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FARMERS' INSTITUTES. So". 



this pipe describes the scoop. You can get one made from a mill saw. It 

 should be a little thicker than the sheet iron, should be sharp at l)oth ends, 

 and the handle should be fastened to it in two places on each side near the center, 

 to give it sutiicient strength, and at an angle of about forty-live degrees to the 

 level of the scoop. The handle being of sulHcient length, when the ditch is dug, 

 one person with this tool, running it in the bottom of the ditch, by working 

 both ways will make a uniform trough or bed for the tile. Tiie outside of this 

 scoop should be the same size as the outside of the tile to be laid; and the tile 

 being thus firmly bedded in the clay, there is no danger of lateral motion or 

 of their getting out of place in any way. The tile being laid, take of the clay 

 thrown out of the ditch, enough to fill, say six inches over the tile and pack it 

 carefully. The object of this is to keep sand from getting into the tile. Of 

 course, if the drain is being put in sandy soil these directions will not be found 

 of use. Some have expressed doubts whether tiic water would find its way 

 into the tile if the clay was packed as suggested, but no fear need be enter- 

 tained on that account. After the packing to keep out the sand is done, the 

 remainder of the ditch may he filled up with a plow or scraper, or any other 

 Avay, as is found cheapest. 



In regard to the fall necessary for the tile drainage, a good fall is desirable, 

 and you can make smaller tile do the work with a good fall. But tile drain- 

 age is desirable even if your land be a dead level. And here again I call your 

 attention to the water line in the soil. Suppose you have a ten acre field with 

 tile drains laid through it; it has a clay subsoil and is perfectly level; suppose 

 there is no outlet, so that your tile drains have not opportunity to work ; a 

 heavy rain comes on and fills the earth with water to within six inches of the 

 surface ; your tile are laid three feet below the surface. Now open an outlet 

 at one side of your field and connect with the system of tile drainage, and 

 your water will pour out of that outlet under a head of two and a half feet 

 just as certain as it would if you should bore a hole in the side of a barrel two 

 and a half feet below the surface, and it will continue to flow through that 

 system of tile drains so long as the water line in the soil is above the outlet. 

 But if one lays tile on a level greater care must be taken to pack the joints, 

 and a larger tile should be used to obviate the danger of their filling with sand. 

 With a good fall, sand in the tile will wash out and fall into the first silt basin 

 prepared for its reception; but of course in a level drain sand will be more 

 likely to accumulate. 



The question of cost every one must settle for himself. It will not be alike 

 in any two fields. The surface of the ground, the convenience of the outlet, 

 the character of the soil, — all have to be taken into consideration. 



Round tile well burned and free from defect is the only kind that I would 

 recommend to be used. They should be examined carefully before being laid. 

 If there is a lump of unslacked Wine in your tile which will break it when it 

 comes to be wet, it would make an obstruction in the drain which it might cost 

 you days of labor to find. If there be any doubt that the tile being free from 

 lime, you can settle it by placing them in water until they become wet through. 

 If there are lime pebbles there the slack of the lime will break the tile. 



The tile on the ground will probably cost from ten to fifteen dollars per thou- 

 sand feet, depending on size and expense of transportation. The cost of these 

 drains would vary from thirty to sixty cents a rod, but when once well laid, 

 •with good tile and with outlet suitably protected, they will last for years. 



