302 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



the bottom of the ditch, and place the tile in it, upside down, and 

 cut up the boards into short pieces, and lay them crosswise on the 

 row of tile. I should have far more confidence in the durability 

 of a drain made in this manner, than if the boards were beneath 

 the tile. 



MANNER OP LAYING STONE IN A DITCH. 



414. Anyone can pitch stones into a ditch, and cover them 

 with dirt ; but, in order to have a stoned drain carry off the 

 water as well as it should, and not become obstructed in the 

 water-passage, it is very important to have every stone placed 

 just right. The most common cause of obstructions in a stoned 

 drain is, the side stones, which, in consequence of not being placed 

 most correctly, fall over into the middle of the water-passage, or the 

 stream forms a channel between the side stones and the sides of 

 the drain, and thus displaces the stones. As stones of almost 

 every form and size must be worked in when the throat is laid, 

 a laborer needs much judgment and skill to place every one in 

 such a manner that it will not be displaced. 



415. Writers on draining with stone, in years past, recom 

 mended breaking the stone as small as the size of a hen's egg for 

 filling ditches, and, also, to have ditches filled with stone to a 

 point within about one foot of the surface of the ground. But 

 the observation and experience of our most successful farmers, 

 who have used stone for filling their ditches, have induced them 

 to come to the deliberate conclusion that drains are but little, if 

 any, more effectual in draining the land, when they are filled with 

 small stone one foot above the throat, than they are when 

 nothing but a throat is made of stone, well chinked with small 

 stone. The expense of digging ditches three feet deep, and of 

 laying a good throat in them for the water, is quite as large as 

 most farmers are willing to incur, without incurring the additional 

 and useless expense of breaking a large lot of stone into small 

 pieces. Any one who knows anything about breaking stone 

 in very small pieces, knows, that it is a very laborious and ex 

 pensive job. As a good throat is all that is necessary in a ditch, 



