TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 557 



Water runs through tile drains by gravity and not under pressure as in 

 a city water main or fire liose. It will not run up hill, climb grades nor 

 push its way through mud settled in low places in the tile. It is hidden 

 under ground and bad places cannot be seen like holes in the fence, cannot 

 be inspected after the ditches are filled and therefore the landowner should 

 know for himself that the work is properly done before any dirt is put on 

 the tile. The bottom must be graded with no low places where water will 

 stand. The water must run freely at every place. This is of vital impor- 

 tance and must not be neglected. 



There are several ways in which the bottom can be properly graded. 

 The best way is to have water running in the ditch. See that it does not 

 stand in low places or ripple over high places. If there is no water in the 

 ditch it will pay to haul in a few barrels and pour it in at the upper end 

 and see that it runs through. If the soil is too loose and the water sinks 

 away without running through, the method of stretching a line from 

 stake to stake over the ditch and parallel to the tile and measuring down 

 at short intervals along the line. The use of a straight edge and carpen- 

 ter's level are not accurate enough for field work. The tile should be 

 laid end to end as close as possible and bumped up tight together. The 

 water will find plenty of places to enter. 



Where there is danger of caving the ditcher may lay the tile as fast 

 as the ditch is finished, but no dirt put on the tile until they are inspected. 

 Insist upon seeing all the tile after they are laid and before they are cov- 

 ered. If the ditcher is doing honest work he is willing to be watched. 



ROAD DBAIXAGE. 



In our prairie states we are not rich enough to bear the expense of 

 hard roads. When dry, our dirt roads are the best on earth, and when 

 wet they are the worst. The solution of our road problem therefore is to 

 keep them dry. This may be reasonably well done by two systems of 

 drainage — one to remove the water from the surface, and the other to 

 remove the water from under the road bed. 



The best improvement of our highways will combine three essential 

 features, which are: 



First. A road embankment high enough to be above overflow and 

 suflBciently rounded to shed water readily. 



Second. The road should have open ditches on both sides large 

 enough to carry all flood water from the roadway. These surface ditches 

 should have such a perfect grade that no water will stand along the road- 

 way on either side. 



Third. That two lines of tile drains be placed parallel with the road, 

 one on each side between the grade and the open ditch. The tile drains 

 should be laid three feet deep or deeper and should not be less than four- 

 inch, and often larger, depending upon the fall, length of the line and 

 amount of water to be carried. 



