292 



Oil the Drainage of Land. 



It must, however, be observed, that really good tiles " are 

 essentially requisite ; for if only one of them becomes decayed or 

 broken it stops the current of the water on the spot where it stood, 

 and the injury cannot be discovered until damage, of sometimes 

 a very serious nature, has been occasioned. The operation of 

 draining, although amply returning the outlay, yet being very ex- 

 pensive, it is extremely important to ascertain not only the cost 

 but the intrinsic value of the tiles when made. Purchasers 

 should therefore be cautious ; for, if induced by comparative 

 smallness of cost to use those of an inferior quality, they may 

 have cause to find, in the course of time, that they have been 

 actuated by false economy. 



The more compact the tile is made, the stronger it will be, 

 and the more pressure it will bear the better. It should not 

 appear porous ; and, if struck upon by the knuckle, it should, if 

 well made, emit a metallic sound. Being, however, usually made 

 by hand, and very generally by persons who neither understand 

 the kind of clay which should be used in the formation of a tile 

 which will last without decay, nor possessed of sufficient capital 

 to work the clay during the time required for producing it of pro- 

 per quality, thousands are daily made which are not trustworthy; 

 being not only imperfectly moulded, but, being either too much 

 or too little burned, a night's frost has been known to break the 

 whole tiles laid down in a drain."* The making of tiles demands, 

 indeed, more time, and consequently more capital, than may be 

 generally imagined. When the proper sort of clay has been dis- 

 covered, it is usually dug up during the course of the year for the 

 entire supply of the ensuing season ; being turned carefully over, 

 about the preceding Martinmas, to receive the benefit of the 

 atmosphere throughout the winter. In spring the process of 

 tempering commences, and the tiles are not manufactured until 

 the following summer, as large quantities can only be conveniently 

 dried in fine weather. 



Land -draining being not only a tedious and a laborious, but 

 also in most cases an expensive, operation, should never be un- 

 dertaken but with a determination to do it effectually, by em- 

 ploying the best modes of workmanship and material ; so as to 

 ensure, as far as possible, the permanent improvement of the soil. 

 Stone-drainage has that effect; but accompanied with these ob- 



Bart., M.P.," communicated by John Yule, Esq., of Giingerbank. — Prize 

 Essays of the Highland Soc, N.S., vol. i. 



* Thoughts on the Extension of Draining. — Quart. Journ. of Agric, 

 vol. vi., N.S., p. 330. The effect of over-burning is, however, merely that 

 of rendering the tile brittle ; but if under-burnedy it then imbibes moisture, 

 which, when frozen, and afterwards thawed, occasions it to rot and fall to 

 pieces. 



