2 BULLETIN 300, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The various publications of the different manufacturers of exca- 

 vating machinery have also been freely consulted, and a number of 

 projects under construction have been inspected. 



DEVELOPMENT OF EXCAVATING MACHINERY. 



Open drains were no doubt dug on wet agricultural lands during 

 the early settlement of this country. Since only hand tools were then 

 in use, the ditches were small. If the channel was too large to permit 

 the material to be dug and thrown out in one operation, it was neces- 

 sary to rehandle the dirt with shovels or to carry it out in baskets or 

 wheelbarrows. These methods were very slow and expensive. Al- 

 though the ditches then constructed served their purpose for the 

 small agricultural tracts which were generally on high ground, the 

 increase in population and the resulting spread of agricultural opera- 

 tions to the lower lands soon demanded the construction of larger 

 channels. Teams and scrapers were then used where conditions per- 

 mitted. If the material was hard it was first loosened with a plow 

 and then removed by means of slip or wheel scrapers. This method, 

 however, became too expensive as larger ditches were required. 

 Moreover, drainage channels must frequently be constructed on 

 lands so wet and soft as to preclude the use of teams. The increasing 

 demand for suitable excavating machinery has engaged the atten- 

 tion of many men of mechanical bent, and the result has been the 

 invention of modern types of machinery, the development of which 

 has been rapid. By the use of modern machinery the cost of drainage 

 work has been so reduced as now seldom to afford valid excuse for 

 failure to drain. 



Perhaps the first successful use of power machinery in drainage 

 work was on a project in Illinois in 1882 when a floating dredge was 

 used for digging the channels. During the early development manu- 

 facturers entered their machines in contests for medals offered for 

 the best digging machines. Thus in 1886, three dredging concerns 

 entered their machines in such a contest before the Illinois State 

 Board of Agriculture. 



The early type of dipper dredge was equipped with the old-fash- 

 ioned vertical spuds, and the hull was built wide to prevent tipping. 

 The ditches desired at that time were usually small and owing to the 

 width of hull the operator was nearly always compelled to excavate 

 more material than he was paid for. The bank spud, which runs 

 directly from the side of the machine to the bank, was invented to do 

 away with this unnecessary width of hull and the consequent useless 

 excavation. Although many delays and difficulties were encountered 

 in the early stages of development, the cost of excavation by machin- 

 ery was soon reduced far below that by hand labor. This period 

 marks an epoch in the progress of drainage in this country. 



