14 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



yet no one will deem it wonderful who has personally 

 witnessed the unaccountable and ever new difficulty 

 of getting proper attention paid to the levelling of the 

 bottom of a Drain, and the laying of the tiles in that 

 continuous line, where one single depression or irre- 

 gularity, by collecting the water at that spot year after 

 year, tends towards the eventual stoppage of the whole 

 drain, through two distinct causes, the softening of 

 the foundation underneath the sole, or tile flange, and 

 the deposit of soil inside the tile from the water col- 

 lected at the spot, and standing there after the rest 

 has run off. Every depression, however slight, is con- 

 stantly doing this mischief in every drain where the 

 fall is but trifling; and if to the two consequences 

 above-mentioned, we may add the decomposition of 

 the tile itself by the action of water long stagnant 

 within it, we may deduce that every tile-drain laid 

 with these imperfections in the finishing of the bot- 

 tom, has a tendency towards obliteration, out of all 

 reasonable proportion with that of a well-burnt tile 

 laid on a perfectly even inclination, which, humanly 

 speaking, may be called a permanent thing. An open 

 ditch cut by the most skilful workman, in the Summer, 

 affords the best illustration of this underground mis- 

 chief. Nothing can look smoother and more even 



