30 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



a good slope. A ditch 2 feet 6 inches deep and 1 foot wide at the bottom should 

 be about 4 feet wide at the top, but this will depend a good deal upon the nature 

 of the soil and other conditions. On account of the cost of keeping open ditches 

 clean, it is always better to make an underdrain where possible in preference to 

 an open ditch. If you are putting underdrains in a swale or depression much over 

 4 rods wide, it is better to dig one at each side of the foot of the rising ground 

 and let these two, ditches come together again where the swale narrows. 



On level ground, in alluvial clay, the underdrains should be 3 feet deep, and in 

 peaty land or black muck 3 feet 6 inches deep, but in upland clay or clay loam 

 2 feet 6 inches is deep enough ; the character of the soil will determine the depth ; 

 12 to 18 inches wide is enough in all cases, but if the drain is to be an open 

 ditch it should be 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet wide at the top and about 12 inches at 

 bottom, with sloping sides, or if a considerable amount of water is to be carried, 

 then wider in proportion. The best time to dig ditches is when the ground is soft, 

 but there should not be too much water (say just enough to give a grade). Early 

 summer or early fall is perhaps the best time, but they can often be dug to 

 advantage in winter. 



Dig the ditch or drain as near as possible on straight lines. Do not put in 

 any long curves. Use two stakes and a piece of strong cord to line it out and keep 

 it straight; do not trust to the eye. If the swale or low place to be drained is 

 not straight and it is very unlikely that it will be then zigzag the ditches to fit the 

 curves, rounding the angles or making very short curves. If an underdrain has to 

 be opened up at some future date, it is much easier to find it if it has been laid in 

 straight lines instead of long curves. 



This question of underdraining is chiefly a problem for the Lower Fraser 

 Valley and Coast districts, although a little of the same kind of draining may be 

 required in other places in the Province besides. It used to be the custom to make 

 most of the underdrains of cedar rails and boards, but the writer's experience is 

 that in the high clay loam lands it is the worst kind of economy to use cedar at all. 

 Burnt tiles or well-made cement pipes are unquestionably the only kind of under- 

 drains which should be put down in ground of this kind, and this applies also to 

 drained beaver-marshes, particularly if the drain is in clay. Many people will be 

 disposed to question this, but it is doubtful if any of these cedar underdrains in 

 wet places on high land last for more than a very few years. They invariably 

 have to be taken out and replaced with burned clay tiles or cement pipes, and if 

 this has to be done anyway, it might just as well be done first as last. No kind of 

 wood and cedar is undoubtedly the longest-lived under the circumstances will 

 last more than a few years, and very often for some time before the wood rots the 

 drain will be choked by a fungus-growth. The writer has replaced cedar under- 

 drains in land of this character within four years after these were put down, and 

 taken out masses of fibrous fungus-growth yards long, which have completely choked 

 the drains. Three-inch tiles will generally be found quite sufficient; even 2- inch 

 in many cases. It is a considerable flow of water that needs a 4-inch, although some- 

 times' a wet swale on which a small creek runs in the winter may require a 6- inch, 

 particularly if many other wet places run into it ; but this is not often. 



The best tool to use for laying these tiles is a boy scout's axe, with a pick at 

 one side and a small chopping-edge at the other. This and a garden-trowel (the 

 heaviest that can be got) are the handiest for the purpose. The axe enables one 

 to quickly cut and shape any of the tiles and the trowel is handy for laying them 

 evenly. Do not be afraid of getting tiles a little overburnt. Most of the water 

 drains off through the joints and not through the tile. If cement tiles are used, be 

 sure to get them sound and to ring well when struck. Do not put in anything that 

 is in the least doubtful, and be sure that they are thoroughly seasoned and hard 

 before putting them in. Most of these cement tiles are generally a little on the 

 porous side, and if they are put in before they are thoroughly cured and hard some 

 of the clay seems to soak into them with the water and quickly rots the cement. 



