CHAPTER XV. 

 PRACTICE OF TJNDERDRAINAGE. 



The best work in underdraining can only be done by the 

 man who has a thorough grasp of the principles of the art 

 and who has had enough practical experience to make him 

 perfectly familiar with -the essential details as they vary 

 with soil, topography, climate and crop conditions. 



There are many cases of local drainage where the area 

 and expense involved are small, where the farmer having 

 a fair knowledge of the principles of drainage can super- 

 vise or do his own work, but when large areas are to be 

 underdrained, where the fall is small and the surface con- 

 ditions complex, it will be safest -to entrust the leveling 

 and staking out of the mains and laterals ready for the 

 ditcher to a competent and thoroughly reliable drainage 

 engineer. 



Indeed it will generally be best and more economical to 

 let the whole job if it is large and difficult to a man of ex- 

 perience who has established a reputation for reliable work. 

 Even in the matter of digging the ditch, and particularly 

 in giving it its finish, as well as in placing the tile, drainage 

 engineers find it difficult to find men who have the pa- 

 tience, the feeling of responsibility and the practical skill 

 to do it well. A man who has the right frame of mind and 

 the skill to do this finishing and most important work well 

 is much more to be trusted than the farmer himself who 

 has so many duties to distract his attention and tempt him 

 to rush the job. 



But while the general farmer should not be encouraged 

 to attempt the draining of large and difficult areas on his 



