TILE DRAINS PREFERRED. 71 



Stones broken to the size above mentioned are 

 expensive in this country, and in many places they 

 can not be procured; in England it is now found that 

 tiles made of clay and burned, are cheapest. These 

 have been made of various shapes. 



p . 5 a. The first used was the horse- 



shoe tile, fig. 5. This was so 

 named from its shape: it had a 

 sole a, made as a separate piece 

 to place under it, and form a smooth surface for the 

 water to run over. 



b. Within a few years this tile has been almost en- 

 tirely superseded by the pipe tiles; these are made of 

 several shapes, as seen in the accompanying figures 6 



Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 



and 7: the oval shape (fig. 7) is advantageous, because 

 a small stream in the bottom will wash out every ob- 

 struction that can be carried away by water. These 

 tiles have a great advantage over the horseshoe shape, 

 in that they are smaller and are all in one piece; this 

 makes them cheaper in the first cost, and also more 

 economical in the transportation. 



All these varieties are laid in the bottom of the 

 ditch, it having been previously made quite smooth 

 and straight. They are simply placed end to end, a? 

 at a, a, in figures 6 and 7; then wedged a little with 

 small stones if necessary, and the earth packed hard 

 over them. Water will always find its way in through 

 the joints. Such pipes laid at a depth of 2J to 3 feet, 

 and at proper distances between the drains, will in 

 time dry the stiffest clays. Many farmers have thought 

 that water would not find its way in, but experience 

 will soon show them that they can not keep it out 



