104 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



COMMON FAULTS OF OPEN DITCHES. 



These are many. It is commonly thought that to construct a good open 

 ditch all that is needed is a good muscular man with a shovel. True, he may 

 do very good work if he has running water to guide his depth and will take 

 the necessary precaution. This is not often done, however, for most open 

 ditches seem to be made more on the plan to hold water than to get rid of it. If 

 the ditch is of any considerable length it will be found economical to avoid this by 

 securing the services of a competent surveyor or engineer, who can take levels on 

 the line, establish a grade line for the bottom, give the depth at each station, 

 and determine the size necessary from the area of country to be drained. 

 Drains are nearly always laid out too shallow, to save the first expense, made 

 with too many angles, while the sides ai"e almost universally cut too steep. 



TILE DEAINS. 



However perfect the open drains may be made, where anything like a 

 thorough system of drainage is adopted, tile drains must constitute the chief 

 features of the system. These, unlike the open drains, will usually be con- 

 structed by individual efforts, and the cost must be kept low enough to make 

 the investment proStable. 



The first thing here, the same as for open drains, should be the preliminary 

 survey. This need not be expensive and may consist merely of the random 

 levels to determine the most suitable location, and then the levels along the 

 line of drain. For this the farmer had better secure the services of a com- 

 petent engineer, if liis work is very extensive. This cost at most will be a 

 small per cent of the entire cost of the drain, and if properly done will save 

 double or treble the cost of locating on the final work of construction. The 

 " go at illij giiess^' method so much in vogue by us Yankees is sometimes 

 very expensive. Every part of a tile drain should be executed in the most 

 workmanlike manner. When done it should be done for u life-time. One 

 author very mildly says "A blunder in draining, like the blunder of a physi- 

 cian, may be soon concealed by the grass that grows over it, but can never be 

 corrected." There are many devices for getting lines of levels, that on short 

 di'ains may profitably be used by the farmer, but if the amount of draining 

 is great they will never pay. 



We will now suppose this work all accurately done, the stakes set every fifty 

 feet with hub and the cut marked on each stake, and the number of the sta- 

 tion. Begin digging at the outlet. Cut as narrow as possible at the top, just 

 giving room to work to the required depth, making the bottom only wide 

 enough for the tile. When nearly at the required depth, the following 

 arrangement will be found excellent for finishing to an accurate grade. 

 (Showed model of the apparatus used at the College ; may be seen in the 

 report of 1877, page 228.) 



The size of tile to be used should be determined from the number of acres 

 to be drained, and the amount of fall that can be secured. Tables may be 

 procured that will enable any one to do tliis with very little figuring. I find 

 by referring to such tables that for thorough drainage a 2-inch tile will drain 

 2.1 acres; a 3-inch tile, 5.7 acres; a 4-inch tile, 8.2 acres; a C-inch tile, 22.8 

 acres; a 10-inch tile, 83.9 acres; a 12-inch tile, 132.5 acres. Prof. Carpen- 

 ter, of the Agricultural College, says that for ordinary farm drainage these 

 numbers may be safe doubled, making a 2-inch tile drain 4.2 acres; a 4-inch 



