134 TILE DRAINAGE 



He would not dig as I wanted him to, but insisted that it was 

 cheaper to have a ditch so wide that a man could walk back 

 and forth, and turn around with ease at the bottom. I found 

 a stout German who was so new from the old country that 

 he could hardly speak a word of English. But he would do 

 exactly as I said ; and when I showed him how, his every ef- 

 fort seemed to be to do just as I wished to have him do, in- 

 stead of following his own notions. His ditches worked all 

 right, and he soon learned to make very good speed. I would 

 exhort our readers to read again and again the instructions 

 on page 86, and all along there*. Don't give up and go back 

 to your old-fashioned ways. Keep on until you can do it all 

 exactly as friend Chamberlain directs, and you will very 

 soon have good reason to be glad you did so. 



The one who succeeds in underdrawing must be more or 

 less of an enthusiast in the work ; and this seems to be true 

 of all industries, especially those of a rural nature. I was 

 pleased to hear J. M. Smith say, that, after his drains were 

 all made, he watched anxiously for a heavy shower, to see 

 if they would work as he had planned to have them do ; and 

 so anxious was he that he did not wait for the rain to be 

 over, but with gum boots, rubber coat, and umbrella, he 

 went out through the rain to one of the silt-basins, where a 

 large number of drains were centered, and he was delighted 



* Since the above was in type I sent a big" strong 1 man who has done 

 ditching-, and thought he knew how, out into the lot to dig- where I had 

 previously drawn a string* for him to go by. It was two or three hours 

 before I got ready to come around and inspect. I found him making 

 but little progress in trying to dig the hard clay with a pick. I took the 

 spade given him at first, and taught him to throw out the dirt a full 

 spade depth almost as fast as he could handle his spade, and this, too, 

 in ground so hard he thought he would have to use the pick. Had he 

 tried to push his tile-spade into the ground with both edges in the clay 

 it would have been impossible, even if he had put his full weight (300 

 Ibs.) on top of the spade; but by putting only one edge in the clay, 

 leaving one edge clear, he managed it easily, and the dirt dropped from 

 his spade without a bit of trouble; whereas, by the old plan the clay 

 would stick to the spade so as to have to be cleared off with a trowel 

 almost every time. Why, since I have learned how to do it as friend 

 Chamberlain does, I find it just fun to dig in the hardest ground, and 

 the labor isn't severe and exhausting either. 



