GOO ° AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
pulously rejecting every cull, a drain will endure much longer than when all qualities 
of lumber are employed. If horse-shoe tiles are employed, they should be placed on 
plates, or soles of burnt clay. Soles of burnt clay will cost but a trifle more than lum- 
ber. We would not recommend soles, however, nor horse-shoe tiles, if pipe tiles or 
sole tiles can be procured. 
The correct way to lay tles—Some writers on the subject of underdraining recommend 
the practice of laying tiles on the bottom of a ditch while standing on the bank. 
For this purpose they recommend the use of a “tile-layer,” with a long handle 
like that of a pitch-fork. The hooked rod is thrust into the bore of a tile, with 
which the latter is let down to the bottom of the ditch and placed as nearly in its posi- 
tion as a tile can be. If every tile were quite true and straight, and the bottom of the 
ditch were as smooth and true as a newly-finished pavement, tiles could be laid in this 
way. It must be remembered, however, that almost every tile is a little crooked, or 
twisted, or warped, and that it is almost impossible,in many places, where the ground 
is full of small stones and large gravel, to make the bottom of a ditch true and smooth. 
Consequently, if the operator lays the tiles while standing on the bank of the ditch, 
the form of some of them will frequently be such that the ends will not match satisfac- 
torily. Hence, the only correct way to lay tiles of any kind is for the operator to stand 
in the ditch, and place each tile in the best possible position. In case a joint is too 
open at the upper side of the tiles, try.another tile. In many instances a tile will rock, 
as the middle rests on a bar of hard earth or a small stone, in which case the promi- 
nence should be rammed down, so that the tile will not rock. Sometimes the digger 
finds it necessary to remove a small boulder from the bottom of the ditch, thus leaving 
a depression one or two inches deep. Ali such cavities should be rammed full of hard 
earth before the tiles are laid, so that the end of one section may not be forced down 
by the superincumbent pressure so far that the chliber of the two adjoining tiles will 
not correspond. Placing tiles in the bottom of a ditch is a piece of labor to be per- 
formed but once during a life-time; hence, the importance of laying every one with the 
utmost carefulness. It is far better to take fhe time to lay every tile properly than to 
hurry them in at random, which may necessitate the redigging and reconstruction of 
2 portion of the drain. When ditches are unusually deep and very narrow, and the bot- 
tom consists of earth free from stones, so that a true channel can be formed for the tiles, 
they may be laid with the tile-layer. 
Silt-wells in drains.—It is an excellent plan to construct silt-wells in several places in 
main drains,as they facilitate observation as to the flow of the water, and provide 
effectual means for collecting the fine silt that is washed into the drain by the constant 
influx of water, especially when the soil is thoroughly saturated. They also furnish an 
oul for mice, frogs, &c., which frequently enter the water-course if they have access 
to drains. 
Silt-wells should be made when the ditch is dug. Such wells are to a drain what a 
man-hole is to a street sewer in acity. An excavation should be made across and in 
the bottom of a ditch about two feet square and at least one foot deeper than the bot- 
tom of the ditch; then a curb of planks, bricks, or flat stones set on end may be em- 
ployed. The water discharges into the well and flows away by entering the tiles on 
the opposite side. The silt washed along in the tiles is deposited in the well, which, 
when filled up as high as the tiles, should be cleaned out. A curb made of planks of 
durable timber will endure a great many years. 
RECLAMATION OF MARSH LANDS. 
The subject of the reclamation of marshlands is one which must claim 
the attention of the country in the immediate future, as agricultural 
lands advance in price and population increases. A few instances of 
successful reclamation upon the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have been 
reported in the publications of this Department. 
An elaborate communication trom Mr. Jerome J. Collins, civil engi- 
neer, of Hudson City, New Jersey, gives at length an account of the 
reclamations accomplished in other countries, and in the vicinity of New 
York City, with a statement of the principles upon which such work is 
properly conducted and the obstacles to be overcome in its prosecution. 
