TILE DKAINAGK. 87 



Fig. 22 shows how an expert will sink his spade ; a 6, cd, ef, 

 being the curves cut by the spade, and the edge a being 

 " out " the first cut, and tlie edge c being out the second cut, 

 and so on. Thus held, the spade sinks more easily, and the 

 fmp. edge of the spadeful breaks off true and easily. 



SINKING THE SPADE. 



This is done by a succession of quick "shoves "or thrusts 

 with the foot, throwing one's whole weight upon the spade 

 with a quick impulse, and working the handle slightly back 

 and forth in sympathy with the efforts of the foot. It will 

 take from two or three to six or eight "shoves," to send a 

 sixteen-inch spade "home," the number varying with the 

 hardness or stoniness of the cl-iy and the skill and muscle of 

 the digger. The bast way to' get this motion is to watch a 

 real expert and get him to teach you. I almost never use a 

 pick or mattock. A good ditching spade well handled will 

 dig almost any tiling but the stoniest clayey gravel faster 

 alone than with the help (?) of the pick, by working ((round 

 the stones. 



PRESERVING THE (IKADE. 



This is very important. I would rather dig and grade the 

 bottom course complete than simply to grade an uneven 

 " billowy " bottom dug by a careless, non-expert digger. If 

 the proper grade is established at the bottom of the plowed 

 furrows, as described, an expert will give exactly the same 

 grade in the bottom of each hand-dug course, or "lift,*' 

 simply by holding his spade, in digging, always at the same 

 <>m//' and thrusting it to the same depth, usually full depth. 

 This, too, is a matter of practice, and requires skill to do it 

 well. A green hand will always "slnde out "where the 

 ground is very hard, and ''shade in" where it is soft; and 

 he will unconsciously vary the angle at which he holds the 

 spade. But the more nearly perpendicular it is held, the 

 greater perpendicular or actual depth it will make when 

 sunk full length. "Exactly perpendicular, a sixteen-inch 



