AMERICAN ACIiiC ULT UlllST. 
245 
from the back of the chimney, about one-third the 
depth of the flue. Let this shoulder always be flat 
on the top. Masons often err in making it slop¬ 
ing. This shoulder will offer great resistance to 
the pressure of any gust of wind on the top of the 
chimney, and so prevent the regurgitation of 
smoke into the apartment. If the top of the 
chimney also is contracted, it will help the matter 
by diminishing the surface on which gales of 
wind can act. The rule of architects is, for very 
windy and exposed situations, to draw in the top 
courses to “ a third less than the area of the flue.” 
Ordinarily, it is sufficient to contract the flue at 
the bottom. 
MECHANICAL PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 
NO. VII—DRAINING. 
[Continued from page 222.] 
The width of stone drains will generally depend 
upon the ease of digging, and the abundance of 
materials at hand for filling. • In a soil filled with 
boulders, or large stones, it is necessary to dig 
the drain pretty wide, so as to be able to get out 
such stones easily, or to leave them projecting from 
the sides, without closing up the drain too much. 
As the drawing power depends more upon the per¬ 
pendicular surface of the stone-filling than upon 
the width of the drain, the narrower it is made 
the better, since less 
material will be re¬ 
quired for filling, and 
more can be appropria¬ 
ted to depth. A drain 
four feet deep and two 
feet wide, is vastly bet¬ 
ter than one two feet 
deep and four feet wide, 
while both require pre¬ 
cisely the same bulk of 
earth to be thrown out, 
and of stone for filling. 
Sufficient width for 
the convenience of the fig. 18. 
workman while digging, is required. If the soil 
be moderately free from rocks or boulders, and the 
filling stones be small, a convenient size for a 
drain like figure 18, will be 14 to 18 inches 
wide at the top, and 5 to 8 inches at the bottom, 
depending upon the depth, and the abundance of 
filling material. For the forms shown in figures 
16 end 17, (page 222,) the bottom width must de¬ 
pend upon thickness of the flat stones used. 
The size of stones used for filling. —The smaller 
these can be made, the better will be the drain. 
Larger stones have larger and fewer cavities be¬ 
tween them, which are more liable to be used as 
burrows for animals, and to be filled up by falling 
or washing-in of earth. Experience has shown, 
we believe, that coarse gravel, and stones not 
more than one to three inches in diameter, are 
much better than those larger. 
We have spoken of covering over the surface 
with turf, straw, &c. A much better plan would 
be to pass the stony materials over a tine sieve, 
and separate the fragments of not more than half 
an inch in diameter, and use these as a final cover¬ 
ing to the stones, before putting on the earth. 
Vegetable materials soon decay, and often wash 
down and fill up the cavities. In all cases it is 
better to put the coarser materials at the bottom. 
Expense of Stone Drains. —We have accurate 
tables of expenses of such drains in England and 
Scotland, but, owing to the difference in price of 
labor, &c , these furnish no guide in this country. 
It will readily be seen that the character of the 
digging, the depth of the drains, the facility of get, 
i[*g materials, &-.c , will vary much in each locali- 
„ I 
ty. The expense will, in general, be found less 
than would be expected. We have seen, in this 
country, men digging drains, to be filled with 
stones, for 12J to 18 cents per rod, where the 
drains were from two and a half to three feet 
deep. (The present season is a favorable one 
for digging drains. The “ hard times ” have 
thrown thousands of persons out of employment, 
and it will be an act of mercy to set a multitude 
of destitute men to digging drains in almost every 
part of the country, even if they be paid no more 
than board and clothing. Even this hard alterna¬ 
tive is preferable to absolute want and starvation.) 
In some places, the filling has been reckoned at 
nothing, since the drains formed convenient re¬ 
ceptacles for depositing stones that were other¬ 
wise in the way. We think that where the stones 
cannot be procured and put in for 20 to 30 cents 
per rod, these will not he found as profitable as 
tiles, especially for small drains. 
TILE DRAINING. 
As previously hinted, we are confident that 
before many years elapse, a general system of 
Tile Draining will come to be considered one of 
the most important agricultural improvements of 
this country. This is the case now in England, and 
many thousands of miles of tile-drains are spread 
like a net-work over, or rather under, what are 
now the most productive and most profitable lands 
devoted to tillage. Even allowing for the present 
difference in the cost of labor, and the price of 
land and its products, it cannot be otherwise than 
that an operation which has proved of such im¬ 
mense advantage to that country, will be found 
proportionably useful here. It is to be remem¬ 
bered that if, after allowing a little for difference 
in climate, and comparatively but little, our soils, 
our crops, and our modes of culture, are essentially 
the same as in Great Britain. Too much stress is 
usually laid upon some supposed difference in these 
respects, and it is ignorance on this point that leads 
many persons to cry out against any suggestions 
drawn from our trans-Atlantic brethren of the 
plow. Let it be kept in mind that the composi¬ 
tion of good soils is essentially the same the 
world over, and the same crops require in every¬ 
place similar soils, manures and general treatment. 
DESCRIPTION OF TILES AND TILE-DRAINS. 
Although, even in this country, much has been 
written in reference to tile-draining, comparative¬ 
ly few persons have ever seen specimens of the 
tiles themselves. They are made of the same 
material as bricks, the clay being similarly pre¬ 
pared and burned. A common brick, with a hole 
through it lengthwise, or with a hollowing out, 
or gutter open on one side, is essentially a drain 
tile. As usually made they are in one of three 
forms, and are called respectively, horsc-shoe tile, 
sole-tile, and tubular tile. They are made from 
12 to 15 inches in length, and from 2 to 8 inches, 
outside diameter. The internal diameter is from 
1 to 2 inches less than the outside, which leaves 
the rim from {■ to 1 inch in thickness—the thick¬ 
ness depending upon the size of the tile, and the 
consequent strength required. They are made 
very rapidly by a simple, cheap machine, costing 
from .$100 io $250. (If we can procure a draw¬ 
ing, we will present an engraving of one of these 
machines in a future number, and describe the 
mode of manufacture). The form of tile first 
adopted was the following: 
opening to a horse-shoe This form was pre¬ 
ferred for a time, but is going out of use. The 
thin edges upon which it stands are apt to sink 
into the earth. To avoid this they are sometimes 
laid down upon thin boards wt:ich last until the 
soil underneath and around tl em has become 
thoroughly settled and hardened. The more com¬ 
mon method, however, is to place under them a 
thin brick sole-tile as shown in the next figure : 
Fig. 20. 
The soles, c, c, c, are first laid in the bottom of 
the drain, and the horse-shoe tiles, a , //, are so ar¬ 
ranged as to break joints. 
The end of the drain is 
shown in figure 21, where 
the tile is surrounded with a 
little earth. A main objec- : 
tion to -this form of tile is 
the greater expense of hav¬ 
ing two sets of tiles, and f’ye 
additional trouble of hauling, 
handling, &c. The chief ad¬ 
vantage of this form is, that Fig. 21. 
the openings along the edges admit the water 
more freely, than in a tile entirely closed on all 
sides, but we shall show further on, that this is 
not needed. 
An improvement upon the ho.rse-shoe tile is the 
attachment of the sole directly to the hollow tile, 
at the time of making, or in other words, making 
a tube with flanges or lips upon each side of the 
bottom as shown in the next figure : 
Fig. 22. —SOLE-TILE. 
This is the form now generally adopted, and 
the only improvement we can suggest, is to make 
the lips or flanges at the bottom a little wider 
than they are usually manufactured, so as to give 
a broader flat base to rest upon. One other fiorm 
of tile is sometimes made, which is a simple 
round tube as here shown : 
Fig. 19. -IIORSE-SHOE TILE. 
named from the * ressniblance of the ; 
Fig. 23. -TUBULAR TILE. 
These are not much used, except for very ! arge 
drains, where the size of the tile itself gives suf¬ 
ficient base to rest upon, without the necessity of 
adding the flange. Whenever the diameter is less 
than six inches, it is preferable to add the sole as 
in figure 22. 
LAYING THE TILE. 
The size, place, and best mode of digging 
drains will be discussed hereafter. To lay down 
the sole-tile, fig. 22, they are placed inthebntioin 
of the drain, end to end, so as to make one con¬ 
tinuous tube through the whole length. As they 
are laid down, they should be secured firmly in 
their position by little stones wedged in upon their 
sides ; and they should also rest upon a firm bot¬ 
tom, so that the openings of the successive pipes 
always meet exactly together. We strongly re¬ 
commend to put in a thin narrow board the 
whole length of the drain, and to place the tiles 
upon this. This board will cost very litfle and 
