TILE DRAINAGE. j37 



ran the water into a gravel-bank, and thus saved the expense 

 of making a deep cut. 



OTTLETS THAT ARE LIABLE TO P>E FLOODED BY OVER- 

 FLOWS, ETC. 



There is one spot on our creek-bottom grounds where we 

 get an excellent outlet for standing water by running a tile 

 into the deep cut before spoken of. Now, this works all 

 right while the water is low in Champion Brook ; but when 

 it rises nearly to the top of its banks during a freshet, the 

 same tile that had been taking the water away lets it back 

 on to the low land, and makes a pond. To remedy this we 

 have at the outlet a check-valve made of wood, with leather 

 hinges. Ordinarily the valve stands a little open to let the 

 water out. When the water rises, however, it strikes this 

 hinged door, or valve, and closes it. Of course, this stops the 

 water for a time from getting out of the underdrain ; but 

 when the creek goes down it lets the water out as usual. 

 We should prefer, of course, an outlet that would never be 

 covered and subject to back-water ; but under the circum- 

 stances the valve is better than to have the tile permanently 

 open. A valve to open and close by hand has been suggest- 

 ed ; but as this requires the owner to go out in the rain to 

 manipulate his valves, and would often fail to receive the 

 attention it should have, we consider the automatic valve 

 preferable. 



DANGER FROM STANDING WATER. 



Perhaps sufficient has been already said in regard to the 

 damage a little surplus water may do if allowed to stand for 

 only a few days But I wish to mention a circumstance of 

 my boyhood. We had a very thrifty young cherry-tree, one 

 of the very finest I have ever seen, standing not very far 

 from the house. Before we had our underdrains properly 

 fixed, a wooden spout carried the surplus from the kitchen 

 out to an open ditch. During a wet time in the spring this 

 wooden spout became disarranged so the water for two or 



