 Draining makes the farmer, to a great extent, the master of his vocation. With a sloppy, drenched, cold, uncongenial soil, which is saturated with every rain, and takes days, and even weeks, to become sufficiently dry to work upon, his efforts are constantly baffled by unfavorable weather, at those times when it is most important that his work proceed without interruption. Weeks are lost, at a season when they are all too short for the work to be done. The ground must be hurriedly, and imperfectly prepared, and the seed is put in too late, often to rot in the over-soaked soil, requiring the field to be planted again at a time which makes it extremely doubtful whether the crop will ripen before the frost destroys it. The necessary summer cultivation, between the rows, has to be done as the weather permits; and much more of it is required because of the baking of the ground. The whole life of the farmer, in fact, becomes a constant struggle with nature, and he fights always at a disadvan tage. What he does by the work of days, is mainly un done by a single night's storm. Weeds grow apace, and the land is too wet to admit of their being exterminated. By the time that it is dry enough, ther pressing work occupies the time; and if, finally, a day comes when they may be attacked, they offer ten times the resistance that they would have done a week earlier. The operations of the farm are carried on more expensively than if the ability to work constantly allowed a smaller force to be employed. The crops which give such doubtful promise, require the same cultivation as though they were certain to be remunerative, and the work can be done only with increased labor, because of the bad condition of the soil. From force of tradition and of habit, the farmer accepts his fate and plods through his hard life, piously ascribing to the especial interference of an inscrutable Providence, the trials which come of his own neglect to use the means of relief which Providence has placed within his reach. Trouble enough he must have, at any rate, but not necessarily all that he now has. It is not within the scope of the best laid drains to control storm or sunshine,—but it is within their power to remove the water of the storm, rapidly and sufficiently, and to allow the heat of the sunshine to penetrate the soil and do its hidden work. No human improvement can change any of the so-called "phenomena" of nature, or prevent the action of the least of her laws; but their effects upon the soil and its crops may be greatly modified, and that which, under certain circumstances, would have caused inconvenience or loss, may, by a change of circumstances, be made positively beneficial. In the practice of agriculture, which is pre-eminently an economic art, draining will be prosecuted because of the pecuniary profit which it promises, and,-very properly, it will not be pursued, to any considerable extent, where the money, which it costs, will not bring money in return. Yet, in a larger view of the case, its collateral advantages are of even greater moment than its mere profits. It is the foundation and the commencement of the most intelligent farming. It opens the way for other Improvements, which, without it, would produce only doubtful or temporary benefits; and it enables the farmer so to extend and enlarge his operations, with fair promise of success, as to raise his occupation from a mere waiting upon the uncertain favors of nature, to an intelligent handling of her forces, for the attainment of almost certain results. The rude work of an unthinking farmer, who scratches the surface soil with his plow, plants his seed, and trusts to the chances of a greater or less return, is unmitigated drudgery, unworthy of an intelligent man; but he who investigates all of the causes of success and failure in farming, and adapts every operation to the requirements of the circumstances under which he works; doing everything in his power that may tend to the production of the results which he desires, and, so far as possible, avoiding everything that may interfere with his success,-leaving nothing to chance that can be secured, and securing all that chance may offer,-is engaged in the most ennobling, the most intelligent and the most progressive of all industrial avocations. In the cultivation of retentive soils, drainage is the key to all improvement, and its advantage is to be measured not simply by the effect which it directly produces in increasing production, but, in still greater degree, by the extent to which it prepares the way for the successful application of improved processes, makes the farmer independent of weather and season, and offers freer scope to intelligence in the direction of kis affairs. CHAPTER VIII. HOW TO MAKE DRAINING TILES. Draining tiles are made of burnt clay, like bricks and earthen-ware. In general terms, the process is as follows:-The clay is mixed with sand, or other substances which give it the prop er consistency, and is so wetted as to form a plastic mass, to which may be given any desired form, and which is suffici ently stiff to retain its shape. Properly prepared clay is forced through the aperture of a die of the shape of the outside of the tile, while a plug,-held by a support in the rear of the die, projects through the aperture, and gives the form to the bore of the tile. The shape of the material of the tile, as it comes from the die, corresponds to the open space, between the plug and the edge of the aper ture. The clay is forced out in a continuous pipe, which is cut to the desired length by a wire, which is so thin as to pass through the mass without altering the shape of the pipe. The short lengths of pipe are dried in the air as thoroughly as they can be, and are then burned in a kiln, similar to that used for pottery. Materials. The range of earths which may be used in the manufacture of tiles is considerable, though clay is the basis of all of them. The best is, probably, the clay which is almost invariably found at the bottom of muck beds, as this is finer and more compact than that which is dug from dry land, and requires but little preparation. There is, also, a peculiar clay, found in some localities, which is almost like quick-sand in its nature, and which is excellent for tile-making,-requiring no freezing, or washing to prepare it for the machine. As a general rule, any clay which will make good bricks will make tiles. When first taken from the ground, these clays are not usually adhesive, but become so on being moistened and kneaded. It is especially important that no limestone pebbles be mixed with the clay, as the burning would change these to quicklime, which, in slaking, would destroy the tiles. The presence of a limey earth, however, mixed through the mass, is a positive advantage, as in this intimate admixture, the lime forms, under the heat of the kiln, a chemical combination with the other ingredients; and, as it melts more readily than some of them, it hastens the burning and makes it more complete. What is known as plastic clay, (one of the purest of the native clays,) is too strong for tile-making, and must be "tempered," by having other substances mixed with it, to give it a stiffer quality. The clay which is best for brick-making, contains Silica, and Alumina in about the following proportions: Variable quantities of other materials are usually found in connection with the clay, in its native condition. The most common of these are the following: 66 Magnesia....1 to 5 per cent.-sometimes 20 to 30 per cent 66 66 "These necessary elements give fusibility to earthen |