Farm Dkainage. 369 



mon sense and judgment can lay out a system of drains, 

 after having seen one that has been skillfully done, and hav- 

 ing acquainted himself by a little study of the lay of the 

 land, and information from the one who has done the work. 



At what depth sliall the tiles be laid ? My own experi- 

 ence has been, fi'om twenty inches to three feet deep, the lat- 

 ter figure being my judgment after several years' 'experi- 

 ence on as many different fields. In support of my views I 

 quote Mr. Johnson, of the State of New York, than whom 

 no one has greater practical experience ; also Solon Robin- 

 son, agricultural editor, for years, of the New York Tribune. 

 Still, many modern writers advocate four feet drains, among 

 whom I might name Messrs. Gisborn, Parks, Mechi, 

 Warring and others, and I am not prepared to say that four 

 feet is not better than three ; but never having done a job, 

 or observed the working of four feet drains, I am unable to 

 epeak from personal knowledge upon that point. 



Having decided to drain, and at what depth we will place 

 the tiles, we now come to what materials are needed and 

 how to use them. A kind of drain is made by digging a 

 trench of the necessary depth, and placing a small cobble 

 at the bottom and at one edge, and then placing a flat stone 

 with one edoje restino; on the cobble, and the other edge on 

 the bottom of the ditch, on the opposite side, leaving a space 

 underneath for water, then covering the same with small 

 field stones, to the depth of eighteen inches, and leaving the 

 same depth for dirt on the field stones. Another, and still 

 better mode of construction is by placing two cobbles or 

 round stones in the bottom, at each edge of the ditch, leav- 

 ing a space from four to six inches square between them, and 



