260 N. H. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



Ij thirteen inches long, and burnt in a kiln or furnace, to 

 be about as hard as what are called hard burnt bricks. 

 Thej arc of various forms and sizes. Some are round 

 with a sole or flat bottom, moulded with the tile, others 

 are horse-shoe formed, open at the bottom, to be laid on 

 the Itard bottom of a ditch without a sole, or in soft places 

 with a sole or flat bottom, of the same material with the 

 tile. The size varies from two to six inches calibre, ac- 

 cording to the quantity of water to be conveyed. It is a 

 question of expediency, whether to use very large tiles, or 

 to lay two or more courses of smaller size, side by side, 

 when the flow of water is very great. 



Mow are Tiles Laid ? — Trenches are opened to the 

 requisite depth, as narrow as convenient for men to walk 

 in. Green hands at ditching will declare they cannot 

 trench three feet deep, without breaking the ground two 

 and a half feet wide; but with proper tools, I have found 

 no difficulty in going four and a half feet deep in a trencli 

 but two feet wide at top. The English books say that 

 men who work by the rod, always open very narrow 

 trenches. My tools are first, a common shovel; next a 

 common spade, and lastly, a long handled spade, cut down 

 at a machine shop with shears, to three and a half inches 

 ■wide at the point with a true taper from the heel, making 

 a wedge-shaped spade. With this the ditch is finished, 

 with just comfortable room to lay th"e tiles straight, and lay- 

 in a chip of brick or stone on each side, where the joint is 

 too open. Then having laid the tiles end to end, with a 

 true descent in the trench, commencing at the top, cover 

 them first with something that will exclude sand, which I 

 take to be the worst enemy to contend with. I use spent 

 tan as a convenient and. very perfect strainer. The books 

 say turf with the grass down is commonly used. Ilay, 

 straw, or pine or hemlock Ijoughs are used. Having thus 

 covered tlie tiles, put into the trench next that part of the 

 earth thrown out, which lets the water pass through most 



