380 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



to maintain his depth at the upper end, must have his bottom incline the wrong 

 way. Even in that case it would work when the water rose above the 

 highest point in the tile; but there would be no current above that part, 

 and the tiles would rapidly silt up. 



In excavating it is important to dig as narrow a ditch as possible. In the 

 first place it means less earth to heave out, and in the second place a narrow 



ditch forms a snugger bed for the tile — 

 an important consideration. Where a 

 plow can be used the cutting of one or 

 two furrows will aid the ditchers amaz- 

 ingly ; but for some reason they frequently 

 will not admit that it helps at all ; they 

 do not like the rough work left by the 

 plow. For digging the common spade is 

 the best implement for most purposes, 

 j The last spading, however, had better be 

 done with a spade of the general form of 

 the ordinary one, but as narrow as can be 

 worked and admic the tile. The long 

 ^,^^,^^ narrrow, tapering, tiling spades are worth. 

 "^^ less for most soils. They are good when 



Push and Pull scoop. Fig. 8. ^^^^ g^jj ^^j^ ^^^^-^ ^j ^j^^^, ^^^.^^ ^^^ 



worthless in other soils. The wide, upper end prevents the use of this spade 

 for cleaning. 



The tile scoop, shown in figure 8, which any blacksmith can make, for 

 cleaning the bottom, should be made of a sheet of half-round steel with the 

 handle fastened opposite its center, so that it may be used as a push or pull 

 scoop. The handle should rise at an angle of about 30 or 45 degrees. The 

 scoop usually on sale is of thick, heavy wrought iron, with the handle fastened 

 at the back end — a more awkward instrument could hardly be devised. In 

 the first place, the earth is loosened at a disadvantage as compared with the 

 work of the scoop with a handle fastened at the center; and, again, it is only 

 of use as a push scoop. For two, three, or four-inch tile, one with a 

 diameter of four inches will do nicely. For larger tile — six to eight inch — the 

 diameter may be increased to six inches, although the smaller scoop may be 

 made to do the work. The length should be 13 to 15 inches. 



In quicksand, the excavation cannot be carried ahead of the tile, and much 

 difiiculty is experienced in keeping the tile open while constructing the drain. 

 If the quicksand is deep — say, three or four feet — a curbing will have to be 

 used, and it is best put in as follows : Take 12 pieces of two-by-four scant- 

 ling, each about six feet long; drive these down in pairs of two on each side 

 of the ditch, within a distance of 13 feet; put between each pair horizontal, 

 inch boards 13 feet long. By braces between the inner uprights, prevent the 

 earth from pushing in the sides. In excavating, first remove the sand from 

 below the boards on each side ; shove them down, throw out the center dirt 

 last ; so continue, and the quicksand cannot possibly get into the ditch. The 

 curbing can be sunk down as deep as necessary. The boards can all be 

 removed by taking out the bottom one first, filling with eartli, and then the 

 second one, and so on. This is best worked in three lengths at one time, tak- 

 ing up one length and putting one down at the same time. 



When the quicksand is not over two feet in depth, it can be held back by a 

 U shaped box of iron without bottom or top, as seen in Fig. 9. Wood is 



