THE HANDLING OF THE LAND 89 
a good and continuous fall. For single drains and for laterals 
not over four hundred or five hundred feet long, a two and one- 
half inch tile is sufficient, unless much water must be carried 
from swales or springs. In stony countries, flat stones may be 
used in place of tiles, and persons who are skillful in laying 
them make drains as good and permanent as those constructed 
of tiles. The tiles or stones are covered with sods, straw, or 
paper, and the earth is then filled in. This temporary cover 
80. How to use a spade, 
keeps the loose dirt out of the tiles, and by the time it is rotted 
the earth has settled into place. 
In small places, ditching must ordinarily be done wholly 
with hand tools. A common spade and pick are the imple- 
ments usually employed, although a spade with a long handle 
and narrow blade, as shown in Fig. 79, is very useful for exca- 
vating the bottom of the ditch. 
In most cases, much time and muscle are wasted in the use of 
the pick. If the digging is properly done, a spade can be used 
to cut the soil, even in fairly hard clay land, with no great 
difficulty. The essential point in the easy use of the spade 
is to manage so that one edge of the spade always cuts a free 
or exposed surface. The illustration (Fig. 80) will explain the 
method. When the operator endeavors to cut the soil in the 
