24 



How THE FARM PAYS. 



FLAT STONE DRAIN. 



meadows than tiles, for the reasons that they carry more water, are 

 not so easily choked, as there are many channels, and will not get 

 stopped by the settling of the soft ground, as with 

 tile; for a tile that settles in a soft place, stops and 

 ruins the whole drain. Where tiles are used in soft 

 ground, they should always be laid upon hemlock 

 boards, as this timber is almost imperishable in such a 

 place, or any other where it is always wet. Some- 

 times cheap drains of wood may be very useful for 

 wet ground. Such drains are generally made triangu- 

 lar, of three boards, nailed edge to edge. A better way 

 is to put the cover on top of the drain tube cross- 

 wise, cutting the lumber into short pieces; this gives 

 more openings for the water to flow into the pipes, 

 and also makes them stronger. "Where roads cross a drain of this 

 kind, it is safer to make them in this way, and also to lay a plank 

 upon the drain to 

 distribute the pres- 

 sure. Every precau- 

 tion should be taken 

 to have the work of 

 draining done right, 

 because it is costly, 

 and is a difficult and 

 particular work, and, 

 if one little blunder 

 is made, everything 

 maybe spoiled; fora 

 drain is like a chain which has a link broken, and even worse ; for if one 

 part of a drain is out of order, the whole drain may be useless, while 

 part of a broken chain may be as good as ever. For this reason, 



when one is about to 

 lay out considerable 

 money in a job of drain- 

 ing, it would always be 

 safe to have the ad- 

 vice and assistance of 

 an expert, whose experience might and would often be of great 

 value. 



Observation wells are necessary to be made about every quarter of 

 a mile in a drain. This is a small well or deep box, let down two 

 feet below the drain, and into which one drain discharges, while an- 

 other takes the water. These are necessary in every main drain, 



HOUND STONE DRAINS. 



WOODEN DRAIN. 



