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September 22d commenced digging on main drain ; began 

 at the outlet and dug the drain through, then dug first lateral 

 at that end of the drain, throwing the top soil on one side and 

 the subsoil on the other. I then procured some long brackets 

 and set them on the edge of the drain, twenty feet apart, and 

 then measured the depth I wished to dig. Suppose I wanted 

 to dig four feet deep, I measured three feet from the ground 

 up on tlic brackets, then run a line from that point to a point 

 the same height on the other, which would give the right depth 

 to dig, there being sufficient fall. Nothing more is necessary 

 in the way of levelling on the laterals. A man then takes a 

 pole seven feet long, and by grading the ditch so the pole 

 will just go under the line the exact level will be obtained. 



As soon as the level is obtained one man lays the tile, first 

 placing a back at the end and turning the tile round till it fits 

 as tight as possible ; the round, or pipe tile being used, a very 

 tight joint can be made. Tarred paper is then placed around 

 the joint and held till some of the top soil is thrown on, as 

 being finer and holding the tile in place better than clay. The 

 soil is then pressed hard around the tile, the ditch partly filled 

 •with clay, the most of the top soil being left to place on top 

 again, and so carried on till the main drain is reached. Just 

 before it enters the main pipe a slight curve is given it, so that 

 the water as it enters the main, shall be flowing in the same 

 direction as the main. No two drains enter the main opposite 

 each other ; the mains are laid a few inches lower than the 

 laterals. Not having elbows, I was obliged to break holes in 

 the pipe as best I could ; the pipes were then connected, tar- 

 red paper and tin placed around the joints, and then cemented 

 tight. The main pipe was then carried along to the next lat- 

 eral, and the same process repeated, and so on, till all were 

 laid. 



The drains were dug wholly by hand, as the top soil is taken 

 out very quickly and the men did not like to dig after a plow; the 

 subsoil was very hard, requiring a pick to loosen it. The tools 



