Other Points in Drainage. 103 



or more, and the water gets down all right, as I use the field ; 

 the drains drawing well a rod or more on each side. I know men 

 who advise laying tiles no more than twenty inches deep, or even 

 less. I should be slow to lay less than two and a half to three 

 feet deep. It is some the same with this matter as with covering 

 the tiles. A writer in The Ohio Farmer, just to hand, claims no 

 water will go into his tiles if they are covered with clay ; that 

 water will stand right on the tiles when nearly all the earth is 

 removed. All the same, I believe I could drain his land with tiles 

 put in as I put them, and do it thoroughly and in a way that 

 would last. However, I may be mistaken about anything but 

 what I have done. But do not draw hasty conclusions from 

 slight experience and without much thinking. Water standing 

 right over a tile drain after it is put in does not prove that the 

 work is not well and properly done. 



I believe that in some sections tiles may to advantage be laid 

 deeper than three feet. In many soils, at least, the deeper laid, 

 the further they will draw. On my land, the last cut was about 

 as hard to dig as the other two, and the fourth would often be a 

 terror to get out. We must be governed as to depth somewhat, 

 by the hardness of subsoil. It may be cheaper to put drains a 

 little nearer and not so deep. On our heaviest clays, two and a 

 half to three feet deep will usually drain well about two rods wide, 

 or one rod each side of drain. In lighter soils, three or four or 

 more rods apart will answer. About the size of tiles for main 

 drains I do not practically know a great deal. They should be 

 large enough so no water will stand on surface, more than an hour 

 or two at most, and still I would not want them so large they 

 would not be crowded now and then, so as to clean them out 

 thoroughly. I like to see them run just as full as they can carry, 

 in extreme wet weather, for then I feel they are all right. I do 

 not know just how large, per acre drained, they should be. And 

 I am inclined to think, from the different views among authorities 

 that the same rule will not hold good for all soils. And the amount 

 of fall has much to do with size of mains, of course. The greater 

 the fall, the faster the water will run, and the smaller tiles may be. 

 I will give the opinion that on my soil and with the moderate fall 

 that I have, a 3-inch main is sufficient for three acres, a 4-inch for 

 five and one- third acres, a 5-inch for eight and one-third, and a 6- 

 inch for twelve. My land, I think, averages a grade of at least 

 three feet to the hundred. Some advise larger tiles than I per acre 

 and some smaller, and, perhaps, both may be right for their soils 

 and rainfall. I have only given these figures as my judgment for 

 my soil, to be varied as you may think best for your latitude, or as 

 a little guide to start you when you have no experience. As to 

 the size of laterals, on my rolling clay, 2-inch are all sufficient. 

 In the western part of State, on more level black soils, they now 

 use nothing else but 3 or 4-inch. Both are right. The conditions 



