82 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



before using the spade. One man with a team and plow will 

 loosen more soil than ten men with picks and if no pick is re- 

 quired a man will throw much more loose dirt out of a ditch 

 than he can spade out. Too much stress can not be laid upon 

 having a continuous fall, for on this depends the value of the 

 drain. When there is flowing water in the ditch this is all the 

 level needed, but if there is no water some method must be 

 used to keep a true grade, for it will not do to trust to the eye 

 where the surface is uneven, as is usually the case. An A level 

 as it is called, is useful for this purpose and may be made by 

 any one in a few minutes. Two pieces of common inch board 

 with a cross piece may be nailed in the form of the letter 

 A. Place the feet upon a level surface like a barn floor, attach 

 a plumb line at the top and mark where it falls upon the cross bar 

 then place a block just an inch thick under one foot and 

 mark where the line crosses the bar, or raise the foot another 

 inch and again make a mark upon the bar ; continue in the same 

 way if thought necessary. Then put the blocks under the 

 other foot and mark in the same manner and you will have a 

 level that will answer every purpose. A ten- foot span is a very 

 convenient length and when placed in the bottom of a ditch the 

 mark on the cross bar which the plumb line crosses will indi- 

 cate the rise or fall in inches for ten feet. Whether I used tile 

 or stone I would always place a board in the bottom of the 

 ditch, the tile will make much closer joints in this way and 

 there is no danger that they will be moved by settling uneven- 

 ly. The joints of tile should be covered with something that 

 will prevent the soil working through before it is thoroughly 

 settled, an inverted sod, straw, or forest leaves, will answer for 

 this. The first dirt should be carefully placed around the tiles 

 and firmly pressed with the feet being careful not to move them 

 or disturb the joints. Always begin at the head of the ditch 

 to lay stone or tile and work toward the mouth. In making a 

 stone drain the ditch will have to be considerably wider on the 

 bottom than where tile is used which should be considered 

 when deciding which to use. Stone drains can be made by any 

 one who can construct a fence wall. Stones of suitable size 

 are laid along the sides after a board has been laid down using 

 small stones to make the joints as close as possible flat stones 

 are laid upon them again using small stones to close all open- 

 ings if flat stones are not at hand boulders of suitable size to 

 reach across the ditch can be used if the drain be deep enough 

 so that they will not be so near the surface as to be disturbed 

 by the plow or reached by frost. After the stone work is done 

 place brush, straw, hemlock boughs, or some similar substance 

 over them and put on enough dirt to cover them as with tile 

 and finish filling with a scraper or plow. 



