UNDERDRAINING. 353 



n system of cut-offs and storage reservoirs to hold the water at certain por- 

 tions of the year, would restore the natural order of things? 



After finishing the above paper, Mr. Upton stated that within the past 

 year he had put in a mile of tile drain, and that he intended to put in 

 another mile during the coming year. He also exhibited samples of draining 

 tools, and of tile of various sizes and qualities, overburned, underburned, 

 cracked and glazed. 



Mr. Hilton: In digging in this country no single kind of soil is continu- 

 ous. Now, how can you keep tile passing from sand to clay or clay to sand 

 from breaking level ? 



Mr. Upton : In such cases I lay a strip of board to put the tile on. 



Mr. McOallum : Gravel will serve even a better purpose than a board, as 

 it is a protection against quicksand and will not decay. 



Dr. Kedzie: One advantage of draining, which has not been mentioned, 

 is the saving of warmth to the soil by obviating the need of evaporating the 

 entire rainfall, and thus saving all the heat required for that operation. 



A three-quarter inch pipe two-thirds full will, in six months, carry away 

 water which it would take the heat of seventy tons of coal to evaporate. 



A difficulty in the way is the occasional obstruction of the tile in draining 

 swamps, where the water is impregnated with oxide of iron, which deposits 

 and fills the tile. Sometimes it is necessary to take up the. tile. The plan 

 has been tried of attaching a swab to a wire rope. 



Swamps are sometimes drained by driving holes down to a gravel layer. 



Prof. Johnson: In laying tile through muck and quicksand we have not 

 found the use of boards advantageous, as they decay unevenly. Gravel is much 

 better. In laying through quicksand the digging is often extremely difficult. 

 We use a sheet iron U shaped curbing, two feet long, which holds up the 

 earth on either side as we lay the tile. We push the curbing along ahead of 

 us with the open side toward the tile. We have found a difference of six 

 degrees in temperature between drained and undrained land. Animals have 

 better health on drained lands. We have lands that were formerly covered 

 with water, and which, with no other treatment than drainage, have become 

 our best pastures. 



Three feet is deep enough to lay tile to escape frost, though, of course, 

 the deeper the tile the fewer lines will be necessary, but the expense of 

 going deep is greater than of making more frequent shallow drains. 



It is generally agreed now that it is better to lay lines of tile up and down 

 rather than across a slope. I would use nothing smaller than a three-inch 

 tile anywhere. We want capacity enough to get rid of water as soon as pos- 

 sible. Also, large tile obstruct less easily. 



Mr. Upton : Indiana engineers say that a tile will drain a number of 

 acres equal to the square of the inside diameter of the tile. 



Mrs. Hall : Often in digging wells you strike quicksand against which you 

 cannot curb. Would gravel hold the quicksand in the well? 



Mr. McCallum : I drove a two-inch drive well 25 feet into quicksand — used 

 a very fine sieve for the point of my well, and it works all right. I paid 

 $7.00 for the right screen. 



Dr. Kedzie: There is no difficulty in driving beyond quicksand till you 

 find good gravel. 



Pres. Willits: Nothing has been said of the outlet for these tile drains. 



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