FARM EXPERIENCE. 2-43 



that water pipes that were so clogged up that there seemed 

 to be no way of getting water through them except By taking 

 them up and clearing them out, have been cleared out in five 

 minutes in this way. You might suppose that this drain pipe 

 would be burst by the pressure, but the ground is packed 

 around them, and they are pretty well supported on each side. 

 I think the experiment is worth trying. It would be much 

 cheaper than digging them up. 



Mr. Gold. I have heard of those wooden pipes that were 

 used for conveying water becoming partially obstructed with 

 the roots of grass and such things, and they were cleared out 

 by putting in eels at the spring. If you put in eels that are 

 so large they cannot turn round, they have but one way to go. 

 This is not mere theory ; the thing has been done. 



Mr. White, of Putnam. I would ask if any one here has 

 tried to lay an under-drain, using nothing but stone ; and 

 what the effect was, and the comparative expense ? 



Mr. Day. I plead guilty to that a little. Everybody who 

 knows anything about my farm, knows that I have plenty of 

 stone, at least. Some ten or twelve years ago, I commenced 

 to lay under-drains with stone. I had ditclics dug three feet 

 and a half in depth, and about twenty-two inches wide at the 

 bottom, and walled them up. They operated exceedingly 

 well for a time; bat there is one diffi.nilfcy I have found in stone 

 drains which I do not anticipate in tile drains. Occasionally, 

 there will be what we call a sinking or dropping of the 

 ground ; but still, my drains continue to operate well. 



I can answer the gentleman's question in regard to the 

 comparative cost of stone and tile drains, in part, at any rate. 

 The ditch for a stone drain needs to be quite wide in order to 

 get in the side stone and the covering stone. A tile drain 

 maybe dug just wide enough at tlie topfor.a man to stand in, 

 and at the bottom, the width of the spade, so that the expense 

 of digging a stone drain over a tile drain is nearly enough to. 

 cover the cost of a tile drain. 



I should state here, tliat my drains have operated with 

 wonderful success. Lands whicli, before I commenced to. 

 drain them, yielded about a ton to the acre, have been in- 



