132 
On Measure Work. 
As I am aware of the uncertainty of this kind of labour, I 
shall merely mention the prices and details relating to agreements 
for the execution of this work. — 1. Paid 206?. a rod for digging 
an open drain in a peaty soil ; the drain was 5 feet deep and 
averaged 6 feet in width: a cubic yard was therefore dug for 
about \d., or, if we calculate it exactly, 18^ yards for 20c?. — 2. 
Paid 16(f. a rod for digging a ditch 3 feet deep, 4^ feet wide at 
top, and 1^ at bottom ; the ditch ran through a variety of soils, 
principally clay and gravel ; this bargain also included, in addi- 
tion to the digging, the laying in a quick for a fence, and the 
topping the bank with thorns as a protection to the young hedge ; 
5^ cubic yards of earth had to be moved for every rod ; and it 
took 70 days of labour for one man to complete the job of 1 14 
rods, the amount for which, at 16rf. a rod, is 71. 12s., or about 
2s. Id. a day. — 3. Paid 1*. \Qd. a rod for a ditch and fence in a 
clay and gravelly soil ; the ditch was 4 feet deep, and averaged a 
little over 4 feet in width, so that nearly 10 cubic yards of soil 
were removed for every rod. 
2. Draining. — The cost of the labour required in draining de- 
pends firstly upon the nature of the soil in which the drains are 
dug, and secondly upon the depth and materials used for filling 
up. Draining on a sound clay free from stones may be executed 
at a cheaper rate per rod in length than on almost any other kind 
of soil ; as from the firmness of the clay the work may be done with 
narrow spades, and but a small quantity of soil requires to be re- 
moved by manual labour. The draining wet sands or gravels or 
clays in which veins of sand abound, is more expensive than on 
the sound clays, because a broader spade has to be used, and 
consequently a larger amount of soil removed. Some soils are 
so hard and stony that they cannot be dug unless the pick is first 
used ; this adds considerably to the expense. On the sound 
clays of Suffolk and Essex the price for digging drains, and lay- 
ing in stubble, heath, brushwood, peat, or whatever else is used, 
and filling up the drains so far as cannot be done with the plough, 
is about 4s. or 4s. 6c?. the score rods, and 6c?. for each eye. 
These drains are made about 30 inches deep ; the first spit is 
ploughed out, the two next dug with narrow draining spades ; 
half a score rods of this kind of draining is reckoned a fair day's 
work. Sometimes, however, half a score is above an average, 
for I know a case on a hard clay, lying just above the chalk, 
which was so tenacious that the men could hardly dig and fill in 
6 rods in a day. The cost of digging, laying in tiles, and filling 
drains 4 feet deep on a clay soil intersected with veins of sand 
may cost about 6rf. a rod. We have just completed digging a 
drain in a meadow, of an average depth of 3 feet, the first 6 
inches turned up by the plough. It took thirty days' labour for 
