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soil, well trodden or settled with a pounder, your tile is secure. 

 Work down to the nest ditch, when that should be laid in the 

 same way, and the connection made. Elbows and bends come 

 with the tile, but it is difficult to make good joints without 

 cement, at these connections ; hence, a little made fresh every 

 time, is the quickest and safest way to get over it. Tile can 

 be cut with an old saw or hatchet, into any required length. 

 Continue thus to the outlet, which should be of the best hard 

 burned tile, strongly embedded in stone or brick. " It should 

 deliver the water over a step of a few inches, so that the 

 action of the drain may be seen, and the accumulation of sand 

 and mud be prevented from clogging it." It is well to cover 

 the outlet in winter, with evergreen boughs or boards, to pre- 

 vent the effects of freezing and thawing. A coarse screen 

 should be placed over the outlet, to keep out all vermin. By 

 drilling small holes in the end of the last tile, stout copper or 

 iron wire can be passed through, which answers a good pur- 

 pose. Every year, on the approach of winter, the outlets 

 should be examined, and all sediment and rubbish removed. 

 The trenches should be filled in as soon as possible after the 

 tiles are laid ; the bottom soil first, and the good soil at top. 

 Never lay your tile in top soil, as many are tempted to 

 do, because it is softer and finer, for it will eventually en- 

 courage the roots of trees and grasses, into and around the 

 tile, and thus destroy its usefulness. 



This is one of the greatest obstacles to tile draining, that 

 roots of certain trees will so penetrate the soil, for food and 

 moisture, that where they come in contact with the drain, they 

 will enter and choke it. I know of no trees so bad, in this 

 respect, as the Elm and Willow, and drains should never be 

 laid in the immediate vicinitv of these trees. Willows, 

 especially, should be annihilated before drains are laid near 

 them. I have never known fruit trees or evergreens to pene- 

 trate to the drains ; but probably they would if the rich soil 

 were there to draw them. Certain grasses, too, are trouble- 



