170 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May, 
quiries that have been from time to time addressed to 
me. 
1. The form of tile now preferred by the best foreign 
authorities, is the pipe, or simple cylinder, cut in lengths, 
and laid so as to join end to end. This form can be made 
cheaper than any other, being all in one piece; for the 
same reason it can be transported at smaller cost, and is 
less liable to breakage by handling. The common ob¬ 
jection on the part of those who have never seen these 
tiles at work, is, that water will not find its way into 
such a close connected tube. I might reason upon this 
subject at length, but cannot now spare the space, and 
will simply assure all doubters, that the water does in 
some way get in, and that they cannot, even by any pro¬ 
cess of packing stiff clay around the tiles, manage to ex¬ 
clude it. This has been proved over and over again, in 
practice, and is no longer a point for argument. 
2. A frequent subject of inquiry is, the nature of the 
tools proper for cutting the narrow ditch required for 
tiles. One great saving in their use, is this reduced 
width of the drain. It is customary to run one or two 
deep furrows with a heavy plow along the line of the 
drain, thus partially throwing out from eight to ten in¬ 
ches of the surface. The loose earth is then cleared 
away by a common spade, and the next ten or twelve in¬ 
ches taken out by a spade of the same shape, but nar¬ 
rower. Another spade still, six or seven inches wide at 
the top, but not more than two or three at the bottom, 
and quite long, takes out the lowest portion of the earth, 
leaving just about space for the tiles to lie, and for a 
man’s foot to rest. A peculiar scoop-shaped hoe is fre¬ 
quently employed to finish the bottom of the drain 
smoothly, by cutting out small inequalities, and remov¬ 
ing loose earth, which cannot so conveniently be cleared 
away by a spade. In coarse, hard gravel, or where large 
.stones abound, such a perfectly formed ditch as I have 
described, cannot well be made. In these cases the cut 
must be more or less irregular, and in hard soils must 
be much wider than is absolutely necessary to receive 
the tile. 
3. When the ditch is completed, the tiles are carefully 
.laid on the bottom, end to end, care being taken that no 
.wide vacancies occur, and that each piece is firmly in its 
place. In a very mellow and smooth soil, it is quite pos¬ 
sible to cut the bottom so accurately to the size of tile 
employed, that the pieces can be laid and held in their 
places by the sides of the ditch. In the majority of ca¬ 
ses, however, this cannot be done, and it is best to wedge 
them in as compactly as possible, by small stones plac¬ 
ed at proper intervals along their sides. If this pre¬ 
caution be not taken, they are liable to be disturbed 
when the earth is thrown in to fill up. The end of a 
single tile thrust an inch out of its plac^would probably 
cause the stoppage of a long line, so that this point must 
be carefully attended to. Many practical drainers re¬ 
commend laying a little piece of turf, grass side down, 
or a bunch of straw or shavings, over each joint, in order 
to prevent earth from sifting in. This, of course, is a 
.safeguard, but in ordinary circumstances it is an unne¬ 
cessary expenditure of labor. If the soil thrown back 
has become entirely dry and powdery, enough may pos¬ 
sibly sift in to do some mischief; but if it, or at least the 
first few shovel fulls, be in an ordinary state of moisture, 
no such result need be apprehended, provided, always, 
that the joints are well made, and the line firmly secured 
in its place. A point which is often neglected, is the 
proper packing of the earth in filling. This should al¬ 
ways be done with care, so as to avoid that washing of 
mud into the pipes, which would be likely to occur if the 
soil above them were left loose and porous. 
4. If any curves are made in the drain, they should be 
of a gradual character. It would be better to blast or 
remove even a large rock, than to make an abrupt curve 
in a long drain. It is easy to see that the tiles would not 
join closely together on a sharply curved line, and even 
if cut to fit, the danger of stoppage would be greatly in¬ 
creased, owing to their greater liability to get out of 
place. Such curves, too, retard very seriously the flow 
of the current, and for this reason, the drain is less like¬ 
ly to clear itself of many small obstacles which may ob¬ 
tain entrance. Where the fall is gentle, this considera¬ 
tion becomes of especial consequence. It was said by 
Mr. Smith of Deanston, that tile drains might be made 
to discharge water, where the fall was but one inch in a 
mile. This, obviously, could only be done by the exer¬ 
cise of some engineering skill in leveling, &c. Where 
the fall is one foot in a mile, the work is not difficult, 
although, even then, it must be very nicely done, and 
the channel very even. The greatest difficulty on a gen¬ 
tle fall, is found in gravelly and stony soils; it requires 
some patience to straighten and smooth the bottom of a 
ditch in such a situation. 
5. Some persons have supposed that machinery is used 
abroad for laying the tiles. This I have never seen, and 
am inclined to think that there is some mistake in the mat¬ 
ter, for I cannot see that any advantage would result 
from the employment of machinery in such work. A 
good, careful man, when the ditch has been well cleaned 
out and levelved, can lay the tiles and secure them in 
their places with great facility. Where the fall is incon¬ 
siderable, slight inequalities in the bed of the ditch, and 
consequent bends of the tiles, do not seem to be injuri¬ 
ous. On the sides of hills, I have seen them laid quite 
carelessly, precautions only being used to keep the ends 
where the tiles met, in close contact. 
6. That as a general rule the drains should run straight 
down the slope, and in parallel lines, is now considered 
a fact beyond all question. Such drains discharge the 
water better than others, and dry the ground more com¬ 
pletely. At the foot of the slope, they discharge into a 
main cross drain, made of large tiles, or in some cases 
of flag stones. Where the slope is very long, it is re¬ 
commended to run a cross drain about half way from 
the top. This is to prevent the liability to choke, which 
exists in very long drains of small diameter. 
7. A pipe of inches inside diameter, is quite suffi¬ 
cient for the small drains, where they have not to run 
more than two hundred feet • for greater distances a two 
inch interior diameter would be preferable. Farmers 
among us who commence draining with tiles, are apt to 
spend more money than unnecessary, by purchasing larger 
sizes, under the impression that it is not safe to use the 
smaller ones, If, however, any person will calculate 
how much water may be discharged in twenty-four hours 
by a pipe of one inch bore, it will be perceived that 
but a few such pipes constantly running to the utmost 
