TILE DRAINAGE. 85 



case have been found where the map" indicated, and to be as 

 clean inside as it' just washed out and rinsed out. That was 

 just what was done at the last wet time preceding. 



THE I)I(i(;lN(i. 



Where shall we begin to dig and lay V At the outlet, as a 

 rule. You must begin there it' your work is to go on late in 

 the fall, or all winter, or very early in the spring ; that is, 

 during freezing and thawing weather. You must dig and 

 lay and fill, as you go. Sometimes the earth thrown out will 

 begin to freeze in an hour or two enough to obstruct the till- 

 ing, and, if left over night, it will often freeze so solid that 

 it can not be filled in for days or even weeks. The sides of 

 the ditch, too, will freeze if the ditch is left open long in 

 winter; and when it thaws they will cave in or slump in. 

 Still further, the earth fills in far more easily immediately 

 after it is thrown out, and while it remains in spadefuls, 

 than if left to settle together, especially if rain falls on it 

 and soaks it into mud. 



My plan for winter tiling (and it is just as good for other 

 seasons if all is to be done by hand) is to lay and cover one 

 entire main drain first, seeing to it that the outlet or outfall 

 is good. Then begin digging at the lower end of the lower 

 lateral, and dig right down to the main and take up one 

 straight tile and insert a T or Y joint as the case may re- 

 quire. Of course, if the whole system is laid out with the 

 plow iii the fall, then the exact position of each lateral is 

 fixed and clearly seen, and the T or Y joint may be laid at 

 the time the ma ; n is laid, and its open part stopped with a 

 Hat stone. Either way will do. In the days when we could 

 get no joints or junctions, T or Y, nor even get tiles with 

 holes for lateral junctions cut in them before baking, we had 

 to peck a hole in a tile, or at the junction of two tiles, with 

 a sharp-pointed hammer, and that had to be done, or at least 

 could be best done, when the main was first laid ; and so I 

 used to lay a few lengths of each , lateral, as I came to each 



