508 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



then place his weight upon the shield and lower it little by little to the 

 bottom of the ditch. Then with a tile scoop the bottom of the ditch can 

 be properly formed and the tile laid in place. The shield is then lifted 

 and moved ahead sufficiently to prepare the bottom for the next sec- 

 tion. It would not be difficult to make a shield 'of wood that could be 

 operated in much the same way. 



Where the ditch is deep and the quick-sand is found to stand to some 

 height above the bottom of the ditch, planks or boards should be used 

 to hold the banks from falling in and great care should be taken to avoid 

 accidents. 



PROTECTION TO JOINTS AGAINST QUICK-SAND. 



When tile is laid in quick sand or in very fine ordinary sand or silt, 

 it is usually necessary to provide some means to prevent the fine parti- 

 cles from entering into the tile through the joints. It is sometimes recom- 

 mended that marsh hay be laid over the tile before any soil is intro- 

 duced into the ditch. 



Strips of strong building paper are sometimes laid over the joints 

 before the earth is introduced. 



A small amount of clay is sometimes placed over each joint before the 

 earth is thrown over the tile. 



BOGGY AND SPRINGY PLACES. 



Sometimes in laying tile through muck soils, springs are discovered 

 which cause such a degree of softness in the muck at the bottom of the 

 ditch that it is very difficult to lay the tile with any degree of evenness. 

 In such cases it is recommended by successful drainage engineers that 

 the ditch be dug sufficiently deep to lay a six-inch board in the bottom so 

 that the upper surface of the board shall lie at the proper depth and upon 

 this the tile be laid and the earth introduced about the tile. Boards 

 thus used will resist decay for many years. 



THE COST OF TILING. 



The cost of tile, and the cost of hauling and distributing the tile 

 are matters that can be fairly easily determined for any particular 

 job. 



The cost of digging the ditch, laying the tile, and filling the ditch 

 is subject to considerable variation, due to the nature of the soil and 

 the cost of labor. 



Elliot estimates that where: 



1. The earth is readily spaded and no pick or bar is required in 

 the digging, and 



2. The wages for good diggers is 25 cents an hour and for expert 

 ditchers is 35 cents an hour, (the last representing half the labor 

 required ai'.d including superintendence) . 



The cost of digging the ditch, laying the tile and blinding will ap- 

 proximate the figures shown in the following table. 



