GENERAL DRAINAGE INFORMATION 73 



Station, recently issued a note to be appended to Special 

 Bulletin 59 of that station, which reads : 



" Badly disintegrated tile have been found in muck, 

 sand and sandy loam soils. We have found no satis- 

 factory explanation to account for the trouble, as yet, 

 since tile showing no disintegration have been found in 

 the same types of soil. It may be due to poor construc- 

 tion, insufficient curing, or to the action of the soil and 

 soil solution on the tile." 



Numerous users of cement tile, who enthusiastically 

 champion their use, base their opinion upon several years 

 of experience. Some of these claim even to have used 

 successfully cement tile in muck and bog soils. Elliott, 

 in " Engineering for Farm Drainage," page 125, says : 

 " Abundant examples of tile now in service prove quite 

 conclusively that well-made cement tile meet every re- 

 quirement in drainage. Any failure of them indicates 

 imperfections in their manufacture which need not have 

 occurred " ; and again, " It is clear that first class Portland 

 cement and good sand should be used and that they should 

 be properly mixed." 



109. Precautions. The maker of cement tile should 

 observe three things : (1) to use only clean, sharp sand 

 with the cement and gravel; (2) to use a mixture of 

 cement not more lean than 4 to 1 ; and (3) to exercise 

 care in moistening, tamping or packing. Some of our ex- 

 periment stations are now making a careful study of the 

 value and durability of cement tile. Elliott says : " In 

 order to obtain a dense, non-porous tile, the mixture should 

 be wet, as opposed to what is known as 'dry mixture.' 

 The proportion of 1 part good Portland cement to 3 parts 

 good sand, well mixed, produces a good tile." 1 



1 Engineering for Land Drainage, p. 125= 



