< I I.I:AKI.\<; IJrsii LANDS IN UKITISII COLUMUIA. 



31 



If you have occasion to dig a drain up and put it in another position, do not leave 

 the tile exposed to the weather. Have the new ditch dug first before the old one 

 is taken up and set the tiles in as quickly as possible, covering them up ; otherwise 

 the clay tile will disintegrate. Always start to lay the tiles at the upper end of 

 the drain and work down towards the outlet. It is best to have a little water 

 running in the drain as they are laid, as this enables one to see whether the fall 

 is even. The fall should be as even as possible. Do not have a very flat fall and 

 then a very steep one if it is possible to avoid it without dicing too deep. Do 

 not, if it can be avoided, dig an underdrain to run into one already covered and 

 filled in, as it will very likely result in the blocking-up of the part already covered. 

 Draining river-bottom land or flooded land in clay silt or peat soil is a some- 

 what different operation to that described above. If in clay silt, the drains should 

 be dug 2 feet deep and about 12 to 18 inches wide just about wide enough for one 

 to stand in and then a core taken out of the bottom about a foot deep with a 

 long, narrow ditching-shovel, as per Fig. 5. In digging the core or tongue the 

 shovel should be held almost straight up; 

 otherwise it will not be 12 inches deep. 

 This depth of tongue is required, as there 

 is usually a very slight fall on these flats, 

 and after the ditch has been in a few- 

 years the upper end will gradually silt 

 up with fine mud and sediment, perhaps 

 8 or 9 inches, so that the ditch will form 

 its own grade and be the full depth at 

 the outlet. This tongue should be cov- 

 ered, preferably with split cedar boards, 

 12 inches wide, 1% to 2 inches thick, and 

 about 6 to 12 feet long, laid lengthwise. 

 The old system was to cut 12- to 18-inch 

 lengths and lay them crosswise. The other 

 way is much more quickly and cheaply 

 done and makes a far better job, as, if a horse happens to tread on the ditch when 

 the ground is very soft, all its weight is put on the one cross-board and it is very 

 liable to crush in the shoulder of the ditch. It used to be thought that by putting 

 in the long boards a horse treading on the underdrain might split the board and 

 crush it in. In practice, however, this does not happen, as when the ditch is once 

 tilled, in, oven if the board should become cracked, the weight of soil on the top 

 holds the board in position on the shoulder. In very soft ground it will sometimes 

 be found that the shoulder will not stand up. In that case a wood crosspiece one 

 or more may be put across in the ditch and a long 12-inch board laid on. the top. 

 Occasionally the ground will be in spots too soft even for this. In that case wide. 

 r heavy cedar rails will have to be laid in 



place of the shoulder. Cedar boards in 

 this kind of soil will last a long time 

 \r board twelve or fourteen years at least, prob- 

 ably longer. Where split cedar of this 

 quality cannot be got handily for the 

 covering-l>oards, 1%-inch sawn cedar 

 boards will do. or cedar slabs from the 

 sawmills. Many people dig a ditch 3 

 feet deep and put in 1 x ('.-inch or 1 x 



g X-inch cedar boards, as per Fig. ('.. with 



a short piece nailed on the bottom to 



keep them apart. This, however, is not at all a good system unless there is a fairly 

 good fall, as they are very liable to got blocked up. 



