PRACTICAL NOTES ON UNDERDRAINING. . §O9 
ditches rather than purchase tiles and cart stones off the field, to be deposited in 
large heaps. : 
Covering the tiles and stones in a ditch.—Straw, hay, and sods have been unwisely rec- 
ommended as a covering for tiles and stones. A more unsuitable material than sods 
cannot be employed, especially for covering the stones ina ditch. Sods will decay in 
a few months, and thus cover the stones with a mellow mold, which will be constantly 
working into the water-course of the drain. Mice like no better earth to work in than 
decayed sods. Straw, also, will soon decay, and the fine material will be washed into 
the water channel, and thus obstruct the passage. All such material as straw, sods, 
and the surface soil or mold, should never be placed in contact with the stones or 
planks of a drain. On the contrary, the heaviest and most compact earth or sub-soil 
should be returned first to the tiles or stones. As soon as the tiles are laid, some care- 
ful man should cover them by carefully shoveling over them a few inches in depth of 
the heaviest soil, after which the earth may be returned with a plow, on a team at- 
tached to a dirt-scraper. ‘There will usually be more or less stone among the earth 
that was drawn out of the ditch; and, if great care is not exercised in returning the 
first few inches in depth, stones will crush the tiles in numerous places. 
The writer once directed the laborer to lay the tiles in a ditch and return the earth, 
and to corer the tiles first by shoveling in earth with extreme care. The drain failed to dry 
the land. Upon digging down the tiles were found full of standing water. A large 
site of the drain had to be taken up and relaid. In five different places small stones 
vad been allowed to fall’ on the tiles, crushing them to such an extent as to obstruct 
the flow of the water. A small stone, half as large as a man’s fist, if allowed to fall on 
a tile at the bottom of a three-foot ditch, will crush it. Consequently, this part of the 
filling should be performed with great care. If by accident a stone breaks a tile, a 
sound one should be substituted at once. One thousand tiles may be laid well, and 
covered in the best manner, and yet if only one near the outlet be crushed by a stone 
the entire drain will be of little value. 
The most expeditious way to return the dirt after the tiles have been covered is to 
hitch two horses to a plow having an evener eight or nine feet in length. The heads of 
the horses should be held apart at the proper distance by a jockey-stick, about eight feet 
long, as suggested on a preceding page. Another economical way is to employ a dirt- 
seraper, to which the team is hitched by a chain six to ten feet long, according to the 
width of a ditch. ‘Then, let one person drive, hauling the scraper to the bank of the 
ditch, and stopping the team just in time to allow the scraper to be dumped without 
being drawn across the ditch. Two men, with a team and scraper, will haul in dirt 
more rapidly than twenty laborers will cast it in with shovels. We have frequently 
read the recommendation to lead a horse lengthwise of the ditch, as the earth is being 
sheveled in, for the purpose of treading it down firmly. It is an unwise practice, 
as there is great danger of injuring the animal, and still more danger that his feet 
will damage the water-course. 
Ditching-machines.—We have not yet met with a really successful and reliable power 
ditching-machine, one that will excavate the desired depth through “hard-pan” and 
such stubborn land as is frequently found on the slopes of rivers and lakes. There 
are many power-machines for ditching, which will operate very satisfactorily on any 
kind of ground, where there are no small boulders as large as a man’s fist, and where 
the substratum can be spaded; but when a machine is started in ground where there 
are some small stones, and occasional bars of hard-pan, a hand-digger is required with 
rts ct set of tools {0 excavate certain parts, which cannot be done by a power 
itcher. 
Tiles and stones together.—Fig. 28 represents a mode of filling a large ditch, which 
has frequently been employed with satisfactory results, where a drain of large capacity 
was desirable, If flat stones can be readily obtained, say one foot in width, excavate 
the ditch about fourteen inches wide on the bottom, dressed out at the corners, so that 
tiles will fit closely at each side. Before the tiles are laid, a channel should be scooped 
out in the middle, as represented, that the stream may not undermine the tiles. Then 
lay a course of tiles on each side, and place flat stones carefully on the top, as shown 
by the cut. It is important that the top stones be laid on with care, and neatly leveled 
up, with thin pieces on the under side. The joints of the covering stones should be fitted 
closely and covered with small thin pieces, to prevent mice from hauling earth into the 
main water-course. In case the stones should be more expensive than another course 
of tiles, it would be preferable to lay three, or even four courses of tiles, side by side. 
When large tiles could not be obtained readily, we have sometimes laid three or four 
courses of small tiles in the bottom of a ditch, thus forming a water-course fully equal 
to the capacity of the stream when the water was at its greatest height. 
Laying tiles on boards.—it is the practice of many tillers of the soil to lay a narrow 
board in the bottom of the ditch on which the tiles are placed. This is more particularly 
the practice when horse-shoe tiles are employed. It is not a commendable practice to 
place timber of any kind beneath tiles, as some portions of boards will almost always 
decay in a few years. If proper care is exercised .in selecting sound pieces, aud seru- 
