46 
On Til orouij h- Drain ing. 
enter the pipes where they join, it was necessary to inquire into 
the result of the drains which had been so filled ; and I have ob- 
tained the following statement from Mr. Hersey, of Framsden 
near Debenham : — 
" The quantity of straw or stubble used by us here in filling up our 
drains, which was about a load per acre, added to the expense, while it 
deprived the land of manure. Tiie cost of draining-tiles, hitherto 21. 2s. 
per thousand, was far too high to be adopted in the close method of 
draining we were pursuing. It was suggested that a plain tile with its 
two sides pressed together so as to leave a cavity of 4 inches by 1 J inch, 
would be sufficient. The late Mr. Pettit, of Winston, made some pipes of 
this shape at his kiln three years since. He afterwards made a machine 
by which the clay is forced through a box containing the die which forms 
the hollow of the pipe. The cost of these tiles, which are now in use, as 
made at the Winston kilns with coals at 20^. per ton, is, for Mr. Pettit's 
205., for Mr. Smith's 20^. and 21s. per thousand. The price of Mr. 
Smith's machine, which resembles Mr. Pettit's in principle, will vary 
from 0)1. to 8/. 
"The tiles are laid in clay and other stiff soils at a depth varying from 
26 to 30 inches, and the drains from 15 to 18 feet apart. The first spit, 
where it is practicable, is taken out with a plough, and the drain is 
opened by a narrow spade of 13 inches in length by 3 in width, with a 
scoop of the same length and width, to leave the drain perfectly clean. 
When the drains are 18 feet apart the expense per acre on strong stiff 
soils, including the tiles, is 3/. \2s., which will vary a few shillings per 
acre as the soil is more stony. 
" They were first used about three years ago upon strong clayey soils. 
The water flows as freely from those drains which are filled with the 
whole tiles as from those filled with the common tiles, or with straw or 
heath. Mr. Boby, of Willesham, has laid upwards of 100,000, and says 
they draw well ; and several others who have used them bear the same 
testimony." 
Those who have paid 10^. or 12/. per acre for tile-draining at 
18 feet apart, will see the great saving effected when the expense 
is reduced, as in Suffolk, to 3^. 12^. I perceive, on examining 
Mr. Kersey's statement, that the whole saving is not effected in the 
price of tiles, but that the cost of cutting the drains, which com- 
monly amounts to 4.d. per pole, is also reduced one-half, amount- 
ing only to Id. This further saving of one-half in labour is evi- 
dently effected by engrafting upon the modern use of the tile the 
old Suffolk practice of opening the land with the plough, as de- 
scribed in Mr. Hill's paper, which seems to me a certain and 
essential improvement. 
The second account, which reached me at the same time 
through Mr. Reid, who commenced tde-draining in 1795, is from 
the county of Sussex. These tiles are also pipes; they are made 
at a kiln adjoining the Burgess Hill station of the Brighton Rail- 
way, with a machine which, as Mr. Wood informs me, need not 
