272 
On Draining. 
the pipe possesses any greater or less decree of absorbent power 
than other porous or unglazed earthenware, most of which are 
more or less porous to water. When properly tested under a 
pressure of 4 feet of soil, I have found the absorbent power of 
various pipes, formed of various clays, equal to the passing of 
about T TTT^h part of the quantity of water vrhich enters the conduit 
through the crevice existing between each pair of pipes. By so 
much this property is useful, and I do consider that it assists in 
drying and giving firmness to the soil in immediate contact with 
the conduit. 
The tools which I now exhibit to you are, I believe, of very 
superior manufacture, and much cheaper than many very inferior 
articles made about the country. They are the result of much 
care and trial in comparison with others, and of cost to myself 
and the maker, Mr. Lyndon, Minerva Works, Fazeley- street, 
Birmingham. Here are specimens of the various grafting tools, 
scoops or hoes of different sizes, and the all-important bottoming 
or deep-drain spade. A principal advantage in these, as com- 
pared with other makers' manufacture, is, that the steel of the 
tool is plated upon iron, so that as the iron wears away the steel 
maintains a constant sharpness of edge, and the drainers have not 
to run away from their work to the grindstone. The pickaxes, 
&c. are of equally good quality. Here is a tool, called the pipe- 
layer, recently invented by one of my men for laying a pipe and 
collar -joint at the same time into a drain. This simple contri- 
vance has saved the use of a boy in laying pipes where collars 
are necessary. It is suitable for pipes of 1| inch bore, but may 
be made to suit any other size of pipe. 
With reference to these practical matters, it may be advisable 
for me to say that in clays, and other clean-cutting and firm- 
bottomed soils, I do not find collars to be at all necessary; but 
that they are essential in all sandy, loose, and soft strata. 
