1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
375 
iug to the amount of water, — aud this mud, 
running toward the main, carried a sure source 
of obstruction with it. Hence, I have always 
recommended that the whole line be opened 
from one end to the other, before a tile is laid, 
and that the tile-laying be commenced at the 
upper ends of the laterals and continued down 
stream, so that no muddy water would run into 
them, as would be the case if the tiles were laid 
from the lower end upward. 
I am still convinced that in very wet, soft 
laud, or where the grade is so slight that great 
care is necessary to preserve the uniformity of 
the fall, this precaution is necessary. But 
wherever there is a fall of as much as one foot 
in a hundred feet, if the bottom is ordinarily 
firm, the best plan will be to reverse the direction, 
and to commence laying at the lower end of the 
drain — putting in the tile and covering it up, as 
fast as the digging progresses. 
I am led to this change of opinion by seeing 
the thing done by drainers of English education. 
"What I could not understand from description, 
nor attain by experiment, is made clear by ob- 
servation. In the digging of ordinary drains the 
foot of the icorkman never reaches to within less 
than a foot of the bottom of the ditch; conse- 
sequently, there is no trampling of the floor of 
the drain, and no formation of mud. "What 
water may ooze out from the land (and, as but 
little of the ditch is open at once, the amount is 
very small) has no silt in it, and cannot obstruct 
the tile through which it runs. 
I will try to describe the process so that all 
may understand it. We will suppose the main 
drain to be laid and filled in, junction pieces 
being placed where the laterals are to come in, 
aud that we are about to dig and lay a lateral 
emptying into it. 
1. A line is stretched to mark one side of the 
ditch, and the sod is removed to a spade's depth 
(15 inches wide) for a length of about two rods, 
aud a ditch is dug about 18 inches deep, with a 
narrow bottom. 2. A ditching spade (fig. 1) 20 
inches long in the blade, 6 inches wide at the 
top, and 4 inches wide at the point, — made of 
steel and kept sharp — is forced in to its whole 
bottom, 3 feet below the surface. When he 
has dug for a length of 2 or 3 feet, he takes a 
snipe-bill scoop (fig. 4), only 3 inches wide, and, 
using it as he did the broader scoop, removes 
the loose earth. The round back of this scoop, 
which is always working a foot below the level 
on which the operator stands and which per- 
forms the offices of a shovel, smooths and forms 
the bottom of the trench, making a much better 
bed for the tiles than it is possible to get if it 
has to be walked on, and regulates the grade 
most perfectly. 
4. When the short length of ditch has been 
nearly all dug out and graded, the branch on 
the junction piece of the tile is uncovered, and 
the tile is laid by the use of a " tile-layer" (fig. 
5), operated by a man standing astride the ditch 
on the banks. The collar is placed on the end 
of the branch on the upper end of the tile. The 
implement lowers the tile (with its collar in 
place) and the other end is carefully inserted in 
the collar on the branch. Then the end of the 
second tile is inserted into the second collar, and 
so on until nearly aH of the graded ditch is laid. 
5. The most clayey part of the subsoil is 
thrown carefully down on the tile and tramped 
into its place, — all but the collar end of the last 
iile being covered, — and the ditch filled at least 
half-full and pounded. 
6. Another rod or two of the ditch is opened, 
dug out, laid, and filled in as above described, — 
the amount opened at any one time not being 
enough to allow the accumulation of a danger- 
ous quantity of water. If there is any consid- 
erable amount of water in the land, or if it is 
feared that it may rain during the night, the 
tile is left with a plug of grass or straw, which 
will prevent the entrance of dirt. 
Fig. 6 gives a section of a ditch with the work 
iu its different stages. The tile is shown in section. 
And now for the result: — 
Last year, after the draining of Ogden Farm 
was completed, I undertook the -drainage of a 
neighbor's land, employing the same gang of 
experienced Irish ditchers. The best bargain I 
could make was for one dollar per rod for dig- 
ging aud back-filling (tile laying not included). 
Fig. 6. — OPENING THE DITCH 
length, and the earth thrown out. Of course it 
will be necessary in very hard ground to do 
some picking, but it is surprising to see with 
what ease a man witli an iron shank screwed to 
the sole of his boot will work the sharp point 
of this spade into an obdurate hard-pan. The 
loose earth that escaped the spade is removed 
by a scoop (tig. 2), 4 inches wide, which the 
Workman, walking backward, draws toward him 
until it is full, swinging it out to dump its load 
on the bank. In this way he gets down 3 feet, 
and leaves a smooth floor ou which he stands. 
3. Commencing again at the end next to the 
main, with a narrower, stronger, and even sharp- 
er spade, of the same length or a little less (fig. 
3), 4'| a inches wide at the top and 3 inches at 
the point, he digs out as neatly as he can, anoth- 
er foot of earth, — he facing the main and work- 
ing back, so that he stands always on the smooth 
AND LAYING THE TILES. 
The best men earned §3.50 per day, — the aver- 
age not more than $2.25. Owing to the late- 
ness of the season, the work was suspended un- 
til this year's harvest should be completed. 
This year I hired a gang of tile drainers from 
Canada, who had Euglish experience. They 
work precisely as above described. The price 
paid is 75 cents per rod for digging, back-filling, 
and tile-laying (for the whole work complete, 
although, owing to the hard-pan, much picking 
is required). The best man among them com- 
pletes seven rods per day ($5.25), and the average 
is full)' five rods ($3.75). The amount of earth 
handled (owing to the narrowness of the ditch- 
es) is less than one-half of what it was last year, 
and the work is done with a neatness and com- 
pleteness that I have never seen equaled. 
What these men are doing others can do as 
well, and I am satisfied that in simple, heavy 
clays the whole work of digging and tile lay- 
ing can be done for less than 50 cents per rod. 
Hamper for Poultry. 
Fowls and other poultry at our exhibitions 
often have their good looks greatly damaged 
by being sent to the shows iu unsuitable boxes. 
The best way of sending fowls we know of is 
to cage them in those open-work wicker bask- 
ets, called Fowl Hampers. We give an en- 
graving of one, and from it any basket maker 
POULTRY HA3IPEK. 
may easily construct others. The one we 
copied was made of peeled willow ; that with 
the bark on would be equally good. There is 
a close bottom, and a close baud, three inches 
high, at the base, another similar band at the 
top, and a narrow one of only two or three 
strands around near the middle, to stiffen the 
upright rods, and hold them in place. The top 
is hinged in the middle, one part forming a lid, 
the other being permanent. Handles are also 
provided and placed iu the top. "When used 
for fowls, these hampers are lined with any 
cheap goods, sacking or calico, the lining ex- 
tending around the sides and top so that the 
feathers cannot be injured, and to prevent harm 
coming to the fowls from draughts, to which 
they are very sensitive. Ducks and geese may 
be shipped in uulined hampers. The food and 
water is placed in cups fastened to the sides. 
The bottom should be covered thick wTlli straw, 
and it is often desirable to raise the bight of the 
close band around the base by stitching in 
handfuls of pulled straw to a bight of several 
inches. These hampers may be washed in dis- 
infecting soap aud water, and are more easily 
kept clean and free from vermin than box 
cages. As soon as out of use, they should be 
thoroughly cleansed, sunned, and put away — 
not used for coops, hospital wards, and all sorts 
of purposes. See articles ou basket making in 
the Am. Agriculturist for April and June, 1867. 
Digging Potatoes. 
Potatoes are bringing such poor prices this 
year that unless we exercise great economy in 
digging we shall profit little by the crop. This 
year will show also the great advantage that 
potatoes which grow close have over those 
which are scattered all through the ground. 
We are getting to be critical about the various 
qualities of our crops, and this is one which, 
