294 



Oil the Drainage of Land. 



a bad drain with them^ and seldom make a good one with stones ; 

 the carting of stones obliging them to neglect their other work." * 

 In enumerating the comparative advantages and disadvantages 

 of using tiles or stones in the execution of drains, another also 

 states^ that, if tile-drains are carefully executed, they will be 

 found in every respect equal, if not superior, to the best stone- 

 drains." ■\ 



In the account which has been already mentioned of the Ne- 

 therby estate, it is there also stated that, from estimates, which 

 are strictly correct in practice, it would appear that, even sup- 

 posing tiles are to be carried to the field to be drained a distance 

 of three miles, or even more, and that a stone-quarry existed in the 

 field itself, the drainage by means of tiles is by far the cheapest." 



Tiles are indeed very generally thought to be, " when properly 

 made and well burned, not only the handiest but the best material 

 for setting in the bottoms of drains ; for they ensure such a clear 

 water-course, that a drain of 2 feet deep, set open at the bottom, 

 is more effective than one 4 feet deep filled with rubble, and is 

 not half so expensive." J They should, however, be invariably 

 laid upon soles of about ^ an inch wider than the tiles, to guard 

 them from slipping off ; that mode being found far superior to that 

 of laying them upon a naked bottom, both as securing them from 

 sinking into the soil and preventing the intrusion of moles, which 

 will otherwise burrow under the tiles in search of earth-worms, 

 upon which they feed, and sometimes occasion incalculable mis- 

 chief. To prevent their sinking, tiles are often formed with 

 flanges, or broad shoulders to rest upon ; but the most obvious 

 remedy to obviate the inconvenience is to lay them firmly upon 

 soles, in the manner of a pavement ; and, in sandy soils particu- 

 larly, it is a necessary precaution. 



In laying tiles and soles the most usual mode is to place them 

 along the edge of the drain, the tile-layer then fixing them alter- 

 nately in close and regular order, uniting them at the same time 

 so accurately as to guard against any obstruction to the stream of 

 water ; he having his face to the work, and moving backwards 

 until it is finished. The farmer should, however, carefully inspect 

 every foot of the drain before he allows it to be covered. 



The manner of connecting the main and minor drains together, 

 though but little attended to, ought to be correctly done. A very 

 common mode is to break off the corner from a main tile for the 



* Stirling, of Glenbervie, on Tile-Draining. — Prize Essays of the High- 

 land Society, N.S., No. xxxviii. p. 108. 



t Wilson on Tile-Draining.— Prize Essays of the Highland Soc, N.S., 

 No. xxxviii. p. 121. 



% On Underground-Draining.— Quart. Journal of Agric, N. S., vol. v. 

 p. 234. 



